As law firms transform themselves to become more efficient and client-centric, the more dynamic ones are beginning to realise the importance of non-legal roles. However, different firms have different approaches when it comes to how to best to use non-lawyers.
ALB: What role do non-lawyers play in your firm now, and how do you plan to expand non-legal roles at your law firm in the future?
Roy Ang, head of business development & marketing for APAC, Withers
With the increasingly complex, cross-border nature of legal work and the rise of non-legal clients, our lawyers are focusing their core expertise on providing the highest quality legal and tax advice to clients. This drives an increased need for allied legal professionals to support both the firm and our clients’ success. At Withers, business partnering roles in client matter management, pricing and knowledge management support lawyers in their service delivery, whilst other professional advisors such as accountants, immigration specialists, IP agents and corporate secretarial professionals expand our range of solutions to clients. In addition, Withers has grown strongly in the Asia-Pacific and other regions. This drives the need for more business services coordination to ensure an integrated practice (for example, internal communication, marketing, business development and project management). To expand these roles and attract the right talent, Withers provides various opportunities for non-legal professionals to develop their careers in the firm, including rotation to new roles, retraining, international secondment and opportunities for cross-functional and innovation-driven projects.
Laura Collins Scott, innovation lead, and Andrew Beasley, regional programme director, Clifford Chance
Whilst outstanding client work remains a core focus at Clifford Chance, the firm acknowledges that a holistic approach to client challenges — one where legal issues are part of a broader solution that involves technology and process change — will be the paradigm for new legal services. Since 2007, Clifford Chance has had a team of professionally trained “continuous improvement” special-ists, who have been working with our legal teams looking for how we can deliver legal services most efficiently, whilst also ensuring the client has the best possible experience.
As such, Clifford Chance has drawn together cross-functional teams of specialists to accommodate the evolution of legal services. Currently, the firm has an emphasis on acquiring talent with backgrounds in project management, business process change and technology. Legal expertise is a welcome bonus; however, we are keen to learn from other professions. Our current non-legal roles include legal project managers (LPMs), resource advisors, legal technology advisors and continuous improvement professionals, amongst others. Ultimately, we acknowledge that requirements will continue to evolve – we need to monitor this and create new roles accordingly.
Lisa Theng, managing partner, and Pradeep Singh, admin partner, CNPLaw
At CNPLaw, non-legal staff in HR & admin, IT, marketing and finance comprise about 20 percent of our team. Our paralegals, legal executives and legal secretaries make up about another 20 percent. Together, they perform a variety of managerial, professional and administrative roles. We see non-legal staff as valuable members of the firm. Beyond performing clerical functions, our paralegals, legal executives and legal secretaries possess planning and organisational skills to assist the lawyers to run their practices smoothly. Our staff in HR & admin, IT, marketing and finance are active contributors to strategic planning and business development. CNPLaw believes that a successful law firm of the future must adopt a multidisciplinary, holistic approach in delivering legal services. For example, technology not only provides the tools to increase the efficiency of admin processes, but also offers opportunities to develop new capabilities to provide legal services. Our firm benefits from the skills and experience of our non-legal staff, and we look forward to their participation in growing the firm and shaping the firm’s future.
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