With more than 66 lawyers in France in 000, the profession is close to saturation. In this competitive atmosphere, the importance of having an entrepreneurial approach to managing a law firm is increasingly confirmed in the future. What are the profile and skills of this new lawyer entrepreneur? What are the challenges and tools essential to transforming the law firm of tomorrow?
The importance of adopting an entrepreneurial approach
The need to introduce a more commercial approach to its management is dictated today by the particular context of the profession. There are more and more lawyers, which encourages a certain competition.
Thanks to the Internet, new services, although sometimes of questionable quality, are accessible to all (for example, “personalized” contract model online in a few clicks, etc.). If these services will never provide professional advice, they sow confusion in the mind of the litigant.
Better informed, at least in appearance, the modern customer increasingly cultivates this very contemporary need for transparency and ultra availability. For example, they need to understand your billing and fees, or even compare them to those of other firms. Being able to contact you easily on different media (smartphone, computer, etc.) and obtaining a quick response has also become an imperative today.
In other words, this quest for transparency only accentuates for you the need to be profitable and competitive.
2 examples of loopholes opened by the law
Entrepreneurship is on the rise… Even among lawyers! 2 legislative examples inviting a more commercial approach from firms:
Macron law n° 2015-990 of August 6, 2015 made it possible the inter-professional, that is to say the alliance with an economic aim between legal professionals, accountants, bailiffs, judicial administrators, notaries, etc., and of course, lawyers. From now on, they can choose to work together in the same legal structure (interprofessional practice society). This is a major opportunity to come together to operate as a business, which was previously impossible.
It should also be emphasized that decree of October 28, 2014 no. 2014-1251 which allows lawyers to make personalized solicitation and advertising. Although still relatively little exploited, this novelty is, if you look closely, a real revolution in the world of law. It is part of a business dynamic since it is simply a matter of accentuating the differentiating element of the firm compared to others (innovative brand, niche specialty, etc.). This search for differentiation is crucial in an entrepreneurial logic because it allows us to highlight your added value to stand out and sell your services better.
The opportunities offered by Legal Tech
The development of technological innovations in the legal market has enabled previously non-existent services to now be well established and efficient.
The emergence of these new players, combining technical and legal, allows lawyers to to delegate a certain number of tasks that an entrepreneur must do on a daily basis.
Through modern and innovative tools like what is proposed Jarvis Legal in its management solution: client monitoring via a CRM, time tracking, connected API, invoicing tool, etc., your day-to-day management of the firm is made easier. Where before it was long and tedious, it is now simple and quick thanks to new technologies.
This time saving frees up valuable hours to concentrate on your core business. But it is also the best way for the lawyer, supported in the management of his firm-business, to slip more easily under an entrepreneur's hat!
Finally, how do you become a lawyer entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship adapted to the law firm is based on 3 major points:
- Invest and innovate to attract talent, to develop and improve the daily life of the firm. This is the essence of an entrepreneur's approach: understanding that taking risk and investment ARE necessary to hope to grow and grow your business further. Thinking long term is essential to fully develop yourself. For example, investing in modern solutions, in a new employee, etc.
- Putting profitability first : Profit is the reason for the existence of the company. For the lawyer, it should no longer be a bad word! There financial management must be automated and rigorously organized like that of a business.
- Measure and monitor your performance : the implementation of performance indicators makes it possible to measure the impact of all its actions: number of contacts collected via the firm's website, impact of this or that new activity developed in the firm, the number of hours spent on a file (to be able to explain it to the client!), etc. What we measure grows. It’s therefore an excellent way to focus on what works best and improve what works least.
All facets of an entrepreneur are basically already present in the daily life of a lawyer: marketing, sales, accounting, customer relations, etc. Relying on Legal Tech tools allows you to overcome the final limits that prevent you from developing your firm like an accomplished business lawyer.
