The legal industry has often been accused of being slow to evolve. Be it billing processes, the adoption of time-saving technology or the perceived lack of flexible working practices, there is a view that the industry lags behind. However, the global financial crisis (GFC) is forcing law firms to re-evaluate their working practices. For the legal sector, it is a catalyst for change. While trade has slowed across the board, an opportunity exists to assess the current state of the industry and innovate for the better. If partners focus on reinvigorating the way they approach the business and practice of law, the law firms that emerge from the other side of the downturn will look and behave differently.

How radically can we expect the legal industry to transform during (and following) the GFC? In seeking to answer this question, we will look at:
• how law firms of all sizes have been impacted by the GFC;
• what a typical law firm will look like when the economy recovers;
• how the downturn has affected law firms in a number of areas, including:
• client relationships;
• financial drivers;
• staffing;
• use of technology;
• what firms can do now to strongly position themselves for the economic recovery and the changing nature of legal operations moving forward.

Relationships

The transactional nature of client-lawyer relationships
Over the past decade the nature of this relationship has evolved. While legal practitioners were once regarded as trusted advisors to clients, the dynamics have definitively shifted. Clients have largely developed a cost-centric approach to legal matters. Many no longer value longstanding relationships with their legal team, but rather issue briefs on a transactional basis dependant on who can offer the best price for a particular piece of work. In some transactions, clients will assign pieces of the same case to different law firms on the basis of cost.

However, the current economic climate is providing an opportunity for lawyers to reassert themselves in the minds of clients, re-establishing their role as a ‘trusted advisor’ and holder of the depth of knowledge required to understand and support their client’s
business.

The historic transition from the relationship-based to the transactional model
In times past, the strength of traditional client-lawyer relationships lay in the relationship itself. The in-depth understanding of a client’s business acquired through a long-standing professional relationship allowed lawyers to better service that client. However, over the past 20 years, businesses have become larger and more complex. As these businesses have evolved, so too has their workforce. New employees join, departments grow and priorities shift. In this climate, it is easy for the client-lawyer relationship to be overlooked, with the new wave of hires on the client side failing to recognise its inherent value. It is now less about relationships with a legal team and more about managing costs. Legal costs have come to be managed just like any other expense, with lesser value placed on personal relationships and the emphasis on identifying and retaining the most cost-effective supplier.

It is worth noting that law firms themselves have contributed to this state of affairs. The billable hour model, while profitable in the boom years, has meant that the primary focus was productivity and billing. It has been more valuable to be in the office and bringing in revenue than out of the office and building and maintaining client relationships.

There is also little doubt that the billable hour model has cost law firms the trust of many clients. The apparent focus on profit and partner earnings by firms has undermined the ‘trust’ in the ‘trusted advisor’ role of the legal profession.

The client-lawyer relationship of the future
As the profession evolves and a harsh economy forces a change of approach, lawyers could expect to see the re-establishment of their ‘trusted advisor’ role within long-term client relationships. In this advisory role, they will deliver high quality, independent, dispassionate advice based on a long term view of what is best for the client’s business.

Some businesses are already starting to realise the value of having a stronger connection with their legal team. The downturn has led them to question what they could have done better in the good times to protect their business. They are beginning to look for legal teams with a sound understanding of their business and its objectives, to help them plan for the future and ensure its sustainability. This presents an opportunity for firms to reposition themselves and become true partners to their clients. However, this will require a shift in thinking.

How can law firms instigate this change?
To re-establish the trusted advisor role lawyers, need to think beyond the deal in front of them. They must take a more strategic approach, while remaining commercially-minded, to demonstrate the valueadd their services provide. For example, an hour’s work by a partner could save a client millions of dollars. The value here is in the outcome achieved, as opposed to the minimal investment of time by the lawyer.

To really add value to a client’s business, lawyers must take a more holistic approach, by investigating the issues that impact the organisation as a whole and understand how their firm can assist in providing solutions. Lawyers will spend more time with their clients to gain a thorough understanding of their long term objectives. The firms that succeed will be those who are prepared to utilise staff with strong inter-personal skills to rejuvenate client relationships.

Lawyers also need to become more vocal about the value their services add to their clients’ businesses. There is a case for training lawyers to develop tangible ways to demonstrate the impact of their work. This can be illustrated through relatively simple mechanisms such as reports detailing achievements or cost savings. Reminding clients that legal work is adding value to their business is imperative when trying to prove credentials as a trusted advisor.

