So you stumble across a legal issue in the course of running your business. Your initial thought – that the issue is quite complex but interesting – is closely followed by your next thought – an ‘oh no, we’ll have to ask the lawyers’. There’s no hiding from the truth, engaging lawyers is usually a negative experience and paying for legal work is always a grudge purchase.
Why is it that an industry so full of smart people, is not smart? Why is the work of lawyers still heavily paper-based? Why are old-school research methods used when technologies are available to dramatically enhance and speed up the process? Why are low level and administrative tasks done by junior professionals at hourly rates instead of being outsourced or automated? Why are traditional providers still employing business models of which lavish buildings and teams of unnecessary support staff are hallmarks? Why are hourly rates so high, with lawyers’ take-home pay such a small portion? Why are lawyers forced to achieve monthly billing targets, often in conflict with their duty to solve their clients’ problems as effectively and efficiently as possible?
The industry is in need of something smart, uncluttered by the thinking and practices of traditional players. It needs providers that have stripped away unnecessary overheads and who use technologies available to add efficiencies. It needs lawyers who charge rates that are unburdened by overhead obligations and commensurate with value delivered, and who don’t chase unattainable billing targets. It needs to listen to clients who just want a job done well, without bells and whistles.
Thankfully change is afoot, and providers are emerging to address these shortfalls in smart ways. Caveat Legal, now four years in operation, was designed to address these concerns and the market has responded with a resounding ‘thank you’.
Clients that are tired of following traditional routes without seeing value proportional to spend are becoming more discerning, seeking out, and finding, Smart Legal.
Yvonne Wakefield
Founder & CEO of Caveat Legal