Why a ‘real move away from BigLaw’ could occur

The age of coronavirus saw movement away from the top end of town in personal injury law, Bree Knoester says, and the same trend could occur in other practice areas, too.

Jerome Doraisamy • 09 February 2021 • Big Law

Among the myriad professional lessons from 2020, former barrister and managing partner Bree Knoester (pictured) mused, was that clients crave personal connection.

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What she discovered during the pandemic, she noted, is that “if you were committed to creating personal connections with clients – even though you were doing it by Zoom – and you could communicate legal concepts and give advice [in the right fashion], then you would have been as busy as ever”.

Speaking recently on The Lawyers Weekly Show, Brave Legal founder and principal Ms Knoster said that clients’ desire for such connection, empathy and understanding may drive business away from larger firms and towards smaller ones – something she predicts for her own practice area, personal injury law.

“I think there will be a real move away from BigLaw in the personal injury space. Previously, people felt that they needed to see a lawyer in a big office with, perhaps, a marble foyer and lots of levels and lots of lawyers in suits. But that all got tipped out with COVID-19, and it became very clear that people value different things about lawyers,” she posited.

“They want an expert who’s accessible and who can explain their situation and come up with a solution in a compassionate way.”

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This potential shift away from BigLaw, Ms Knoester hypothesised, may also be brought about by the fact that, almost overnight, lawyers were reduced to being heads on screens during lockdown – with many simply donning their activewear for meetings.

“As lawyers, we were – all of a sudden – quite raw, and it was our ability to communicate and be across the law in our area that determined how our clients judged us. It didn’t matter where we were located in the city or in the suburbs. So, I think it’s changed entirely,” she argued.

“[As such], it comes down to the fact that people are searching now for personal connection and a high level of expertise. They don’t want to necessarily drive into the city and go up to the 40th floor of a big building anymore, for reasons that relate to COVID-19.

“There is a real opportunity for boutique firms to really thrive, and really show their point of difference and show clients that they’re not going to get lost in 10 storeys of lawyers. That they’re going to deal with me, as a person, on the screen, and I will help them through this problem.

“The past two to three years has seen a lot more boutique personal injury firms popping up and people coming out of the big firms to set those up. When I think about other boutique firms in this space, they are run by former senior partners of BigLaw. There’s got to be something in that,” she reflected.

Ms Knoester said that she can only really speak to trends in personal injury law, however – based on her experience at a barrister at the Victorian Bar for eight years, as well as six years each as a partner at Holding Redlich and managing partner at Adviceline Injury Lawyers – her view is that the practice areas within national firms that have continued to thrive during the pandemic were those that took a real personal interest in their clients and could guide them in the ways they needed.

“Those characteristics that I think that are successful in personal injury will be successful in other areas of law too,” she submitted.

“Are you interested in your client? Are you a good communicator? Compassion might not be something that you associate with a mergers and acquisitions lawyer or someone in corporate law. But what it really means is understanding your client and speaking their language and helping them understand and make sure they understand and making them feel that you’re a safe pair of hands and that their problems are taken care of with you.

“Lawyers with those skills will continue to do well, irrespective of the area of law. Being a lawyer in a big team in a big firm, and hoping that that is enough to attract work and attract clients, is not going to be enough anymore. People want real visibility in all areas of law.”

The comments follow the launch of Brave Legal, Ms Knoster’s boutique personal injury practice, which – at the time – she said she launched in order to redefine personal injury law, ensuring health and wellbeing are synonymous with legal resolve.

To listen to the full conversation with Bree Knoester, click below:

Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.

