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Legal businesses must show support for each other right now
A legal marketplace that is rich in diversity and competition will be crucial post-pandemic – but such a marketplace will only exist if businesses display collegiality moving forward.
Jerome Doraisamy
Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus, the legal business landscape was “rich and diverse” potentially bordering on being “overcrowded”, says Courtney Bowie. But what was great about that landscape, she muses, is that there was “so much competition” which in turn drove professionals to new heights.
“For me, I want to continue to be able to connect and collaborate with other great legal minds in the SME law firm community.”
Ms Bowie – who is the principal of Her Lawyer – said that as the fallout from the pandemic continues, certain types of work will start to dry up while others will be flooded.
“Some practitioners may be facing a very sparse workload for the foreseeable future, while others will be run off their feet trying to keep up with demand, some while juggling home-school responsibilities as well. Both scenarios are a potential mental health disaster,” she submitted.
“Small firms need to come together as a profession at this time to support one another and spread the load.
“Now is a great time for practitioners to utilise their downtime to work on that project they’ve had rustling around in the back of their mind. It’s an opportunity to reach out to members of your network with the skill set you need to make it happen. I’m so excited to see the innovations that will be produced during this time.
“One example is something I’m doing in the private Facebook group I run called Ladies Who Lawyer, for women in the profession. As this situation has been unfolding, I’ve been seeing some sad stories about female practitioners concerned about stand-down and redundancies.
“I saw an opportunity with many of us locked down in our homes and still having to meet our professional obligations, not to mention those of us who might need to find different ways and means to bring money into our homes.
“The LWL community is going to support one another through a dedicated CLE platform where members can record and upload their own CLE video to the platform and other members can find and purchase their webinar on the platform. The platform is under development and expected to launch in the next couple of weeks.”
When asked how best legal businesses can show support for each other, Ms Bowie said that active participation in online and virtual communities will be “really important”.
“We need to know we’re not alone. We need to be sharing our personal and professional struggles with people who can relate. We also need an outlet to vent our frustrations and worries outside the home,” she posited.
“Professionally, SME law firms can support one another through working together to get the work that needs to be done, done. Whether that be through white labelling arrangements or other types of contracting, or other partnerships.
“Now is definitely the time for collegiality and collaboration.”
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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