If you were going to create the law firm of the future, what would it look like? Would you hire a group of associates out of law school? Perhaps you could partner with a couple of senior attorneys and create the classic three-named firm.
However, chances are that in 10 years, law firms and Alternative Legal Service Providers (“ALSPs”) are going to converge under a technological strategy that ALSPs are already leveraging. Increased legal complexity, budget pressures, staff shortages and advances in technology will catalyze this eventual consolidation. Top-tier expertise fused with technology-driven legal services will ultimately deliver greater value to clients. This shift will ultimately have huge implications and upend what we now think of as “traditionally legal”—from education, to the types of jobs and support necessitated in the new realm of client-service delivery.
