Matthew Briggs, CEO of Brilliant Law on his experiences of establishing an ABS and what the future holds for the legal profession...
Who better than a group of successful entrepreneurs to establish a truly different law firm that was going to be customer-focused, totally transparent and innovative from the word go? After all, my fellow directors and myself have all been at the sharp end of using solicitors down the years and have all had experiences – good and bad – of the legal profession.
So... when the Legal Services Act 2007 liberalised the industry, facilitating a new breed of entrants, it was the perfect opportunity to build a law firm from the ground up – one that looked, acted and performed very differently.
We didn’t want to acquire an existing practice with all their ‘tried and tested’ ways of doing things. That wasn’t for us. We’ve entered an industry where many incumbents are sometimes ignorant and arrogant – what a perfect storm!
So, rather than invest time and energy changing the attitudes of existing employees, we started from scratch with a group of business people and solicitors who understand what change looks like.
We built a business that addressed what customers really want from their lawyer; easy access, transparent fixed pricing and to talk in our customers’ language, not legalese. Our main objective is to be the most recommended law firm in the market and we believe striving for that goal will make this business model future proof.
In a radically changing marketplace, those who do not react to change may well suffer. We believe the legal market will look very different in as little as five years and no one firm should feel immune – even the hallowed ‘magic circle’ firms.
With so many new practices now offering their services, consumers will have a massive influence in shaping the legal industry. From our point of view, it is clear to see what the future will look like for legal services - our route map has already been largely mapped out by other professional sectors.
This is another area where the business expertise behind Brilliant Law will see us well-positioned in the coming months and years as we continue to challenge convention and deliver legal services in a way not seen before.
For instance, Brilliant Law’s e-commerce site allows small business owners to buy legal products ‘off the shelf’, Amazon-style, with every transaction being followed up with a phone call with a Brilliant Law solicitor to bespoke the package to the individual needs of that business. We believe no one else is offering such a service.
There will likely be resistance and grumbling from the establishment to every innovation. However, the old and traditional way of doing things is being swept away and no one can stand in the way of it. We have seen over the horizon and are prepared but how many other law firms can say the same?
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To find out more about Brilliant Law, visit the ecommerce shop www.shop.brilliantlaw.com
You can also follow the firm on Twitter (@brilliantlaw) or via LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/company/brilliant-law-limited
