In my last post, talking about the law firm of 2020, I ended with thoughts about how firms could undertake a radical review of their processes- and decide the best/cheapest person to do parts of it. This time I want to pick up on that point and talk some more about process decomposition. So let’s look at another industry again, this time farming. It is quite similar to law in some ways – a long-established industry, mainly traditional in its approach, and not inclined to change.

In what seems to have been an unstoppable train of decisions, rules and consultations making the life of claimant firms increasingly challenging, it made a welcome change to read the recent circuit judge ruling in Jones v Spire Healthcare. The cost implications of this ruling are of huge importance to many firms that have taken over books of personal injury work.

When my dad retired as a partner of a medium-sized law firm in 1996, he was invited to choose a parting gift. I suggested he might ask for a computer. What troubles it caused! Eventually someone put a screen-saver on it that said ‘Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum’ – ‘Garbage in, garbage out’. Twenty years on, getting along with technology is no longer optional. Law firms need to wake up to the fact that the practice of law is now a digital business. But we all need to feel understood. So how do people feature in all this?

People continue to have accidents, employment issues still arise, probate questions need answering, family problems need resolving and businesses still have issues with suppliers and contracts. And they all need legal advice to help them access justice. A key question, though, is what the complete change of personnel at the Ministry of Justice – under new justice secretary Liz Truss – will mean.

Many people have predicted a seismic change in the legal profession towards a digital commodity service in the next few years but that shift is happening right now. For those savvy firms that are now embracing it, they are finding they have access to a whole new world – the latent consumer. Did you know that by 2020, it is predicted that 70% of people will look for a video online via Google before seeking professional advice? In fact, that number is already at 50% today. How good is your website? When did you last record a video to generate a client lead?