There is an old adage that no one ever got sacked for choosing IBM. Traditionally that was probably true and it’s definitely a sentiment has been mirrored by those looking to purchase legal services. Being big was taken as a hallmark of quality and surely if you choose a big firm, you can’t be choosing a bad firm?
This trend began to buckle in the nineties and noughties when larger corporates began to explore alternatives to Magic and Silver Circle advisers for certain types of work. They knew that to maintain the confidence of both the City and their investors they should probably have a large firm’s logo on their annual report but the truth was that for more day to day services – for example commercial property or employment – they were beginning to looking local.
The reason for this was two-fold:
- Local firms billed at lower levels but they were also more accessible and, because of the size of the client
- Because of the credibility their association with such an important client could play in their future development, they also provided an unparalleled level of personal service designed to keep the client onside and onboard
Fast forward another 15 years and we are entering yet another new era. Largely because of the explosion in the popularity of online retail – which, like it or not, does include legal services – we are used to choosing suppliers on product, price and service rather than on name.
If we continue to take online retail as an example, when you shop online are you worried about where the product is stored? What the offices in which the orders are processed look like? Or what the salesperson looks like? Of course not. You want the end result delivered when and how you want it at a competitive price.
Legal services are no different. While the Legal Services Act may not have caused the expected avalanche of new market entrants badged up with some of the high street’s most recogniseable names, it has allowed progressive solicitors the opportunity to adopt a new, revitalized commerciality.
A number of new firms have recently launched with the promise of highly sophisticated and highly specialist legal offerings. They have recognised that consumer behavior has significantly changed. In response they have packaged the experience, the practical knowhow and the technical skills a client demands with an improved – and often technology driven – level of service that makes their advice easier to consume and easier to benefit from.
More importantly their size allows these smaller, more specialist firms the opportunity to move much more quickly than a traditional partnership. They don’t have to force their clients to endure unnecessary (and potentially costly) delays while approaches are deliberated over. They don’t have to adhere to what can often by over-complicated internal systems that again only seem to inject unnecessary delays between clients and the receipt of the advice they want.
But the benefits aren’t just about the provision of the legal advice the client needs today, the simpler structure behind these new specialist boutiques allows these firms the opportunity to take immediate advantage of new ideas and new technologies that will improve their clients’ futures. Good ideas don’t need to be signed off by committee, instead partners can spot a good idea, buy the good idea and implement that good idea … all to their clients benefit.
It is for all of these reasons that we founded Selachii, a boutique litigation practice headquartered in London’s West End.
We knew we were able to offer clients a wealth of often very experience in all fields of civil litigation as well as much more specialist experience in areas like Fintech, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Smart Contracts and contested probate disputes. All of this experience has been hard won and we had repeatedly seen the unique and assertive way we applied that experience stacked the odds of our clients achieving their desired outcomes well and truly in their favour.
We also knew success required much more than just knowing the law. Continued and consistent success is really about how we read a situation and apply the law to it. It is the application that creates the robust strategy a client needs to second guess and overcome all of the potential obstacles that could arise along the way and provides clients with the safest and most direct path to the resolution they want.
However we also knew that if we are to stand out we would need to deliver all of that as part of an unparalleled client experience.
In the same way as an Amazon or a GoCompare has invested in the ideas and innovation required to make the provision of its product as quick and easy for their customers as is possible, we have invested in finding the best ways to make sure our clients receive the support they need to solve their disputes as easily and quickly as possible.
Every touchpoint our clients have with the firm – from their initial enquiry to receiving the initial direction to updates during a case to the final bill is designed specifically to make sure that dealing with ‘the lawyer’ is one thing they don’t have to worry about at what can be a very stressful time.
Some of this is technology-led, some is process driven but the majority is just plain common sense. However the fact we don’t have to pass the technology, process or common sense suggestions through partnership means we not can only put our good ideas into practice quickly, it also means that 100% get passed without being dismissed by misunderstanding or personal agenda.
But that is not to say that we have eliminated the personal touch. Absolutely not. We recognise the most important factor in any professional-client relationship is the intimate level of service only human contact can elicit.
We not only spend as much time with our clients as is required (and in the way they want us to whether that’s in our office, at their home or premises, on the phone or by email) the fact we are not shackled by wider internal pressures or extended clientbases we are also able to be more responsive and accessible than the majority of larger firms.
We know these are all bold claims but I trust they are claims that have got you to thinking that a smaller, more progressive practice may just be the right option for some cases. As with all things in life – and particularly online retail – it’s worth giving the alternative a try. Few go back once they’ve received what they want, how they want at a competitive price.
