Ep 107: Was the Pandemic A Tipping Point for Law Firms?

As we begin to look ahead to a post-pandemic world, what will the legal market look like in 2021 and beyond? Has the pandemic’s impact on law firms resulted in a tipping point that will forever alter law firms and the business of law? A report by the Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession at the Georgetown University Law Center and Thomson Reuters Institute, 2021 Report on the State of the Legal Market, speculates that the combined effects of the pandemic may have so softened partner resistance to fundamental change as to create a tipping point in favor of a significant redesign of our legal delivery systems — including law firms. Joining LawNext this week is the lead author of that report, James W. Jones, senior fellow at Georgetown and director of its Program on Trends in Law Practice. Formerly a law firm managing partner, corporate general counsel, and management consultant to the legal industry, Jones specializes in strategy and trends in the legal profession.   In a conversation with host Bob Ambrogi, Jones details the financial and organization impacts of the pandemic on law firms and shares his thoughts on whether 2020 was indeed a tipping point for law.  Thank You To Our Sponsors This episode of LawNext is generously made possible by our sponsors. We appreciate their support and hope you will check them out.  ASG LegalTech, home to the practice management platforms PracticePanther, Bill4Time, and MerusCase, and e-payments platform Headnote. XIRA.com, where clients find, book and meet with attorneys; and where attorneys get free, fully integrated practice management software. Everlaw, the cloud-based ediscovery platform for law firms, corporations, and government agencies.  Law Insider, producer of the show Contract Teardown, where they analyze the contracts that others are talking about.  A reminder that we are on Patreon. Subscribe to our page to be able to access show transcripts, or to submit a question for our guests.