In normal circumstances, The Lawyer’s annual managing partners’ dinner alongside LexisNexis gives heads of leading law firms an opportunity to meet, greet and put the world to right regarding the business of law.
But as one knows all too well, 2020 was no normal year, and last year’s event required a different format. Hosted by LexisNexis’ Mark Smith, 31 delegates across two evenings were tasked with taking a more data-driven approach to strategic planning. This included a unique virtual challenge with breakout groups, but more of that later.
Before the evening’s’ exercise, head of segment marketing Christopher O’Connor introduced LexisNexis’ new gross legal product (GLP) index. Based on a comprehensive set of metrics and providing a GDP-like measure of the demand in the legal market, O’Connor explained GLP’s role in quantifying the impact of Covid-19 on the legal market, at a time when analytical insight is more important than ever for developing firm strategy.
The GLP itself focuses on two core questions: What do lawyers do, and what proxy data exists to help forecast demand?
By drawing on publicly available data sources, the GLP allows for a bottom-up data-driven approach to deliver critical insight for individual practice areas.
Overall, LexisNexis predicted that the legal market has declined by seven per cent year-to-date, although there has been a real mix of performance across practice areas. For example, employment, corporate and tax are among the areas accelerating, while immigration and property are slowing. In terms of how firms should approach data, delegates were encouraged to think creatively about information sources and be very clear about what they want to know.
Following this initial content delivery, it was then down to delegates to apply a data-driven approach to the evening’s exercise.
The challenge involved attendees being re-employed at an imagined £250m law firm, demoted from their most senior positions to take charge of individual practice groups across corporate, disputes and employment.
It was then down to the attendees, after being split into three groups, to forecast demand for their respective practice groups for the next three years. The core questions were as follows: What are the main driving forces that will impact demand in that practice area; what data do we want to get that will be helpful and what should the firm do now to position itself for success?
After a rich period of discussion, the groups returned with some fascinating insight. For the employment practice group, issues surrounding restructuring, redundancies and reputation were highlighted as key, while diversity and inclusion were referenced as increasingly important.
The discussion over data mostly concerned the responsibility of analysing information, with one team arguing the best means of doing so was by teaming up with an external partner rather than doing it internally. It was also claimed by one participant that the government could be a valuable source of data, such as obtaining stats on the quantity of claims in the Employment Tribunal.
As for litigation, a group spokesperson explained the ease at which it could pick the main driving factor to assess three-year demand: “The economy, stupid,” he said. It was claimed that as a counter-cyclical practice area, disputes would benefit from the economic downturn. This was only enhanced by Brexit, which is likely to spawn litigation due to supply chain issues arising from disruption.
This was in addition to regulation, with certain blockers currently halting a wave of anticipated claims in various fields. Data-wise, the disputes team could rely on historical stats relating to judgments or claims, while in terms of direct action the team realised a talent review would be key. “We ought to understand if we have any gaps,” said one managing partner. “While also making sure we are backing the right horses.” Technological change, including remote hearings, was also mentioned in relation to a potential impact on the UK’s standing in the legal sphere.
Meanwhile, for the corporate group, economic uncertainty was the most obvious factor. However, it was argued the change in administration in the US could create opportunity, with the incoming Biden government set to introduce a new green-based economy.
Another critical concern in the corporate sphere was talent retention, with UK outfits facing the prospect of US competition. “If the work is there then we must have the talent to do that work,” said one attending corporate lawyer.
After summarising each of the groups, it was then down to LexisNexis to conclude the evenings, with LexisNexis strategy director Anthony Kay praising the quality of the rapid-fire set of discussions.
“It went beyond big macro themes, such as Brexit, through to the more specific elements and how that effects the area we are looking at,” said Kay. “Overall, we went from data, through to analysis and then to the most interesting bit, insight. And this is what can help drive business decisions.”
Facilitator’s comment: Christopher O’Connor, head of segment marketing at LexisNexis
Thank you for The Lawyer for hosting the event and particularly the Managing Partners who gave their time in the middle of a crisis to join the workshop. Although it can be difficult at the moment, it is more important than ever to find space to think about firm strategy and the analytical tools required to plan effectively.
The LexisNexis team were struck by how quickly firm leaders were able to pivot their thinking from the short-term operational challenges of crisis management to longer-term demand forecasting and data sources in the group sessions. It is imperative that firms continue to exercise these skills as the macro environment continues to change – sometimes daily.
Data has an important role in supplementing and sometimes challenging (but not replacing) hard-earned experience and instinctive judgement. LexisNexis recommends that Managing Partners challenge their practice area leads and management teams to think deeply about the outlook in their areas and, crucially, use data to support their recommendations. This will not only make your current strategy more robust but will also help develop a new generation of strategic, data-driven leaders.
The GLP is an extra source of information for firm leaders to consider when forecasting demand. You can download the report and generate a personalised assessment of your firm and its positioning compared to market dynamics here. If you have any questions about the report or would like to arrange a briefing for your management team then please get in touch at christopher.oconnor@lexisnexis.co.uk.
