Page 68 - MASTER COPY LEADERS BOOK 9editedJKK (24)_Neat
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Leaders in Legal Business
and it has taken several years to get back to a baseline. Now, the legal market is regaining strength as it continues
to expand into new and emerging markets worldwide.10
While global growth is on the uptick, BigLaw has been and will continue to give up market share to new
entrants to the legal services market. Firms such as Axiom, Lateral.ly, Pangea3, and MLA’s own highly
specialized, temporary legal staffing solutions provider, the Solutions Practice Group (SPG), are capturing
increased market share and will continue to have a major influence on how legal work will be performed and
disaggregated. Major consulting firms are also re-entering the legal market and looking to capture some of this
revenue.
“Since the recession, businesses across the country have been pushing their employees to do more with
less,” explains Inside Counsel’s Ashley Post, regarding why temporary staffing has become crucial for companies,
in Strategies for Leaner Legal Departments: Part 1. She adds, “Members of corporate legal departments have
encountered the same challenge. Facing heightened performance expectations and heavier workloads, in-house
lawyers and their staffs have had to alter their workplaces to conform to leaner budgets — all while maintaining
productivity and excellence.”11
Law firms are still learning how to effectively use the temporary staffing model, as described by Law360
reporter Erin Coe in 5 Mistakes Law Firms Make with Temp Lawyers:
Firms are increasingly relying on temporary attorneys to scale up legal teams on large
matters while controlling costs for clients, but experts say they could take more initiative
in offering these lawyers as a staffing option when pitching for business and could
improve how they integrate them into the legal team.12
Coe includes perspective from MLA partner and global head of MLA’s In-House and Solutions Practice
Groups, Gregory Richter, who said: “Big firms have to be mindful that disaggregating workloads is something
clients will demand of them. Clients want different price points for different levels of work and different people
delivering that work. Firms have to think outside the box and do things differently in this new-normal environment
we are in.” 13
MLA launched the SPG aiming to find a way to allow law firm and corporate leaders to meet evolving
needs with appropriate staffing and up-to-date solutions. The methodology and service makes it easier to find
highly qualified lawyers and legal professionals for substantive assignments on a cost-effective, contractual basis.
A partnership with the SPG provides corporate and law firm clients with the ability to maintain quality of work
while enabling it to better manage staffing needs thus increasing efficiency and profitability. MLA’s staffing
arrangements in this area include long-term, on-site temporary placements; flexible work arrangements; and
project staffing for peak periods or interim needs.
Whether the position is at a law firm or in-house at a company, legal recruiters and staffers guide firms
and companies to choose the ideal candidate for future business success. The truly adept legal recruiting and
staffing firms are those that are also prepared to adapt to change and are skillful at doing so.
Changes to the Legal Landscape Affect Recruiting
Supply and demand accounts for a more competitive legal job market. While the 2008 recession certainly
took away legal positions, law students still continue to graduate and look for jobs.
10 See Jeffrey A. Lowe, BigLaw 2014: A Look Ahead, MAJOR, LINDSEY & AFRICA, January 2, 2014, http://www.mlaglobal.com/community/thought-
leadership/biglaw-2014-a-look-ahead.
11 Ashley Post, Strategies for Leaner Legal Departments, Part 1, INSIDE COUNSEL, February 26, 2013,
http://www.insidecounsel.com/2013/02/26/strategies-for-leaner-legal-departments-part-1.
12 Erin Coe, 5 Mistakes Law Firms Make With Temp Lawyers, LAW360, August 22, 2014, http://www.mlaglobal.com/community/news/5-mistakes-law-
firms-make-with-temp-lawyers.
13 Id.
61
and it has taken several years to get back to a baseline. Now, the legal market is regaining strength as it continues
to expand into new and emerging markets worldwide.10
While global growth is on the uptick, BigLaw has been and will continue to give up market share to new
entrants to the legal services market. Firms such as Axiom, Lateral.ly, Pangea3, and MLA’s own highly
specialized, temporary legal staffing solutions provider, the Solutions Practice Group (SPG), are capturing
increased market share and will continue to have a major influence on how legal work will be performed and
disaggregated. Major consulting firms are also re-entering the legal market and looking to capture some of this
revenue.
“Since the recession, businesses across the country have been pushing their employees to do more with
less,” explains Inside Counsel’s Ashley Post, regarding why temporary staffing has become crucial for companies,
in Strategies for Leaner Legal Departments: Part 1. She adds, “Members of corporate legal departments have
encountered the same challenge. Facing heightened performance expectations and heavier workloads, in-house
lawyers and their staffs have had to alter their workplaces to conform to leaner budgets — all while maintaining
productivity and excellence.”11
Law firms are still learning how to effectively use the temporary staffing model, as described by Law360
reporter Erin Coe in 5 Mistakes Law Firms Make with Temp Lawyers:
Firms are increasingly relying on temporary attorneys to scale up legal teams on large
matters while controlling costs for clients, but experts say they could take more initiative
in offering these lawyers as a staffing option when pitching for business and could
improve how they integrate them into the legal team.12
Coe includes perspective from MLA partner and global head of MLA’s In-House and Solutions Practice
Groups, Gregory Richter, who said: “Big firms have to be mindful that disaggregating workloads is something
clients will demand of them. Clients want different price points for different levels of work and different people
delivering that work. Firms have to think outside the box and do things differently in this new-normal environment
we are in.” 13
MLA launched the SPG aiming to find a way to allow law firm and corporate leaders to meet evolving
needs with appropriate staffing and up-to-date solutions. The methodology and service makes it easier to find
highly qualified lawyers and legal professionals for substantive assignments on a cost-effective, contractual basis.
A partnership with the SPG provides corporate and law firm clients with the ability to maintain quality of work
while enabling it to better manage staffing needs thus increasing efficiency and profitability. MLA’s staffing
arrangements in this area include long-term, on-site temporary placements; flexible work arrangements; and
project staffing for peak periods or interim needs.
Whether the position is at a law firm or in-house at a company, legal recruiters and staffers guide firms
and companies to choose the ideal candidate for future business success. The truly adept legal recruiting and
staffing firms are those that are also prepared to adapt to change and are skillful at doing so.
Changes to the Legal Landscape Affect Recruiting
Supply and demand accounts for a more competitive legal job market. While the 2008 recession certainly
took away legal positions, law students still continue to graduate and look for jobs.
10 See Jeffrey A. Lowe, BigLaw 2014: A Look Ahead, MAJOR, LINDSEY & AFRICA, January 2, 2014, http://www.mlaglobal.com/community/thought-
leadership/biglaw-2014-a-look-ahead.
11 Ashley Post, Strategies for Leaner Legal Departments, Part 1, INSIDE COUNSEL, February 26, 2013,
http://www.insidecounsel.com/2013/02/26/strategies-for-leaner-legal-departments-part-1.
12 Erin Coe, 5 Mistakes Law Firms Make With Temp Lawyers, LAW360, August 22, 2014, http://www.mlaglobal.com/community/news/5-mistakes-law-
firms-make-with-temp-lawyers.
13 Id.
61
