Imagine if somebody had posed the question in late 2019: “what impact would it have on your firm’s business model if everybody had to work from home for six months to a year?” Most likely, the question would have been met with derision and dismissed without serious debate.
How times have changed …
Let us pose a different question: “what impact would it have on your firm’s business model if it became impossible or irrelevant to measure billable hours?”
We are delighted to invite you to the Professional Practices Alliance (PPA) Panel Discussion on Life and Partnerships without the Billable Hour: Business Model Transformation Post-COVID-19. Please see below for full details.
The increasing use of technology to deliver professional services in new and more efficient ways means the billable hour is under pressure. As the digital component of the substantive value delivered to clients increases and the human component decreases, so the question of how that digitally-added value needs to be accommodated becomes more important. Amongst other aspects, this affects pricing strategies, how technology investments are funded, and how valuable IP created is handled – for instance when partners exit. Will ‘naked-in-naked-out’ still be a viable approach when tangible value created by partners persists after they leave?
What do law firms and other professional services firms need to do, in practical terms, to shift from business models based upon inputs that are essentially increments of human effort, to outputs based upon value delivered to clients?
The panel will draw on lessons from other professions where digitally added value already forms a significant component of the client value proposition (and to the employee value proposition) for instance through ‘computer aided design’ in engineering and architecture firms, and in merchant banking.
In this webinar, the expert panel will explore the following questions:
- How would that change the way you charge for your services?
- Would that impact the value proposition that you offer to clients?
- Would the way that you measure profitability and performance need to change?
- How would your governance systems change?
- Would it impact the metrics and process that you use for partner compensation?
- How would you differently staff, equip and organise your firm?
Date: Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Time: 9.30 am – 10.30 am GMT
Guest Speaker:
Philip Goodstone, EY – Phil is EY’s Head of Law for UK & Ireland, having joined the firm as the founder partner of the legal practice in September 2014. Since then EY has grown and developed a team of over 200 legal professionals in the UK. Phil has been an advocate of the need to embrace both technology and new ways of working in the law and also for increased diversity and inclusiveness in the legal profession.
Professional Practices Alliance Speakers:
Robert Millard, Cambridge Strategy – Law Firm Management Consultant
Corinne Staves, Maurice Turnor Gardner LLP – Partnership & LLP law & SRA regulation specialist
David Shufflebotham, PEP Up Consulting – Partner Remuneration specialist
Chair: Zulon Begum, CM Murray LLP – Partnership Law & M&A specialist
This Zoominar will be an informal discussion so there will be an opportunity to comment and pose questions throughout the discussion, but please let us know in advance if there are any specific points that you would like us to address – please email Daniella Brann.
