Page 173 - 2019 - Leaders in Legal Business (n)
P. 173
21st Century Resourcing Options
Janvi Patel & Denise
Nurse1
Co-Founders; Halebury, an
Elevate Business; VPs Elevate
The Business of Law
For centuries, the provision of legal advice has been provided through one dominant
option: practitioners of law. Like doctors, lawyers as a profession have focused on individual
specialties and been licensed to practice or advise the public on legal issues. In order to create
efficiencies, groups of individual practitioners formed partnerships to bring resources together,
provide a wider selection of practice areas, and pool risk – businesses run by lawyers for lawyers.
For recipients of this service, this has been the only option.
The dominant business model has been (and still is) “an organization or economic system
where goods and services are exchanged for one another.” The early part of the 21st century,
however, has seen some of the most radical changes in business model options for the provision
of legal services. Resourcing options play a major part in this significant evolution.
The last part of the 20th century saw the steady growth of in-house law departments within
businesses. The start of the 21st century has seen the rise of flexible legal resourcing provided as a
subset of services by law companies. These were named “Alternative Legal Service Providers,” or
ALSPs, to denote the fact that they are not structured as law firm partnerships or even businesses
owned and managed by lawyers. Businesses in this area offering a broader range of services now
call themselves “law companies”; at times, the names are interchangeable.
For the purposes of this chapter, we will focus on the relatively new business model of
providing flexible legal resourcing options for business legal departments and law firms by ALSPs
and law companies, how this works, and its impact on the overall business of law.
Context
1 Janvi Patel is co-founder of Halebury, an Elevate business, as well as VP of Elevated Lawyers, focusing on client management and business
development as well as team building and management. She started her legal career as an employment solicitor at Charles Russell (now CRS)
before moving in-house as a senior employment lawyer at Nortel for EMEA. In 2007, seeing that there was a gap in the market for flexible legal
advice provided by experienced in-house lawyers, Ms. Patel decided to set up Halebury – one of the first alternative legal services providers at the
time. She is a regular speaker at business and industry forums, Speakers for Schools, and an appointed board member on Thomson Reuters’ In-
House Consultation Board. She is a strong supporter and advocate for women’s rights at all levels and is an advisory board member of Equality
Now and the Children of War Foundation. She is also a founding committee member of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women – Mentoring
Programme.
Denise Nurse is co-founder of Halebury, an Elevate business, as well as VP of Elevated Lawyers, focusing on strategy, management, and client
service. She co-founded Halebury as an opportunity to create the kind of firm that she would like to work for. Having started her career as an in-
house commercial solicitor at Charles Russell (now CRS), she worked in-house as a commercial and technology lawyer for Sky before helping to
develop and shape the Halebury offering. She mentors women in law and tech, as well as young entrepreneurs. She also speaks regularly on diversity
and inclusion in business and is a supplier executive committee member for MSDUK, the supplier diversity organisation.
158
Janvi Patel & Denise
Nurse1
Co-Founders; Halebury, an
Elevate Business; VPs Elevate
The Business of Law
For centuries, the provision of legal advice has been provided through one dominant
option: practitioners of law. Like doctors, lawyers as a profession have focused on individual
specialties and been licensed to practice or advise the public on legal issues. In order to create
efficiencies, groups of individual practitioners formed partnerships to bring resources together,
provide a wider selection of practice areas, and pool risk – businesses run by lawyers for lawyers.
For recipients of this service, this has been the only option.
The dominant business model has been (and still is) “an organization or economic system
where goods and services are exchanged for one another.” The early part of the 21st century,
however, has seen some of the most radical changes in business model options for the provision
of legal services. Resourcing options play a major part in this significant evolution.
The last part of the 20th century saw the steady growth of in-house law departments within
businesses. The start of the 21st century has seen the rise of flexible legal resourcing provided as a
subset of services by law companies. These were named “Alternative Legal Service Providers,” or
ALSPs, to denote the fact that they are not structured as law firm partnerships or even businesses
owned and managed by lawyers. Businesses in this area offering a broader range of services now
call themselves “law companies”; at times, the names are interchangeable.
For the purposes of this chapter, we will focus on the relatively new business model of
providing flexible legal resourcing options for business legal departments and law firms by ALSPs
and law companies, how this works, and its impact on the overall business of law.
Context
1 Janvi Patel is co-founder of Halebury, an Elevate business, as well as VP of Elevated Lawyers, focusing on client management and business
development as well as team building and management. She started her legal career as an employment solicitor at Charles Russell (now CRS)
before moving in-house as a senior employment lawyer at Nortel for EMEA. In 2007, seeing that there was a gap in the market for flexible legal
advice provided by experienced in-house lawyers, Ms. Patel decided to set up Halebury – one of the first alternative legal services providers at the
time. She is a regular speaker at business and industry forums, Speakers for Schools, and an appointed board member on Thomson Reuters’ In-
House Consultation Board. She is a strong supporter and advocate for women’s rights at all levels and is an advisory board member of Equality
Now and the Children of War Foundation. She is also a founding committee member of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women – Mentoring
Programme.
Denise Nurse is co-founder of Halebury, an Elevate business, as well as VP of Elevated Lawyers, focusing on strategy, management, and client
service. She co-founded Halebury as an opportunity to create the kind of firm that she would like to work for. Having started her career as an in-
house commercial solicitor at Charles Russell (now CRS), she worked in-house as a commercial and technology lawyer for Sky before helping to
develop and shape the Halebury offering. She mentors women in law and tech, as well as young entrepreneurs. She also speaks regularly on diversity
and inclusion in business and is a supplier executive committee member for MSDUK, the supplier diversity organisation.
158