Many Hong Kong lawyers – in fact, the vast majority of legal practices, albeit encompassing slightly under half of lawyers practising in the jurisdiction – would argue that ‘small is beautiful’ in the context of client-lawyer relationships. Solo practitioners and small partnerships are in an excellent position to really know their clients and understand their issues, and can often boast personal service and quick response times. It may be that more medium and large sized firms will move to adopt elements of the smaller firm model in order to leverage its strengths.

Profits

Impact on leverage
In boom times, law firms increased profitability by boosting the amount that is billed in respect to each equity partner. This is done by increasing the ratio of lawyers to equity partners in order to achieve high leverage. This practice can be demonstrated by examining the partner profits at mid-tier firms, many of which saw partner profits increase by around 60% over the past five years. The increased profitability happened largely through leverage and the transition of work from more expensive ‘top-tier’ firms. While the market for legal services remained fairly static, strategically-minded mid-tier firms increased partner profits by increasing leverage, tightly controlling equity and increasing volume.

However, as we see a shift in the relationship between lawyers and clients, the highly-leveraged model will be impacted. The growing emphasis on relationships will go hand in hand with less leverage. If law firms want to establish trust-based client relationships they will need to ensure that senior staff are available to invest time in these relationships.

With leverage used to boost profits, a reduction in leverage will be a concern for law firms. Lower leverage will mean lower income, especially at the top end. However, this is an issue that law firms can address through their approach to billing.

The billable hour
The death of the billable hour has been mooted for years, but with lawyers aiming to move back to the ‘trusted advisor’ role, we may finally see a real impact on billing methods.

The billable hour leaves clients wondering how much they will be charged every time they speak to their legal advisor. Add to this the fact that in-house lawyers have largely come from a large law firm background, and consequently have a solid understanding and
potentially a mistrust of billable hours. The billable hour has led to widespread suspicion of law firms and there is a considerable amount of work needed to restore trust. If lawyers want to evolve client relationships and be regarded as trusted advisors, they may be forced to rethink this model.

If client service will be focused on the value-add that a lawyer can bring, this could also be utilised as a new focus for billing. Take again the example of an hour’s work by a partner that saves a client millions of dollars. Rather than charging for an hour’s work, the partner could charge in proportion to the value of that work to the businesses. This kind of work can be priced based on the value derived by the client, as opposed to the billable hours invested by the firm. This value-based model is already used effectively by corporate advisors and there is no reason it would not translate to the legal industry.

At the other side of the spectrum, there is some movement towards fixed-price work. In small firms this is common practice, with clients demanding certainty when it comes to popular transactions such as conveyancing and probate. When it comes to medium and large sized firms, there is an acceptance that fixed price billing could easily be implemented for transactional work.

With the rise of online availability of legal documents, there is an understanding in society that basic legal transactions do not need to be costly, and can even be carried out by consumers themselves. When it comes to this standard transactional work, a transparent, fixed-price model is likely to come into play within firms, in a bid to provide cost certainly and restore trust.

Moving forward, we are likely to see these two models working in tandem, allowing clients certainty when it comes to transactional work, with a different regime for high level work.

Technology

The drive for value
The past 10 years have seen technology transform the way we do business. The ubiquity of technology and its subsequent commoditisation of information through the internet have inalterably lowered the barriers of entry to the legal world. Being a credible
advisor no longer means having access to a legal library, but a telephone line and a simple internet connection. Easy access to the law is no longer the sole preserve of the law firm.

The corporate legal team’s ability to access information and legal documentation has eradicated lawyers’ cash flow through arbitraging information. The current focus on cost and return on investment could lead to more instances of in-house counsel utilising online legal information instead of engaging their retained firm. New generations of lawyers are growing up with an inherent reliance on technology and the ability to access information anywhere and at any time. However, they must remember that reliance on online information can be dangerous. Free online sources can easily become outdated and can never replace the meticulous research and in-depth experience that are the hallmark of a legal professional equipped with the best available information and tools. Law firms have an opportunity to prove their worth, by demonstrating what they can offer above and beyond this so-called ‘Wikipedia law’. Value must be driven through the independent thought and analysis imparted, in addition to the basic legal information provided. Near enough is simply not good enough.

