The practice of law is not only a profession; it’s a business. Broadly characterized as the legal service industry, it faces many of the same challenges and opportunities confronting other industries.
For example, the legal industry is now under ever-increasing pressure from its clients to enhance the value of what it provides, which essentially translates to reducing the cost of legal services.
Innovative legal professionals are now implementing many of the same cost-reducing strategies employed by other industries—from process improvement initiatives to technological innovations to outsourcing specific work to third-party specialists. These pioneering legal professionals, while they may be small in number, are a growing minority, and are succeeding in transforming the legal services industry.