As the Big Four accountancy firms continue to muscle into the legal market, they are not the only ones expanding their remit. Driven by growing client demand, traditional law firms are also widening their expertise and branching out – trading on their well-earnt reputation and leveraging this to offer a broader range of offerings.
A recent entrant is Eversheds Sutherland’s Konexo, a new consulting firm offering corporate secretarial, HR, financial consulting and remediation services to complement the firm’s legal offerings. Announced in June, Konexo is led by partner Graham Richardson, who tells ALB the offering is a conscious response to market trends and client demand for an alternative legal service provision.
“We are able to offer a broader range of services than the traditional law firm e.g. consulting, compliance, technology consulting, so this opens up new revenue streams and new clients –it’s about growing the business,” Richardson says, adding bluntly that Konexo is also a “defensive measure to fight back against the encroachment of the Big Four into the sector”.
Since they rounded out their legal offerings, the Big Four accounting firms have pushed the benefits of suite of services, billing themselves as tech-savvy operations that work “smarter” to ensure client interests remain at the heart of all their offerings. Law firms that have adopted a similar rallying cry saying they have their unique advantages.
“We have the law firm heritage to call on as we know the legal world – it’s core to us, not a side-line business. Plus, we can reach into the law firm for their in-depth knowledge of law and compliance when needed to provide a comprehensive service to clients – end to end – which the Big Four can’t,” Richardson says.
“We also have the in-depth market knowledge to call upon – we have also been working in the legal tech field in a specialised way for years so have developed many bespoke solutions already,” he adds.
AGILITY IS IMPORTANT
One Asian law firm that is no stranger to adjacent services is Malaysiaheadquartered ZICO Law. The firm’s regional managing partner, Hanim Hamzah, says that law firms that provide adjacent solutions are offered a window into clients’ needs. This also allows them a comprehensive understanding of the client’s business and positioning and with this, no doubt, a competitive advantage. “We believe in the power of diverse teams delivering dynamic solutions through effective collaborations,” Hamzah says.
Although she dodges making any direct compassions to the Big Four, Hamzah notes agility is an important characteristic for adjacent services. “Regardless of business structures, success will lie on the effectiveness of the team that employs multidisciplinary strategies and solutions for any particular client. The deployment of successful teams is the product of good leadership and teamwork at each process level: from clear strategy, effective training to succinct execution,” she explains.
However, whether this will become a mainstream response for traditional law firms remains to be seen. A number of traditional law firms have in recent years toyed with offering ALSP services, but adjacent offerings are far from the norm and, arguably, are a riskier foray. Richardson is aware that this is something of a new remit for firms to break into.
As a result, he says that firms mulling over expanding their offerings should consider market perception carefully, and show strong commitment to the market right from the get-go. Importantly, the link with the law firm must be maintained. “You don’t want the law firm anything other than fully aligned, so never stop communicating about what you are doing to the partners and lawyers. You need to show them how you can develop new revenue for them as well, and benefit their clients. This will help the law firm in the long run.”
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