Alert to change

In the final Briefing of 2019, we rather stated the obvious: the law firm of 2020 – a staple talking point at industry events for so many years before – was just around the corner. Would all those 2020 visions that pundits and firms alike had talked up now come to pass? Smarter resourcing that puts the efficiency of process, plus fairness, first? Significantly reduced need for piles of paper to tackle both legal and admin workloads? Greater investment in research and development of new products and channels that make it simpler for clients to access the services they want? Action on corporate carbon footprint, alongside greater uptake of videoconferencing perhaps? More pressure to take agile working to another level?

BRAND PROMISES

The national law firm Shakespeare Martineau has just become a group of individual LLPs and brands. Sarah Walker-Smith tells Richard Brent why 2020 is the year for strategic and structural transformation

PROBLEMS WITH SOLUTIONS

Tom Bedford, partner in the solicitors’ risk team at DAC Beachcroft, considers the challenges of conducting client due diligence and executing documents during Covid-19

AT HOME WITH RISK

What could the increased threat and uncertainty offered up by the year 2020 mean for the world of law firm risk management in future? Briefing deputy editor Kayli Olson reports