Every industry is experiencing some changes or the other and the law sector is no different. It is a matter of fact that although change is good, yet it brings in certain challenges as well. In order to stay abreast of the rapidly changing trends, the top law firms in India must be prepared for the upcoming big risks.
As we come to the verge of saying goodbye to the current year, it is time to predict the trends that can be anticipated in the law sector in the upcoming year. Having said that, let us check out some of the biggest challenges that the legal industry may face in 2020.
Gender Equality
In accordance with the Equality Act 2010, a law passed in the year 2017 required organizations with at least 250 workers to submit details about their potential gender pay gaps. As a result, law agencies have experienced hidden challenges concerning the unfair representation of women in higher positions. The strict legal regulation has made the organizations to fix the gap in the salary of male and female lawyers. This has, in turn, helped the deserving women to climb to higher ranks.
This trend is expected to continue in the year 2020 as well, with efforts being put to make the potential gender pay gap smaller between men and women in the legal sector.
Automation
Automation is gradually finding its way into every industry and this includes the legal sector as well. That being said, it would not be surprising to notice the flourish of something that is called legal tech.
Software has made a huge positive impact on the way things were traditionally conducted in law firms. It enhanced the document analysis procedure, streamlined contract production, and helped the consumers to access the offered services quickly and easily through chatbots.
Although legal tech still happens to be in its evolving stage, yet we can expect it to influence the legal business profoundly in the upcoming year.
Voice Search Technology
Irrespective of the industry it is operating in, every firm requires online marketing to increase its business. That being said, this is applicable to the legal sector as well. According to the predictions, the online marketing trend is likely to experience a huge shift in the upcoming years with conversational language coming to use on business websites. This is due to the reason that major companies like Google are promoting voice search technology as a method of online marketing. As a result, the legal firms now require optimizing the services offered on their websites in terms of a layman and put efforts for matching voice search.
Cease of the 9 to 5 Work Routine
Some years back, almost everyone followed the typical 9 to 5 work pattern. However, modern workplaces are gradually becoming flexible and the law firms are no different. Many lawyers in India are becoming ‘platform lawyers’, which happens to be more of a self-employed practice that gives them the chance to choose their own working hours.
The increased flexibility has helped the lawyers, who want to operate a business side by side with their career. This working style also works better financially. As this is a remote role, this pattern helps the lawyers in saving a significant part of their bills.
This working style also allows the lawyers to decide when and where they want to work, with many of the professionals getting propelled towards the bigger payments. This acts as a rescue for those legal professionals who work for long hours, toil hard, and get profit to their respective organizations, but receive a little benefit for themselves.
Relationship Management and Lead Generation
Lawyers often fail to market successfully to the existing clients. Each law firm claims to have many clients and this is great. But the problem is they are not marketing to these clients. It’s high time that the law firms realize that loyalty is no more long-sighted and in order to retain their client base, they require marketing to them.
The Final Words
The legal sector is continuously going through a lot of changes, with many new and improved practices being incorporated. The upcoming year will also experience the same trend. However, certain challenges are expected to enter into the bigger picture. The lawyers of the top law firms in India need to prepare themselves to accept the potential changes and deal with the challenges faced by law firms in 2020 confidently.
About the author: Amy Jones is an expert employment law advisor working at Ahlawat & Associates, a well-known legal firm in India. She is one of the top lawyers in India who loves to help people in all aspects of the practice area
