Strategic issues for law firms in the new millennium

Abstract

Law firms in England and Wales are operating in a cut-throat competitive environment, alien to many long-standing employees in the profession. Evidence suggests that managing these issues and planning for change in this new environment is difficult for many to comprehend, but essential for survival. The concepts of strategy, management, marketing and the like appear to have more prominence in legal journals, and practice managers are often a key figure within a law firm’s practice today. This paper suggests that for some, the idea of developing planned strategies of how to survive and compete in the market is anathema for many firms, as is the requirement to change the normal or existing ways of doing things. This paper aims therefore to provide a brief overview of the development of strategy as a branch of management science and how law firms can start to think about the concept of strategy and what the implications are for their practice. Utilising both primary and secondary data sources, it also identifies some of the key strategic issues facing law firms in the new millennium.