Bellwether Insights 2020: Could small firms be weathering the crisis?

Bellwether Insights 2020: Could small firms be weathering the crisis?

 

Is the overall effect of Covid-19 as bad as feared? What impact will the crisis have on ways of working, operational models and innovation? How can the legal industry rebound?

 

Every year, 老司机午夜福利 conducts a flagship research study looking at independent law firms, as part of our well-known Bellwether Report Series. This year, without a doubt, our focus was clearly and squarely on the impact of the pandemic, conducting our study a month or two after the crisis first hit the UK.

As a result of this, our study, Bellwether 2020: COVID-19 and the Legal Industry, perhaps gives a slightly different view on the pandemic. Our findings show that confidence is higher than once expected 鈥 but is this more a sign of complacency, rather than positivity?

 

A growing confidence

 

Surprisingly, despite the scale of the global crisis, our research showed that many firms are reporting stable revenues. There is also an air of positivity when considering their projected plans of the next five years, with more than two-thirds of firms currently planning for growth.

However, research conducted at the start of the pandemic by the Law Society and the Bar Council, eluded to a very different sentiment in the market.

At 71%, their research showed a significantly higher number of legal practitioners being concerned that their firm would not weather the crisis at all. Does our fieldwork, therefore, reflect a more recent picture of the state of mind of small firm leaders?

 

Confidence or complacency?

 

There is clearly a lot of confidence in the market regarding small law firms鈥 belief in their ability to bounce back, which is hugely positive. Perhaps the government initiatives launched in support of small businesses has buoyed the legal market overall?

The majority of firms have taken advantage of the various support options, with many taking up at least one government initiative as financial support for their firm:

 

Firms have enthusiastically taken up government initiatives

 

But is their confidence mainly linked to their own firm鈥檚 ability to respond to the crisis?

When asked about the consumer and commercial market, a very different picture emerged from the survey data, with over a third responding that they felt COVID-19 was a 鈥榗ritical threat鈥 to their clients.

Whether their clients are consumers or global businesses, their own response to the crisis will very much be dictated by their clients鈥 and their revenue streams鈥 ability to weather the storm over the coming months.

 

Also, covered in the Bellwether report:
  • Firm鈥檚 operational response: 鈥淭here are decades where nothing happens, and week where decades happen.鈥
  • The human impact of COVID-19: 鈥淚 want a good work-life balance. That鈥檚 more of a priority to me than having a senior position.鈥

 

Read the full report here and download a free copy.
 

 

Product deep-dive 鈥 How we can help

 

Click to understand an overview of our content areas and sign-up for a free trial:

Our Coronavirus guidance

Practice Management guidance

There鈥檚 more to running a law firm than being a good lawyer. If you want to succeed in today鈥檚 tough legal landscape, you have to manage your business effectively. That means strategic planning, business planning, financial management, risk management, talent management, operational management, knowledge management, HR, IT, tax, pensions, business development, health & safety, learning & development, facilities and more.

Who has time to actually practice law?

LexisPSL Practice Management is the essential online toolkit for independent law firms.

Practice Compliance guidance

Every law firm has a legal duty to comply with the SRA Handbook and an array of other legislation and regulations. Get it wrong and you personally face investigation, disciplinary action, fines and prosecution (not to mention the damage to your reputation).

LexisPSL Practice Compliance is an online risk and compliance toolkit designed to help your firm get in line and stay in line. 

 

[老司机午夜福利 Bellwether 2020]

 

老司机午夜福利 has 200 years of experience providing information services to the legal sector. One of the many advantages of  LexisPSL is that you can significantly reduce the amount of time spent on research by quickly working out what needs to be actioned, as well as performing in-depth analysis into sectors and practice areas at the level of complexity you need.

LexisPSL gives you comprehensive resources for 35 areas of practice so you can key information on your sector 鈥 sector-specific practical guidance, news, checklists and industry updates 鈥 making you confident that you are acting on the most up-to-date information and points of law.

 

Key advantages in the current climate:

 

  • Use LexisPSL at home, just as you would in the office as all 老司机午夜福利 tools are available online for this purpose
  • Subscribe to just one practice area, or a selection, so you don鈥檛 need to waste budget and vital resources on unnecessary information
  • Through LexisAsk, you can ask questions to our experts to fill in the gaps you don鈥檛 know, and get quick, trusted answers from trained PSLs 鈥 which is particularly handy when you are away from the traditional office environment

 

Use the form at the bottom of the page or click on the above links to sign-up for a free trial.

 

 

 


Related Articles:
Latest Articles:
About the author:

Amy is an established writer and researcher, having contributed to publications, such as The Law Society, LPM, City A.M. and Financial IT. Her role at 老司机午夜福利 UK involved writing content and research reports, including "The Bellwether Report 2020, Covid-19: The next chapter" and "Are medium-sized firms the change-makers in legal?"