outsourcing and other workplace strategies to meet clients
TRANSCRIPT
© 2014 Robert Half Legal. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. All rights reserved. This material is the
confidential property of Robert Half Legal. Copying or reproducing this material is strictly prohibited. © 2014 Robert Half Legal. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. All rights reserved.
Outsourcing and Other Workplace
Strategies to Meet Clients’ Changing
Demands for Legal Services
Billie Watkins, District Director, Robert Half Legal
Mark Newman, Branch Manager, Robert Half Legal
Judd Henry, Managing Director & Senior Counsel, The Bank of NY Mellon
What We’ll Cover
Legal industry trends
Hiring outlooks
Strategies for success
How outsourcing can help your legal team
Flexible staffing for a competitive advantage
What’s next in the legal profession
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Legal Industry Trends
Client demands are influencing
delivery of legal services
Hiring focused on personnel with
specialized skills
Also: Soft skills and tech expertise
Use of flexible staffing models and
outsourcing on the rise
More strategic use of resources for
eDiscovery
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Trends for 2015:
Law Firms
Law firms are actively recruiting
In-demand practice groups:
– Corporate/general business
– Compliance
– Litigation
– Intellectual property
– Real estate
Focus on candidates with business development skills
experience and business development skills
Incentivized compensation packages to attract and retain
top talent
Strategic use of flexible staffing models
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Trends for 2015:
Corporate Legal Departments
Expanding internal teams, keeping more work in-house
to contain outside counsel costs
Recruiting experienced candidates with law firm
experience, business backgrounds and industry
expertise
Additional staff needed to handle rising workloads in the
areas of:
– Litigation
– Compliance
– Corporate transactional
– Contract administration
Bringing in legal professionals on project basis
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Legal Industry Trends
Which of the following issues will have the biggest impact
on the practice of law in the next five years?
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Emerging
Technologies 34%
19% Governance
Regulations
18% Privacy, Data
Security Concerns
12% Globalization
Legal Industry Trends
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Responding to Marketplace
Pressures with:
Alternative Fee Arrangements
Enhanced Customer Service
Flexible Staffing Models
Cost Transparency
The Outlook for Lawyers
Hiring tied to practice area,
sector expertise
Tenure, experience in demand:
– Senior and midlevel associates
– Knowledge of particular industry or sector
– Experience or degrees in engineering,
science fields, banking and finance
– Technical proficiency
Market for new and first-year associates
improving but still modest
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The Outlook for Paralegals
Paralegals assuming broader roles
Managing a wide range of
assignments
Hybrid/blended paralegal positions
growing
Backgrounds in demand:
– Practice area expertise – compliance,
contract/lease administration, eDiscovery
– Insurance, financial services, real estate,
healthcare
– Bachelor’s degree, paralegal
certification
– Technical skills/experience and aptitude
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The Outlook for Legal Secretaries
Lawyer-to-legal secretary ratios
are changing
Most marketable legal secretaries
possess:
– Three to five years of experience
– Backgrounds in high-demand practice areas
– Adaptability, resourcefulness and initiative
– Technical aptitude
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High-Value vs. Commoditized Legal
Services
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LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES FOCUSED ON
QUALITY AND VALUE
BESPOKE VS. STANDARD
LEGAL SERVICES
CLIENTS DEFINING
HIGH-VALUE LEGAL WORK
Strategies for Success
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MONITOR The business marketplace and trends
impacting the evolving
legal landscape.
ADAPT To changing business environment and
marketplace influences.
BE FLEXIBLE & CREATIVE Embrace innovative ways to
deliver legal counsel and services
that clients want and need.
Outsourcing Your Legal Team
Legal staffing agencies can help
Contract lawyers, paralegals, e-discovery consultants
All negotiations handled
Or true outsourcing with a service provider
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Outsourcing Your Legal Team
Avoid bad hires
Increase legal support
Save money
Bridge talent gaps
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Considerations for Engaging Outside
Service Providers
What’s the real cost?
Customize the contract
Confidentiality and Security
Quality Control
Domestic vs. Overseas
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Flexible Staffing for a Competitive
Advantage
Access to larger pool of professionals
Budget-friendly
Protects core staff from burnout
Smaller departments can provide more services
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Flexible Staffing for a Competitive
Advantage
Lawyers are most likely to hire attorneys on a project basis
for:
Litigation: 35%
Discovery: 16%
Labor & employment: 13%
Bankruptcy/foreclosure; restructuring/insolvency: 13%
Intellectual property: 12%
General business/corporate law: 11%
Other: 6%
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Project Staffing Success Story
“During an acquisition last year, we needed highly
knowledgeable, experienced tax and mergers &
acquisitions experts to help us make informed decisions
and execute the very complex work efficiently – and we
obviously couldn’t afford to hire that kind of talent internally.
Bringing in specialized legal counsel on a project basis
enabled us to complete the merger in a reasonable time
frame, knowing that all the legal requirements, notifications
and licensing issues were managed correctly.” — Tim Collins, general counsel and chief ethics and compliance officer,
Convergent Outsourcing, Inc.
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What’s Next?
Retirements leaving gaps in leadership
– Shortfall of 200,000 legal professionals
GCs focusing on recruiting and retention, succession
planning and leadership development
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What’s Next?
Law firms will become more nimble, diverse
and global-minded
Firms need to deploy exactly the right expertise and
talent at the right time to improve client services
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Any Questions?
Future Law Office research:
www.futurelawoffice.com
Social Media
• Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter and Google+
• Check out our YouTube channel
• Sign up for our Legal Blog
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© 2014 Robert Half Legal. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. All rights reserved. This material is the
confidential property of Robert Half Legal. Copying or reproducing this material is strictly prohibited. © 2014 Robert Half Legal. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. All rights reserved.
Outsourcing and Other Workplace
Strategies to Meet Clients’ Changing
Demands for Legal Services
Billie Watkins, District Director, Robert Half Legal
Mark Newman, Branch Manager, Robert Half Legal
Judd Henry, Managing Director & Senior Counsel, The Bank of NY Mellon