The race to the bottom
The free availability of legal documentation has also helped to fuel the rise of cheap, or even free, legal advice. The global financial crisis is driving extreme competition and law firms are responding by offering parts of their business for a nominal fee in the expectation that the relationship they build will accrue additional fees later. This approach has accelerated the declining perception of the value provided by legal professionals.

Competition and commoditisation are changing legal pricing models, a trend that is transforming the competitive pitch process. The black letter of the law is no longer valued. Process documentation, previously a valuable commodity, is now being used as an incentive for clients rather than as a billed task. In this scenario, it is the value that lawyers can add to the deal that will win them business rather than the documents they create.

The corollary to this devaluation is that lawyers operating at the smaller end of the market are under increasing price pressure. Sole practitioners in particular, whose cash flow is often supplemented by such work, are under threat from larger organisations able to use their economies of scale. But sole practitioners, who can specialise in niche areas of law such as intellectual property, are able to focus solely on being experts and have fewer overheads than the large law firms so they can be extremely competitive. It is the sole traders on the transactional high street end that will struggle to differentiate and find the margins necessary to survive.

Law without barriers
Another facet of the role of technology in today’s legal sector is the ease of communication across borders. Globalisation is inevitably leading to legal work being outsourced. Legal discovery in particular is being offshored to take advantage of the lower price points available.

This trend is both an opportunity and a threat. For many Hong Kong firms, opportunities for work have never been confined to the domestic market, with significant portions of their revenue coming from regions such as the UK and the US. However, domestic firms face highly-motivated competition from overseas firms looking to set up here and enjoy the territory’s special advantages.

Globalisation increasingly means that many large and mid-sized law firms will have developed a true international presence or relationship in order to maximise and maintain a consistent flow of work. Boutique or specialist smaller firms also play in this area – while they may not have the same economies of scale, they can ride on strong individual reputations and tend to be less encumbered with overheads and potential conflicts. For leading and upwardly-mobile firms, meaningful relationships with both global clients and international lawyers will be necessary to compete with rivals and satisfy both their clients and the ambitions of their staff.

People

Recruitment and retention
As social, racial and gender norms evolve, so too do the profiles of the legal intake and the demographic make-up of legal practices. These changes impact not only the recruitment policy of practices, but also the means by which morale and retention are managed and, ultimately, succession.

One ongoing trend is the gender disparity in legal intake, which is currently heavily weighted in favour of women. In five years, entry level positions in many jurisdictions are expected to be dominated by women, particularly in the government and corporate arenas.

The predominance of women starting out in law has implications for their management, for their retention, and even for maternity planning. Management of work-life balance and the provision of flexible working practices will continue to increase in importance as women move through an organisation. The acceptance that work-life balance and individuality go hand-in-hand must be implicit, as should the need for firms to begin to accommodate provision for these factors into their business model.

Retention in particular should be top of mind as family-friendly values and parental leave are discussed. It’s notable that mothers are substantially more likely to return to their firm following parental leave if the firm proves its commitment to the needs of the individual. While there are practice areas where such adaptability is more testing – litigation for example – the human capital resource involved means that all firms should be investigating economically viable initiatives to maintain the right balance.

Diversity in practice
The imbalance of gender within law firms is not the sole focus of the industry’s recruiters. There is an intensifying demand for lawyers from a breadth of ethnic backgrounds; in this region, understanding of Chinese language and culture is indispensable to most organisations. Client wishes may emerge as the biggest driver in this area. Expert advice from professionals with inherent background knowledge is becoming a prized commodity as the rest of the world turns everincreasing attention towards Asia. This is an area in which social and market forces have been working together over many decades to gradually change the face of the Hong Kong legal profession, a process which is mature and yet still ongoing as further cooperation and integration with the Mainland are sought.

Minding the succession gap With an ageing population, succession planning for the future is a pressing concern. Often the lawyers of the firm hold more corporate knowledge than some executives within client organisations. If a key contact retires or leaves, the revenue can leave with them. Who is going to run the practice when the founding partners retire?

It has been said that the legal profession is caught in the middle of a serious succession gap. Observers note a cluster of senior legal professionals over the age of 50, with another mass of lawyers around the mid-30s age range. However, between those two age ranges there is a thinner spread of lawyers, and this is leading to a generation gap.

That lost generation poses a significant problem for the industry as a whole. As elder partners draw their careers to a close, some will take their accumulated knowledge and relationships with them rather than pass it down to their apparent successors.

