The Indian legal industry is poised for a year of consolidation and innovation, according to a recently released Rainmaker Law Firm Survey & Awards 2009. The survey & awards which is conducted annually by Rainmaker, a leading provider of services focused on the legal industry, had a majority of its respondents expressing a conservative outlook for 2010. They believed this year for the Indian law firms will be characterized by relatively calm growth, some consolidation and creation of new practice areas.
The survey also sought the opinion of the Indian legal fraternity on the best law firms, best brands and best law firm to work in India. While Amarchand Mangaldas, AZB & Partners and J. Sagar Associates were voted as the top three law firms in India, Phoenix Legal emerged as the Young and Upcoming law firm in the country. Amarchand Mangaldas was also voted as the most powerful brand amongst law firms in India, with Clifford Chance leading the pack of international law firms with an India practice under the same category. J. Sagar Associates continued to be voted the best law firm to work in.
The national survey also brought to fore some critical issues facing the senior management at law firms, and how it seeks to deal with them. It covered strategic and functional domains like branding, training of lawyers and support staff, work-life balance, career progression and technology.
Speaking at the release of the survey, Mr. Nikhil Chandra, CEO, Rainmaker said - "The Indian legal market is quickly maturing and Indian law firms will be at the forefront of the shift that is taking place. The next phase of evolution for the law firm sector will focus inwards on issues such as service lines (practice areas), training systems, reliance on technology, clear communication about career growth and progression etc. and each of these items will seek to re-establish the brand of the particular law firm and it's continued perception. The earlier phase of focus on growth will now give way to a focus on consolidation, both internal and external"
Issues related to brand building, marketing and advertising by law firms was also a critical segment of the survey, throwing up fresh viewpoints from legal practitioners. These viewpoints (some of which are set out below) provide a unique perspective of what constituents of the industry are thinking about when they look at the practice as a whole:
• Almost 45 % of the respondents said that law firms should be allowed to use advertising options, as long they are not misinforming the public. However, 80.4% among them felt that an outside body should regulate the advertisements by Indian law firms.
• About 38.5% of all those who undertook the survey felt that the team as a whole including associates should handle business development, while about 35% believed that partners and heads of practice groups should handle the function.
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• The majority of respondents expressed that lawyers should rotate amongst teams within the firm and the young lawyers should have the ability to choose team or practice area they work with. About 60% of the respondents believed that skills of team building and people management would be key factors in determining career positions at their firm.
• On the issue of use of technology by law firms, about 91% of the respondents felt that law firms will need to focus more on technology now to stay relevant, and that they should in fact make partners responsible for it.
The survey also touched upon topical issues relating to returning foreign trained Indian lawyers. A significant majority (65.5%) of all those who took the survey felt that lawyers with recent / only foreign experience should spend time acquiring Indian legal knowledge before being put on par with peers at a law firm.
Technology and branding emerged as two areas where continuous conversation is required. "The former is soon going to become a key differentiator among law firms - law firms are going to be forced to focus their energies on deploying technology correctly to ensure more efficient service levels as well as to create robust internal systems including knowledge management systems. While in the past, law firm brands have been defined and created by a variety of external factors largely linked to growth, the focus will now shift to unique characteristics that each law firm brings to it's brand and how it uses it's brand leverage across the board. Law firms will soon have to ask themselves if they control and monitor their brand (as some of the largest corporations in the world do) or whether their brand is merely a clutch of terms that the larger industry uses to describe the law firm" – continued Mr. Chandra.
About the Rainmaker Law Firm Survey & Awards
Initiated in 2008, the annual Rainmaker Law Firm Survey & Awards provides valuable insight and perspective on how the Indian legal industry views important issues facing the Indian law firms. This unique format is the only publicly determined survey & awards for the law firm sector in India. The polling group comprises of associates, senior associates, salaried and equity partners and the polling is open to any member of the legal industry who is currently working or has worked with an Indian law firm. While a majority of these lawyers are typically from national full-service firms, participation from medium and small law firms has continued to increase along with overall participation (this year’s survey saw an almost 100% increase in participation over the last year).
The complete findings of Rainmaker Law Firm Survey & Awards 2009 are available online at - http://rainmaker.co.in/images/survey/survey2009.pdf.
About Rainmaker
Rainmaker is a quality service provider focused on the legal industry, specifically in India. With a combination of market leading capabilities across executive search, education and training, knowledge services and consulting, Rainmaker supports and creates solutions for organizations and individuals across the legal industry. (www.rainmaker.co.in)