Relationship of this Project to Existing Research Around the World
Globally, the legal profession is acutely aware of the need to adopt new technologies, business models and practices to deliver value to cost conscious clients.
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The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has undertaken a two year study culminating in a wide ranging report. The purpose of the study was to help lawyers understand and respond to the transformations that they face as a result of the combined effects of globalisation, rapid digitisation, increasing competition from non-lawyers, and the lack of access to legal services. The report incorporates a number of case studies illustrating specific innovations that allow law firms to respond more effectively to client needs and/or provide broadened access to justice. Although the CBA also considered key trends in the Canadian legal market place, apart from the case studies, no broad based empirical research was undertaken to measure the degree and spread of innovation in the legal profession and its connection to the size and structure of the market for legal services.
The American Bar Association has also established a Commission on the Future of Legal Services. It plans a series of community based grass roots meetings, a national convocation of judges, court personnel, businesses, clients and professional leaders and Commission public meetings to gather information and formulate ideas to help lead the future development of the legal profession. It has also formed working groups examining matters such as alternative business structures, electronic courts, and platforms for improved legal service delivery. The Commission is still very much a work in progress.
From 2009 – 2015, Altman Weil Inc, a US management consultancy firm, has undertaken an annual Law Firms in Transition survey. The survey collects data from Managing Partners and Chairs of US law firms and examines their perceptions of likely sources of organisational transformation and their responses to them such as alternative billing, improved practice efficiency, changes in staffing profile, growth strategies, and organisational preparedness for and embrace of change. While the survey produces an excellent analysis of the views of US legal firm practice managers, as a proprietary instrument, its data has limited comparability with other surveys and does not comply with the OECD's Oslo Manual. Moreover, the survey only collects data from firms of 50 or more lawyers, whereas in Australia the legal profession is primarily comprised of small firms.
With significant implications for policy and regulatory development in Australia, a report on Innovation in Legal Services prepared for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Legal Services Board (LSB) found that regulatory and legislative changes have acted both as a driver and a barrier of innovation in the UK market for legal services. In particular the report found that the introduction of Alternative Business Structures has positively affected innovation in the provision of legal services. Where innovation was implemented, its major effect was to diversify the range of legal services offered by law firms, improve quality and attract new clients. The report identifies the types of innovations that are occurring in the UK and where they are occurring (for example in what size law firm; among male or female lawyers; among commercial and non-commercial firms). It also examines law firm decision making structure and culture and correlates these with the level of innovation proposed or implemented. Consequently, the Innovation in Legal Services Report provides an excellent comparative benchmark for the researcher’s proposed data collection and analysis.
Studies have been undertaken in Australia to measure the breadth and depth of innovation across the economy. However, these have not been undertaken on a sectoral basis and to date there is no academic study which has attempted to measure the degree of innovation specifically in the Australian legal profession and the impact that this has on the legal services market. Consistent with the Oslo Manual, from 2003 – 2013 the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has collected data to measure innovation in Australian businesses. Among other matters, the ABS data have characterised the innovation by type and status (for example, operational or marketing), identified sources of ideas for innovation, looked at innovation financing, examined drivers and barriers to innovation, considered collaborative arrangements leading to innovation and calculated the benefits of innovation. However, as noted above there is no specific data relevant to the legal profession published by the ABS and it is too difficult to tell whether the general trends identified by the ABS would apply.
As in the US, proprietorial studies have been undertaken by Australian based legal management consultants and legal information management firms such as Lexis-Nexis. However, it is unclear how representative the respondents of these studies are of the legal profession as a whole. Moreover, the studies are not designed to measure the degree and spread of innovation across Australia.