The days where lawyers grow up alongside their clients, through marriages, divorces and children may be gone. However, there is no excuse to let these relationships and working practices leave the industry because of a succession gap. Legal firms not only have to ensure skills and knowledge are passed on to the next generation, but also the ability to act as a trusted advisor.

Conclusion

Change does not happen quickly in the legal profession. However, in five years’ time, the legal landscape will have been inevitably altered. Evolution in the industry is absolutely necessary, whether it is prompted by the impact of the global financial crisis, by the impact of technology or by a conscious effort to leave the transactional model and return to the role of trusted advisor.

Hong Kong people are well known for their adaptive and entrepreneurial nature. In tough times, innovative thinking is needed to ensure Hong Kong lawyers not only survive, but prosper. The current downturn has given us the impetus to re-evaluate the clientlawyer relationship to discard a transactional approach and concentrate on a value-added, advisory role. Relationships, whether external, with clients, or internal, with a firm’s own staff, are at the heart of the challenges that the industry must assess – and address.

This article has been adapted from a whitepaper written following a legal industry roundtable hosted by LexisNexis Australia.
 

Additional contributions have been made by LexisNexis Hong Kong. The original article and the list of attendees can be seen here:
http://www.lexisnexis.com.au/pdf/LexisNexis-whitepaper.pdf

危機管理與律師行的未來
環球金融危機所帶來的營商格局改變，將如何促使律師行調整其自身業務架構和策略以適應時代的變化？

人們經常指責律師行業變革步伐遲緩。無論是在收費程序、採用節省時間的技術，還是令人感到工作流程缺乏靈活性等方面，都讓人覺得這一行業是落於人後。然而全球金融危機正迫使律師行重新評估自身的工作規程。對於律師業而言，這是變革的契機。雖然經濟全面放緩，但律師行可藉此機會評估業內的現況，並通過創新來實現改進。如果合夥人專注於重振其處理法律業務和實務的方式，冒出低谷的律師行將會有不同的面貌和表現。

我們可以預期律師行業在全球金融危機之中(及之後)發生多麼深刻的變革？為了回答這個問題，以下將探究：
• 不同規模的律師行如何受到全球金融危機的影響；
• 經濟復蘇後，典型的律師行將是怎樣的一種面貌；
• 經濟下挫如何在若干領域對律師行產生影響，包括：
• 客戶關係；
• 財務驅動因素；
• 人員配置；
• 技術使用；
• 律師行現在可以做些什麼，以便對自身進行牢固的定位以迎接經濟復蘇，適應未來不斷變化的法律業務性質。

關係

交易性質的當事人—律師關係過去十年來，這種關係的性質發生了演變。雖然執業律師曾一度被視為受當事人信任的顧問，但情況確實已經發生轉變。客戶大多對法律事務採取了以成本為核心的取態。許多客戶不再如以往那樣看重與法律團隊維持長久關係，而是以交易基礎來發出委聘書，看誰能夠以最優惠的價格完成特定工作。

在有些交易中，客戶會考慮到成本問題，將同一案件的各個部分分配給不同律師行處理。然而，目前的經濟環境正為律師提供機會，使他們可以重建在客戶心目中的地位，再度確立「受信賴顧問」的角色，成為瞭解、支援客戶業務所必需的深度知識擁有人。

從關係基礎模式邁向交易模式的歷史性過渡過去，傳統的當事人—律師關係的優勢，正在於這種關係本身。通過長期的專業關係獲取對客戶業務的深度瞭解，使律師可以更好地服務客戶。然而在過去20年，企業的規模變得更大，更加複雜。隨著這些企業的發展，其工作人員亦發生演變。新僱員不斷加入，部門擴大，工作重點轉移。在這種氛圍下，當事人—律師關係容易被忽視，客戶方面的許多新進人員不認識這種關係的內在價值。如今，人們較少關注與法律團隊的關係，而更為關注控制成本。律師費就像任何其他成本那樣受到管控，較少重視個人關係的價值，而更多的是強調識別、保留最合算的供應商。

需要指出的是，律師行本身對事情的現狀負有責任。按小時收費的模式雖然在繁榮年代帶來了豐厚的盈利，但它意味只著重產能和收費，一心以為留在辦公室內賺取收入，較諸走出辦公室去建立和維持客戶關係更有價值。

