Necessary for some, calling into question the particular status of the lawyer for others, the adoption of business modes of operation by law firms appears more and more obvious.
Should the managing partner of a large Parisian firm now be considered a CEO? Should he instill a strategy more than before or should he remain a perfect jurist, a legal technician, a fine analyst and negotiator capable of attracting new clients while retaining old ones? In the Anglo-Saxon model the question does not arise. The lawyer can canvass, prospect, advertise, and be paid almost exclusively based on the success of his cases. In short, the Anglo-Saxon lawyer has become a real businessman.
What about in France?
Certainly the classic vision of the lawyer as a solitary craftsman, an essential agent of the good administration of justice has evolved. Certainly the Hamon law of March 17, 2014 now authorizes canvassing leading to the hopes of the specialized press, but what is the reality of this transformation?
This change, or at least this adoption of part of the company's codes, is first and foremost the result of a global evolution. In the age of the start-up nation, the business management model has become the reference shared by everyone. Public action is inspired by it, the associative mode copies it, profitability and efficiency have become the key words of all activities, economic or not.
In this context, the passage of a “lawyer” logic to one “firm” logic perfectly illustrates the change brought about by the sector. From now on, the big brands are also those of law firms and no longer just those of the big names in the bar.
Need to keep up with the times
The transformation of the activity also results from the desire of firms to develop by mimicking the model of its clients.
It is therefore interesting to note that the appropriation of company codes, such as the division into departments, the establishment ofreporting tools or the recruitment of support functions (HR, marketing/Communication, finance.) is much more the result of large business firms organized in the manner of American law firms than of small individual structures.
However, various studies tend to demonstrate that one of the keys to distinguishing between business firms and general firms is precisely the share of individual clients for the former and institutional clients for the latter.
The adoption of a model closer to that of the company is therefore first and foremost the result of the strategic choices of large firms thus adopting the functioning of their own clients. But the essential and main reason for this development nonetheless remains the search for best practices to increase the profitability of firms. In a very competitive environment, the search for profitability became a strategic necessity but also economic.
Lower the costs, limit turnover and poaching, offer its employees/collaborators working conditions enabling them to gain in productivity, company codes are now fully adopted by large firms.
The hierarchical model is also reproduced
Certainly the collaborating lawyer remains independent and if the end of the salaried lawyer is a reality, the division into structured departments between partners, senior collaborators, junior collaborators and trainees implies the existence of a form of hierarchical link.
There are also business development managers in large French firms, a task traditionally assigned to partners. Firms are equipping themselves with CRM, a customer management tool. Management software, offered by companies like Jarvis Legal, helps improve team productivity and facilitates collaborative work.
Vocational training
The notion of professional training is also an integral element of the employee journey with the creation of real dedicated organizations such as the agency Joberwocky de Nathalie Sevestre. Finally, the improvement of reporting tools allow partners to manage the activity of their firms under optimized conditions.
One of the most revealing elements of this evolution is undoubtedly the arrival of Happiness Office Manager in large firms. Yoga classes and other little touches to the well-being of employees have made it possible to reduce cases of burn-outs and other nervous breakdowns which punctuate the life of business firms.
As we can see, the way firms operate is evolving; the small boutique run by a few renowned founding partners has given way to law firms, often with an international dimension whose name/brand is a guarantee of seriousness and quality. These large groups are often made up of a hard core of associates. Between falling prices driven by increasingly fierce competition and a grouping of several intermediate-sized firms have become the new market benchmarks.
But this model, which appeared at the beginning of the 2000s, also seems to find its limits called into question certain prices charged, the law firm model barely established, already seems to be called into question.
