Latest news: Campaign to stop unconscious bias; Marketing push in North America; Mid-tier firms in positive mood

Law Council out to counter unconscious bias

The Law Council of Australia has launched a major new program to help lawyers understand and address unconscious bias. It has been working with diversity and inclusion specialists, Symmetra, to construct an unconscious bias program customised for the legal profession. The program is now being offered to all lawyers and legal practices via face-to-face workshops, train-the-trainer modules and online courses.

Law Council of Australia President Fiona McLeod SC says a series of national diversity and equality projects have been embraced by the legal profession and this program is an essential element of the whole strategy. “Human beings are hardwired to notice personal characteristics and to prefer those with attributes or experiences similar to our own without conscious awareness,” McLeod says. “Research demonstrates that this can lead to skewed decision-making concerning recruitment, promotion and allocation of work and entrench inequity.”

McLeod says that addressing unconscious bias could be the key to unlocking future diversity that would help the Australian legal profession – in terms of gender, and also in other fields of diversity. “Addressing unconscious, or implicit, bias encourages better decision-making and new approaches to problem-solving. A deliberate focus on diversity enables organisations to better attract and retain top talent, allows for the use of a greater talent pool and can boost productivity,” McLeod says.

North American firms in marketing push

The hunt for new clients is on in earnest in North America. A new study has found that more than four in 10 law firms in the United States and Canada are planning to lift marketing spending this year as they seek to acquire new clients.

According to legal staffing firm Robert Half Legal, 45 per cent of law firms it questioned in a recent survey said their firms planned to increase marketing budgets. Of those, 4 per cent said their law firms planned a significant increase, while 41 per cent said the increase would be modest. Just 1 per cent said marketing budgets would decrease. The respondents were asked: “Does your law firm plan to increase or decrease its spending on marketing its services in the coming year?”

“In an increasingly competitive environment for legal services, law firms are making a bigger effort to differentiate themselves,” said Charles Volkert, senior district president of Robert Half Legal. “Managing partners are hiring marketing specialists and consultants to help distinguish their firm’s brand and broaden its exposure to potential clients.”

Volkert notes that some of the marketing strategies being implemented by law firms include expanding digital advertising, enhancing social media efforts and redesigning websites to improve their online presence.

Brighter prospects for mid-tier firms

The outlook for legal practices is much brighter than some doomsayers have been predicting, according to Pitcher Partners’ annual law firm survey. However, the report suggests mid-tier firms are performing better than their colleagues at “the big end of town”.

Ashley Davidson, private clients partner at Pitcher Partners, comments: “The ongoing media commentary about legal sector revenues is pretty bleak. You’d be hard pressed to find a commentary or prediction piece that didn’t show revenues down in 2016, with further anticipated declines in 2017. But in sharp contrast, 66 per cent of our survey participants grew revenue in 2016 and 73 per cent are forecasting growth in fees for 2017. For us, this confirms that the legal sector is operating on two different tracks. Problems with revenue and reducing work are taking place at the big end of town, reflecting more volatile corporate markets. But law firms servicing the middle market are still looking very healthy into 2017.”

Davidson puts the positives for mid-tier firms down to them doing a better job of responding to client expectations. “It’s easier to be agile when you’re a smaller firm, and in many ways it’s easier to focus on core strengths and delivering niche services at value-driven prices,” he says. “Many firms have identified you cannot be everything to everyone in such a rapidly changing market. Client expectations are also focused on service providers that are faster, better and cheaper. Successful law firms in 2017 will be the ones who adopt innovative billing alternatives.”

Davidson says contract lawyers and outsourcing are becoming more popular, perhaps continuing to widen the gap between innovative firms and their competitors. Key statistics from the Pitcher Partner study include:

• 66 per cent of surveyed firms experienced growth in the 2016 financial year
• 73 per cent of firms expect to grow in FY2017
• Average professional fees per equity participant in FY2016 were $1.51 million
• Average net profit per equity participant was $416,000 in FY2016
• Net profit in FY2016 is 28 per cent of professional fees
• 55 per cent of firms are using technology to improve their clients’ experience
• Only 25 per cent of firms have a succession plan.