按小時收費模式讓律師行失去了許多客戶的信任，這一點是無可置疑的。 律師行明顯關注盈利和合夥人收益，削弱了對法律專業所扮演的「受信賴顧問」角色的「信賴」。

未來的當事人—律師
關係專業的演變和艱難的經濟環境迫使情勢作出改變，律師有望在長期客戶關係中重建其「受信賴顧問」的角色。在這一顧問角色中，他們將從最有利於客戶業務的長遠觀點出發，提供優質、獨立、中肯的意見。

有些企業已經開始意識到與其法律團隊加強關係的價值。經濟下滑促使他們反思在好景時本可以如何做得更好一些，以保障自己的業務。他們開始尋找對自身業務及其目標有準確理解的法律團隊，以幫助自己籌劃未來，確保可予持續發展。這給律師行帶來轉機，它們可以借機調整自身定位，成為客戶真正的合作夥伴。然而，這需要思維上的轉變。

律師行如何促使這種轉變？
要重新確立受信賴顧問的角色，律師的思維必須超越眼前的交易。他們必須採取更具策略性的做法，同時保持商業思維，以展現自身服務所提供的增值。例如，某位合夥人的一小時工作可能為客戶節省數百萬美元。這裏所說的價值在於所取得的成果，而非律師以最少的必要時間投入其中。

為真正給客戶的業務帶來增值，律師必須採取更加全面的做法，研究哪些事項會對整個機構產生影響，瞭解律師行可以如何協助提供解決方案。律師將花更多時間與客戶相處，以透徹瞭解其長遠目標。能作好準備，起用具備良好人際技能的人員重振客戶關係的律師行，才有望取得成功。

律師還必須更多宣傳自身服務給客戶業務帶來的增值。為此，培訓律師需要通過有形途徑展現其工作所產生的影響。這可以透過相對簡單的機制來闡明，例如是提供報告，詳述所取得的成就或是所節省的成本。要試圖證明自身符合受信賴顧問的資格時，務必令客戶意識到有關的法律服務正在為其業務帶來增值。

許多香港律師（事實上是絕大部分律師行，但略少於本港執業律師的半數）認為，「以小為美」能恰如其分地說明當事人—律師之間的關係。獨營執業者和小型合夥在真正認識客戶、瞭解其問題方面處於非常有利的地位，並往往可以作出快速回應，提供個人化服務。更多的大中型律師行或許會著手借鑒小型律師行模式的特點，以便發揮自身優勢。

盈利

對槓桿作用的影響
在繁榮時期，律師行通過增加每名股權合夥人的相關收費金額來提高盈利率，方法是提高律師相對於合夥人的人數比率，以實現高槓桿作用。只需察看中型律師行合夥人的盈利便可明白這種做法，許多律師行合夥人盈利在過去五年間上升了約60%。盈利率上升的主要原因是槓桿作用，以及來自收費較貴的大型律師行的業務讓與。雖然法律服務的市場保持得相當平靜，但具有策略思維的中型律師行通過提高槓桿作用，嚴格控制股權，以及擴大業務量，從而增加了合夥人的盈利。

然而，當律師與客戶之間的關係出現轉變時，高槓桿模式將受到影響。更加強調關係，意味着必須同時降低槓桿作用。如果律師行希望建立基於信任的客戶關，他們必須確保能安排高級職員投入時間來增進這種關係。

由於槓桿作用有助提升盈利，律師行會對槓桿作用下降產生憂慮，因為降低槓桿作用意味著收入下降，對高層人員來說尤其如此。然而，律師行可以通過適當的收費方式解決這個問題。

按小時收費
多年來，人們一直在討論是否該讓按小時收費的做法壽終正寢，而隨著律師力圖重新扮演「受信賴顧問」角色，我們可能最終看到它對收費方式的重大影響。每當客戶與法律顧問交談時，按小時收費的做法便會令其疑慮自己究竟須付出多少錢。此外，企業內部律師基本上都具備大律師行背景—因此熟知按小時收費的做法，並可能對此不加信任。按小時收費已經招致人們對律師行的普遍疑慮，要恢復信任，便需要開展大量的工作。如果律師希望加強客戶關係，並被視為受信賴顧問，他們可能被促使重新思考這種模式。

