Avoiding Extinction: Reimagining Legal Services for the 21st Century
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Maria Fernandez, General Counsel of Kowtor Industries, clicked on the YouTube link. Sylvester Bowen, CEO and chairman of Bowen, Fong & Chandri, was perched on a stool in front of a plain white backdrop, center stage. After a tight close-up, the camera pulled back as Bowen began speaking: "There are countless law firms around the world. Many are very successful. However, our recipe for success is far different from theirs. We are successful because we believe in challenging the status quo. We are successful because we believe in changing the nature of how legal services are delivered. We are successful because we relentlessly search for ways to leverage technology and professionals in order to service our clients’ legal needs. We are successful because we don’t benchmark against what others are doing—we reimagine the entire process." Bowen stood up and walked to the front of the stage. "But why, in a world that is flooded with law firms, have we achieved success? Are our lawyers more highly skilled? Are our lawyers the most highly paid? Do we charge the cheapest fees? Do we perform legal functions that no one else can? The answer to all of these questions is: no. We are successful because our clients not only buy what we do, they buy why we do it. Our clients see our passion and they want to be part of our drive for innovation. Seems like an odd thing for a law firm client to want, isn’t it? I’ll let you in on a little secret. Our goal is not to do business with every single client on the planet. In fact, we don’t want to do business with every single client on the planet—even if we could resolve all the conflict issues. We want to do business with those who believe in what we believe. Our clients want to see that we are as innovative as they are. They want to see that we want to make our services better, faster, and cheaper—that the laws of economics also apply to legal service providers. They want to see that we don’t abuse our monopoly by providing average service at high prices. In the traditional law firm model, there is immense pressure on lawyers to pound out more billable hours each year; to work harder in order to make more profits. This mindset inhibits innovation. It encourages each lawyer to act in his or her own self-interest rather than in the interests of the firm as a whole. It encourages the pursuit of short-term profits at the expense of long-term stability and profitability. This mindset encourages lawyers to see the firm as nothing more than the sum of its parts instead of something that is greater than the sum of its parts. In my view, firms that do not change their business model and embrace innovation are dousing themselves in gasoline and marching along a burning platform to their own destruction." Maria paused the video and pulled out the Bowen, Fong & Chandri submission, bound much like the other two law firms she and her team had short-listed. Could BFC really be any different? Or was Bowen just a great salesman?
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About the Book
“Mitch Kowalski has translated his considerable understanding of tomorrow’s legal profession into an original, provocative and entertaining narrative.” —Professor Richard Susskind, author of The End of Lawyers? “This is the most innovative law practice management book I’ve ever seen. Mitch has deftly combined an engaging novel about the lives of working lawyers with an illuminating treatise on how law firms must respond to extraordinary change in the legal marketplace. Avoiding Extinction is as entertaining as it is instructive -- and it couldn’t be more timely.” —Jordan Furlong, Partner, Edge International “This is a must read for managing partners, and for all lawyers under the age of 50. Written as a parable, once you pick it up it’s difficult to put down. And it literally screams relevance to the lives of those lawyers today who worry about the sustainability of the current model of legal practice. Big firm or small. City or rural – no matter, this book is for you. Can the law be both a profession and a business? Is it possible to escape the tyranny of the billable hour? Is it realistic to imagine being a truly happy lawyer in private practice in the twenty-first century? You bet – and Mitch Kowalski shows us how! —Ian Holloway QC, Dean of Law, The University of Calgary “Avoiding Extinction is the most original, far-thinking and innovative book on transforming the way that law is practised that I have ever read. Mitch has taken the traditional law firm and turned it upside down. In the process he has reworked the law firm model and given us an insight into how a firm could be structured and run. If you are looking for a creative vision into what a new, truly different law firm could look like, then this book is manna from heaven.” —David J. Bilinsky, Practice Management Advisor, lawyer and writer on law practice management and technology. Creator of the law blog, Thoughtful Legal Management.
About the Author
Mitchell Kowalski is a lawyer and the principal consultant at Cross Pollen Advisory where he advises in-house legal departments and law firms on the redesign of legal service delivery. Mitch was recognized as a Fastcase 50 Global Legal Innovator in 2012, and before that he served as a partner at one of the world’s largest international law firms, and as in-house legal counsel. He writes for a variety of publications, including a monthly column on legal innovation for The National Post, a national Canadian newspaper, and he is often asked for comment in national and international news media. Mitch also speaks at conferences and client-gatherings around the world. As a visiting professor at the University of Calgary Law School, he researches and teaches innovation in the global legal services market. Follow him on Twitter @mekowalski or visit his website www.kowalski.ca