You can email Jerome at: jerome.doraisamy@momentummedia.com.au

Anonymous Tuesday, 09 February 2021

Good points. The 1990s-2000s stereotype about "Big Law" and the misconception that they are all in ivory towers, pinstriped suits and not being personable and connected with their clients is truly dated. The perception of marble foyers and clients genuflecting when 'summonsed' to their lawyer's room is not true (anymore). Lawyers, in particular partners, know that no matter the firm size or place, the value for the firm, the lawyer and the client is the service and relationship you have with the client. The GFC saw the collapse of the 'Big Firm' attitude that we are sooo big that clients will come to us. International firms pre-GFC entered Oz and the ease of vid-conferences and emails made access to clients easy, no matter where you were and the Big Law Oz firms realised they could not rely on being the biggest to get work - they had to continue to evolve and really connect with their clients on a virtual and personal basis (which in reality, a majority did in any event) - know the client, not just the matter. If they don't then they will lose the client... The lockdowns ramped this to the next level, for if you stayed home and shuffled paper and did not actively engage and be there for your clients then, no doubt, you would have lost work. The benefit of a Big Firm for a client is they have teams of expertise in many different areas that can project manage their deal or matter and have BCPs in place re: persons, places and systems (it's not for every client - pick your market) - the location or size of office is not that relevant in the new-age. It's what you and your firm can offer to the client to protect and add value for them. Ask a partner of any Big Law firm, "How safe do you feel in this firm or could you leave?" The ones that have a strong client base and connection with their clients and advanced expertise, will say "Pretty comfortable, for my clients will always come with me." The goodwill these days is less in the brand of the firm and more in the individual/team. Never take that for granted. Continue to work on your skills and relationship with your client and synergies between your colleagues and areas of law that will aide your client. It's horses for courses, some lawyers and clients, love being in a large firm overlooking the Sydney Harbour and bumping into their colleagues to share ideas, deals and face-to-face personal interactions and some prefer to be in a home office sending an email. I have heard for 25 years similar rhetoric around a ‘real move away from BigLaw’ espoused by 'boutique' firms and now, 'New Law' firms [slight misnomer - not a law firm], the reality is clients will go to a lawyer and/or firm that works for them and the lawyer and firm have to be vigilant to continue to deliver what the client wants and needs. Areas of law that can be heavily processed/automated (e.g. family law, PI, debt recovery, conveyancing, etc...) have to deliver more regarding value for money, connection and empathy with clients and value adds - or it doesn't matter if they are Big, New or small, they will lose their work.

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Lyn Boxall Tuesday, 09 February 2021

Perhaps saying the same thing in a different way: the bigger the firm, the further the distance between the person actually speaking to the client and the person doing the work. This gets worse depending on the seniority of the individual who is the client contact person.

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- Anonymous Tuesday, 09 February 2021
  
  Potentially so. However, less the case now as Big Firms no longer have such a wide-based pyramid system (you no longer have 1 partner, then 2 senior associates/special counsel, with 3 associates/senior lawyers, 6 junior lawyers and 4 graduates in a Big Law firm - not great news for junior lawyers or graduates). Partners and senior associates get their hands on the work more often than they used to a decade ago. This is also because the mundane aspects of law usually done by junior lawyers have been taken over by practice management tools meaning the grunt work is no longer done by people and the complex work is the only thing left on the table to do which is usually in the domain and expertise of the senior lawyers/partners who usually have the relationship with the client. Again an example of evolving your practice to less repetitive or process driven work - for this disappear. So the worker and the relationship person are largely one in the same or only 1 to 2 steps away. Some projects and areas of law require a multitude of persons. A one person band could not do a complex multi-jurisdictional merger involving company, banking, tax, IR, IP and Property law aspects but may be perfect for a small business purchase. Horses for courses. Ultimately, you have to deliver and satisfy the client and put forward the person/team to achieve same. The larger and more complex the deal the more expertise and resources you have to call upon. If that occurs then you inform the client (which you have the relationship) that the area concerned requires others within the firm to get the job done. Clients understand that one person cannot do and know everything (if someone says otherwise, please notify their PI insurer) and have no issues with others being involved but just like a GP referring a client to a specialist, the GP must always be there for the patient before, during and after the referral. Time and time again, have I seen lawyers correctly refer clients to other teams BUT then leave the client feeling like they have been fobbed off. Engagement and care throughout is paramount.
  
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