Page 22 - 2019 - Leaders in Legal Business (n)
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anymore; the race now is to provide the best productivity and the best operational platform for
lawyers, and thereby generate the most effective outcomes and solutions for clients. Process
analysts will often make the difference between the winners and losers of this race.
NewLaw
A term first coined by Dr. George Beaton of Australia, “NewLaw” can be broadly defined
as any model, process, or tool that represents a significantly different approach to the creation or
provision of legal services than what the legal profession traditionally has employed. NewLaw
providers are a unique hybrid of buyer and seller, providing services and support both to law firms
and to clients (as well as to each other). Over the past five years, a virtual Cambrian Explosion of
NewLaw providers has jolted the global legal marketplace. A powerful NewLaw player is as likely
to disrupt and unseat a traditional law firm as it is to overturn a strategic consultancy, a marketing
platform, or a technology offering. Examples of NewLaw entities include:
• New-model law firms such as Riverview Law, Valorem Law, and Keystone Law
• Project-based legal talent providers such as Axiom, Caravel, and Lawyers On Demand
• Managed legal support services like Novus Law, Radiant Law, and Elevate
• A host of technology-powered law business such as Lex Machina, Premonition,
KMStandards, MetaJure, Neota Logic, Avvo, Kira Systems, Relativity, Koncision, Clio,
Ravel Law, ROSS Intelligence, LexPredict, and Modria.
NewLaw firms refuse to fit easily into either the “supplier” or the “provider” categories of
the legal support ecosystem. More such entities will emerge in the coming years, further blurring
the lines between direct suppliers of legal services to clients and complementary providers of
support and guidance to those suppliers. This ecosystem is going to become more complex and
diverse, not less.
So, when you read through the comprehensive and incisive essays to follow, cataloguing and
analyzing today’s legal support ecosystem and the challenges it faces in future, keep two things in
mind: just how quickly this entire professional support structure emerged, developed, and
established itself over the past 30 years; and just how quickly and completely everything we know
and recognize.
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lawyers, and thereby generate the most effective outcomes and solutions for clients. Process
analysts will often make the difference between the winners and losers of this race.
NewLaw
A term first coined by Dr. George Beaton of Australia, “NewLaw” can be broadly defined
as any model, process, or tool that represents a significantly different approach to the creation or
provision of legal services than what the legal profession traditionally has employed. NewLaw
providers are a unique hybrid of buyer and seller, providing services and support both to law firms
and to clients (as well as to each other). Over the past five years, a virtual Cambrian Explosion of
NewLaw providers has jolted the global legal marketplace. A powerful NewLaw player is as likely
to disrupt and unseat a traditional law firm as it is to overturn a strategic consultancy, a marketing
platform, or a technology offering. Examples of NewLaw entities include:
• New-model law firms such as Riverview Law, Valorem Law, and Keystone Law
• Project-based legal talent providers such as Axiom, Caravel, and Lawyers On Demand
• Managed legal support services like Novus Law, Radiant Law, and Elevate
• A host of technology-powered law business such as Lex Machina, Premonition,
KMStandards, MetaJure, Neota Logic, Avvo, Kira Systems, Relativity, Koncision, Clio,
Ravel Law, ROSS Intelligence, LexPredict, and Modria.
NewLaw firms refuse to fit easily into either the “supplier” or the “provider” categories of
the legal support ecosystem. More such entities will emerge in the coming years, further blurring
the lines between direct suppliers of legal services to clients and complementary providers of
support and guidance to those suppliers. This ecosystem is going to become more complex and
diverse, not less.
So, when you read through the comprehensive and incisive essays to follow, cataloguing and
analyzing today’s legal support ecosystem and the challenges it faces in future, keep two things in
mind: just how quickly this entire professional support structure emerged, developed, and
established itself over the past 30 years; and just how quickly and completely everything we know
and recognize.
7
