Legal Practice Transformation Post-COVID-19 (eBook)

Introduction 5

I. Different legal teams will have different solutions 9
1. Rapid integration of digital technology in the delivery of legal services is the new ‘killer app’ 9
2. The current state of play with legal practice 12
3. Will we hire lawyers through an app? 13
4. COVID-19 is a disruptive moment that favours challenger firms 14
5. COVID-19 and the delivery of legal services through digital platforms 15
6. The medium is the message – how legal services are delivered is becoming more important than who delivers them 16
7. ‘Legal teams’, not ‘law firms’ + ‘in-house’ – the death of the siloed lawyer 18
8. Conclusion: reimagining the legal profession post-COVID-19 19

II. Remote working is here to stay 21
1. Location, location 21
2. Home sweet home 23
3. All change! 25
4. Change as a constant 25
5. Change as an opportunity 26
6. Change as a threat 27
7. Change as a force for good 29

III. Health and safety for legal teams post-COVID-19 – uneducated guesses? 31
1. Nobody knows what the return to work for legal teams will look like 31
2. “You must work from home if you can” 32
3. COVID-19, difficult conversations and unspoken bias 34
4. Glimmers of hope: will ‘work from work’ be something special and different from ‘work from home’? 39
5. Grief for what was lost 41
6. The unasked question is now asked: can UK employers mandate COVID-19 vaccines for employees? 41
7. Legal teams after COVID-19 – trauma and transformation 43

IV. Culture and community 45
1. “Trust me, I’m a lawyer” 45
2. Trust under attack 47
3. Trust rediscovered 50

V. Partners will foot the bill 57
1. Yes – but maybe not straight away 57
2. Survival of the fittest? 59
3. What’s next? 60
4. Think the unthinkable .63

VI. A changed profession: will old values still triumph? 67
1. Keep calm and carry on lawyering? 67
2. Or might fortune favour the brave? 69
3. “Brave? Me?!” 72
4. Flexible lawyers – great lawyers 74
5. The brakes are coming off – which way now? .82
6. Closing remarks 83

Notes 84

About the authors 87

About Globe Law and Business 88