如果客戶服務著眼於律師可以帶來的增值，那麼亦可以利用它作為新的收費重點。再以某合夥人一小時工作節省客戶數百萬美元的情況為例。該合夥人可以不按小時收費，而是根據其工作為業務帶來的價值，按適當比例收取費用。此類工作可以根據客戶獲取的價值，而非律師行投入的可收費時數計算。企業法律顧問已經有效地運用這種基於價值的收費模式，律師行業沒有理由不加以借鑒。

從另一方面看，固定收費服務亦有回升之勢。在小型律師行中，這是常見的做法，因為在涉及樓宇買賣、遺囑認證等常見交易時，客戶要求確定費用。至於大中型律師行，它們亦認同交易性的工作便於採用固定價格收費。由於法律文件可日益通過網絡傳遞，社會人士亦認識到，基本法律交易不必花費高昂，甚至可以由
客戶自行處理。就此類標準交易性質的工作而言，律師行很可能採取透明、固定價格的模式，以期費用確定，恢復客戶的信心。

前瞻未來，我們很可能看到上述兩種模式並行不悖，處理交易性工作時，在收費方面盡量給予客戶確定性，而對高層次工作則採用不同的安排。

技術

追求價值
過去10年來，科技深切地改變了我們開展業務的方式。無處不在的技術，以及隨後利用互聯網實現資訊商品化，不可逆轉地減少了進入法律領域的壁壘。成為可信賴的顧問不再意味需要一個法律圖書館，而僅需一條電話線和簡單的互聯網連接。查閱法律資料的方便，不再由律師行專享。

企業法律部門能夠自行獲取資料及法律文件，令律師通過壟斷資訊所獲得的優勢消失。目前對成本與投資回報的關注，可能促使更多企業內部律師運用網上提供的法律資料，而捨棄聘用常年法律顧問。新時代的律師正在成長，他們早已習慣於憑藉科技，並能夠隨時隨地獲取資料。然而他們必須謹記，依賴網上資料亦可能帶來風險。免費的網上資源容易過期，絕不可能代替細緻的研究及深刻的經驗，後者是具備當前最佳資訊及工具的法律專業人士的重要標誌。律師行有機會證明自身的價值，例如證明自己可以提供比這種所謂「維基百科式法律」更為深入而全面的服務。除了所提供的基本法律資料外，還必須進行獨立的思考和分析，這樣才能夠產生價值。「差不多」其實便是「不夠好」。

朝向底層競逐
免費可獲得法律文件，亦促使出現廉價甚至免費的法律意見提供。環球金融危機造成極度競爭，律師行的應對辦法是對部分業務僅收取名義費用，以期待自己所營建的關係以後會源源不斷地帶來更多收益。這種做法加速了法律專業人士所提供的價值在人們心目中地位的下降。

競爭和商品化正在改變律師的定價模式，這種趨勢正在改變競爭推銷流程。法律文書不再為人們所看重。編製法律文件先前曾是一件帶來可觀收入的工作，如今卻用來吸引客戶而不是作為收費業務。在這種情形中，能為律師贏得業務的，是他們給交易帶來的增值，而不是他們所編製的文件。

這種貶值帶來的後果是，在市場低端開展業務的律師日益面臨價格壓力，尤以獨營執業者為甚，他們往往須藉此類工作來貼補收入。如今，他們面臨大型機構的威脅，因為後者能夠利用自身的規模經濟。但是，個人執業律師若能專長於專門法律服務(例如知識產權)，便能夠致力於擔任專家角色，並由於其經營費用低於大型律師行，因而具備極強的競爭力；而從事大眾化交易業務的個人從業者，則需要苦苦追求差異化，尋找必要生存空間。

無國界法律服務
科技在如今的律師業中還發揮著另一個作用，那就是令跨境交流變得更便捷。全球化無可避免地導致法律工作外判。尤其是法律文件透露，此項工作正在轉向境外，以利用海外的較低收費。

這種趨勢既是機會亦是威脅。對許多香港律師行而言，業務機會從來就不僅限於本港市場，其相當部分的收益亦來自英國和美國等地區。然而，本港律師行亦面臨外地律師行的高度競爭，它們力圖在本港建立據點，分享本港的獨特優勢。

全球化越來越意味著眾多大中型律師行將會建立真正的國際業務或關係，以求盡量擴大並保持持續的工作流。精品化或專門化的小型律師行亦參與其中—雖然它們或許沒有同樣的規模經濟，但卻可以利用良好的個人聲譽，並往往較少受經常費用和潛在衝突的束縛。而業務領先，積極向上發展的律師行，則必須與全球客戶和國際律師保持深遠的關係，這樣才能與對手競爭，並同時滿足客戶需要和員工的抱負。

