The legal profession is a fast-moving industry. Strategies that work one quarter may not be as effective the next, especially when it comes to new law. The concept of new law focuses on growing and expanding the practice of law in innovative ways. The right strategy can help a firm discover a whole new source of revenue and offer clients services that they might not have thought possible.
New law has become a catchall industry term to describe a number of different concepts. The term includes alternative legal service providers (ALSPs), technology companies, law firm subsidiaries that provide non-traditional services and other entities that augment traditional practices. This is an area that will require a great deal of attention from all involved in the legal industry as it continues to evolve and expand.
For example, a new law practice might focus on helping clients deal with intellectual property issues in the cloud. Another might create a collaborative project to find solutions for a difficult business problem. A new law practice might also use a process designed to reduce the costs of litigation, while achieving the client’s desired outcome. A new law practice might include a collaboration between multiple organizations to share data and research, with the aim of producing better informed risk assessments and business decisions.
Increasingly, firms are working to consolidate their businesses by horizontal and vertical integration, joint ventures and managed services. This is a necessary development in a world where significant global challenges cannot be mastered by any one function, enterprise, stakeholder group or nation alone. The legal function must be part of this broader movement, and it is important to understand how to do so successfully.
Another way that a firm might employ new law techniques is to develop strategies for underserved communities. This is an area that all firms should be aware of and watch as it develops, because it has the potential to be an excellent source of business. By offering help to these communities, a firm can build a loyal following and generate a substantial amount of additional revenue that might not otherwise be available.
The federal government has a complex system for creating laws. The creation of a law begins when a bill is introduced in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. The bill is then assigned to a committee, which will study it and make changes before it is put to a vote. Once a bill is approved by a majority of members of one chamber, it can be sent to the other to be passed into law. Once a law has been enacted, it becomes the law of the land. This is a highly-efficient process, and it has allowed the federal government to quickly adopt new laws that benefit the American public. The process is similar in many states. The state of New York, for example, has recently adopted several laws that support a broad range of social causes.