Over the past few years, law firms and lawyers have grappled with a rapidly changing business landscape, thanks in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with new ways of working, the industry has seen the emergence of new practice areas. For legal networks, this has meant guiding their clients through uncertainty.

 

COVID-19 has changed many things — from the way we work to the kind of work and skills prized by employers. While the legal industry was already undergoing rapid change prior to the pandemic, new practice areas are speeding ahead, requiring a strategy adjustment along the way.

Adam Cooke, executive director at legal network Multilaw, says there has been a range of developments contributing to emerging practice areas globally over the past couple of years.

“We are seeing growth in the following practice areas for our firms: blockchain, NFTs and the metaverse, crypto litigation, cybersecurity, data privacy, cannabis law and ESG,” he says.

As a result, legal networks have introduced a variety of initiatives spanning these focuses to ensure clients are supported amongst these evolving areas.

Multilaw, Cooke says, has devised a thought leadership content strategy for 2022 which aims to provide member law firms and their clients with insights in order to ensure they are well placed to meet these new trends head-on.

A variety of formats are used, including “webinars, toolkits, reports, roadmaps, videos, articles, Q&As, check-lists, blogs, podcasts,” Cooke says.

Among these recent topics and resources include material that asks the big questions — from “blockchain and NFTs are smart, but can they revolutionise the fashion industry?” and “Cybersecurity – Best practices for global organisations: a horizon-scan of looming cyber-attack and national security issues,” to an examination of privacy rights in the Metaverse.

For member firms, the network has announced the launch of a range of tools and resources, including an ESG toolkit, which offers best practice guidance on implementing proactive and measurable ESG strategies.

Firms can also access a report on how to attract and retain the next generation of lawyers, a checklist to help support transforming D&I intentions into reality, with “guidance to on how to deliver effective D&I initiatives inter-nally, as well as be able to consult clients on policies” and a Digital Transformation Roadmap “recommending which technologies should be invested in, their wider benefits and impact, as well as how to lay a strong foundation for digital practices,” says Cooke, noting that “networks are increasingly being expected to serve as knowledge hubs for the firms they serve around the world.”

LINGERING IMPACTS

While many markets are showing prom-ising signs of pandemic recovery, the impacts linger.

“Echoes of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to ring loud and clear across all regions and industries. For law firms, the aftershock has hit twice: first in dealing with the direct effects of changing lock-down restrictions, hybrid working, and widespread uncertainty. And secondly, managing the indirect impacts these unknowns have had on clients and their legal requirements,” Cooke says.

He points to a recent member survey on what law firm priorities are as countries emerge from the pandemic.

“The top responses were: to focus on talent acquisition and retention, prioritise improving workforce planning, improve the use of and investment in legal technology, to embrace sustain-ability best practice [and] to commit to inclusion and diversity,” Cooke says.

Taking these needs on board, the network responded with a deep-dive report to help guide leaders through the “new normal.”

“Multilaw responded by producing a 35-page report titled ‘Navigating 2022: The priorities, challenges, and strategies of leading law firms across the globe’ which seeks to act as a handbook for the leaders of our firms who find themselves in a new world post-pandemic,” Cooke says.

While law firms have certainly changed, so too has the role of GCs and the work of in-house teams — another area requiring a response from law firm networks.

“The role of the GC has become increasingly important as a result of the pandemic. As issues such as hybrid working, workforce retention and ESG come to the fore GCs are increasingly finding themselves acting as strategic advisors within their organisations, often with a seat on the board, in addition to their traditional legal duties,” Cooke says.

As 2022 well and truly kicks off, for law firm networks, it will be another year of adjustment and supportive offerings — and new strategic goals.

Cooke notes an Africa expansion is something the law firm network is working on, along with “strong sustainability and D&I initiatives” that will “assist in setting an example for our firms to follow... also, a focus on technology and digitalisation which will help us serve our members more effectively.”