人才

招聘和留用
隨著社會、種族及性別規範的演變，進入法律行業人士的狀況以及律師行的人員結構亦隨著發生變化。這些變化不僅影響律師行的招聘政策，亦影響到士氣、留用方面的管理辦法，並最終影響到繼任。

目前的一個趨勢是，在法律界任職的人員，存在性別上的不均等。目前，女性的比重遠高於男性。五年後，許多司法管轄區中的基層律師職位預期將由女性主導，尤其是政府與企業的法律部門。

女性在律師入行人數中佔據主流，對其管理、留用乃至分娩規劃都有所影響。隨著女性在機構中的事業發展，對工作—生活平衡的管理，以及提供靈活工作安排將日益重要。律師行必須清楚認識到，工作—生活平衡和個人的特性息息相關，亦需要著手將上述因素融入到自身的業務模式中。

在討論有利於家庭的價值理念和育兒休假時，尤其應當著重考慮留用問題。值得指出的是，如果律師行能證明其重視員工的個人需要，則分娩後的母親們在其產假結束後重返律師行的機率便會大大提高。雖然在某些業務範疇方面能否實行有關安排還有待考驗(例如訴訟)，但從所涉及的人力資本資源來看，這意味所有律師行均應當通過尋求經濟上可行的措施以維持正確的均衡。

實務的多樣性
律師行業中的性別失衡，並非這一行業進行招聘時的唯一關注點。他們越來越需要來自不同族裔背景的律師：在本地區，能通曉中文及中國文化，對大多數機構來說，都是一項不可或缺的條件。客戶的要求可能是這方面最大的驅動因素。隨著世界其他地區越來越將注意力轉向亞洲，具備固有背景知識的專業人士所提供的專家意見正變得奇貨可居。這是一個社會與市場力量已經開展了多年互動的範疇，並正在逐漸改變香港法律專業的面貌。這個過程已經成熟，但仍在前行，以期促進與內地的進一步合作與融合。

注意繼任缺口
隨著人口老化，為未來制定繼任規劃是一個緊迫問題。律師行的律師往往比客戶企業中的某些高層主管更瞭解該企業。倘若關鍵的聯繫人退休或離職，則相關的營業收入亦會隨之而去。創建合夥人退休後，由誰來接手經營呢？

曾有人指出，法律專業正陷入嚴重的青黃不接。觀察者指出，在資深的法律專業人士群體中，許多均已年逾50；另一方面，亦有眾多律師正處於30歲居中的年齡階段。然而，在這兩個年齡範圍之間的律師人數卻較為稀少，因而形成一個斷代缺口。

這一斷代缺口給整個行業帶來嚴重問題。隨著年邁合夥人的事業走至末段，他們有些人會將其自身積累的知識和關係一併帶走，而不是傳承給其明顯的繼任人。
從前，律師伴著客戶成長，歷經其婚姻、離異和生兒育女等各個人生階段。這樣的日子可能已一去不返。然而，並沒有理由讓上述關係和工作傳統因為繼任缺口而從此流失。律師行不僅必須確保將技能和知識傳授給下一代，還必須將作為受信賴顧問的本領傳承下去。

結論

法律專業不會進行急速的變革。然而在未來五年，律師行業的局面必定會發生改變。法律行業的演進是絕對需要的，無論其促動因素是環球金融危機帶來的影響、技術的影響，還是基於決意放棄交易模式，重返受信賴顧問角色的自覺努力。

香港人以擅於應變和具創業精神見稱。在艱難時期，我們必須具備創新思維，確保香港律師不僅能夠生存，兼且能夠茁壯成長。目前的經濟下滑，讓我們得以有推動力重新評估當事人—律師關係，放棄交易模式，專心建立具增值能力的顧問角色。不論是與客戶之間的外部關係，還是與律師行員工之間的內部關係，均是律師行業所必須考量和應對的核心挑戰。

本文改編自一個由LexisNexis Australia 所舉辦的律師行業圓桌會議結束後寫成的一份白皮書。 LexisNexis Hong Kong亦對本文內容有所增補。本文的原文及與會人士名單可參見： http://www.lexisnexis.com.au/pdf/LexisNexis—whitepaper.pdf 。