Legal Practice Transformation Post-COVID-19

For most legal teams operating in the COVID-19 age, the focus on near-term survival has passed, and attention has turned to what the 'new normal' might be. With the pandemic overhauling the traditional way in which lawyers practise and serve their clients, the profession turning remote overnight and increasing their use of collaboration platforms and other legal tech, it is likely that legal practice has changed for good, and those prepared to embrace and seize opportunities from this change will be best-placed to flourish in the years ahead.
Legal Practice Transformation Post-COVID-19 imagines the post-COVID world for legal services and asks what has changed, what will stay the same and what values are critical to ensure the successful operation of legal teams in the post-pandemic age.

It considers a variety of aspects crucial to the future of the legal profession, including:
.The impact of technology;
.Remote working;
.Health and safety; and
.Culture and community.

This Special Report will be invaluable reading for lawyers in private practice, in-house counsel, professional support staff and all those involved in the delivery of legal services, to understand what the future of the profession will look like, and how to thrive within it.

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