Elliott Portnoy
Global CEO,
Dentons
Dentons
Feature:
2020 visions
p14
Delivery of the decade
magazines|December 20192020 ahoy – we can finally see the law firm of the future, right?
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INSIDE
TEI liner
Richard Brent rounds up the latest Briefing event: TEI – transformation, efficiency, innovation
Go shape
Jeff Langlands at BT Enterprise on his team's changing level of responsibilities
Brain event
Can increasing cognitive diversity in businesses lead to a measurable boost for law firms?
WHO'S WHO THIS MONTH
Casey Ryan
Global head of legal personnel,
Reed Smith
Reed Smith
Feature:
2020 visions
p14
Tony Williams
Principal,
Jomati Consultants
Jomati Consultants
Opinion:
Trend-betting for 2025
p9
Patrick Hurley
Vice president, customer advocacy,
Thomson Reuters Elite
Thomson Reuters Elite
Opinion:
Blooming relationships
p10
James Gilding
Managing director, business services,
Mitie Document Management
Mitie Document Management
Opinion:
Call for celebration
p11
Christopher Young
Principal consultant and business development director,
Pinnacle
Pinnacle
Opinion:
The data day
p12
Adrian Biles
CEO,
Ince Group
Ince Group
Feature:
2020 visions
p14
Libby Jackson MBE
Global head of alternative legal services,
Herbert Smith Freehills
Herbert Smith Freehills
Day in the life:
A different delivery
p42
Jeff Langlands
General counsel,
BT Enterprise
BT Enterprise
In-house profile:
Empower play
p20
ISSUE IN BRIEF
In this issue, Briefing takes stock of the law firm of 2020 – aka ‘the future’ – we now see before us. More flexible resourcing has of course been one significant introduction to the strategising workload over the last decade, with several law firms now striking agreements with other players to deliver it.
And then there’s incoming technology in all its glorious forms to shake things up. In October, it was interesting to see the Legal Services Board suggest legal service regulators ought to catch up with other sectors in better supporting firms to explore using distributed ledger technology (don’t sigh …). The LSB’s own research finds that just 2% of legal service providers are using ‘blockchain’, and only 5% plan to make, or have already made, investments in legaltech companies.
And in early November, Reed Smith – one firm Jem Sandhu speaks to for this issue – secured its ABS licence. Tamara Box, Europe and Middle East managing partner, explained: “We are future-proofing our business and now have the agility to immediately seize new opportunities – in tech, big data and other specialised consultancy services.” A model for the law firm of 2020? Let’s see.
2020 VISIONS
After hearing plenty of things about it in the last 10 years, surely the law firm of 2020 is finally here, right? Jem Sandhu asks a few top law firm leaders how far they’ve seen things come, how they’ve adjusted to the new reality and whether we can say we’re really there yet.
EMPOWER PLAY
Jeff Langlands, general counsel at BT Enterprise and director of EE, tells Richard Brent about process improvement and explains why an in-house legal team today needs to think about more than just the ‘letters of the law’ to demonstrate strategic value.
MINDFUL OF CHANGE
On the cusp of 2020, it seems that the evolution of law firms has largely unfolded as Aderant predicted; Chris Cartrett, executive vice president at the business, outlines the core capabilities he believes will really create competitive advantage for law firms from 2020 onwards.
