Allen & Overy are trying something new. To answer the unique pressures of today’s unbearable legal market, they are attempting a trial of a new legal professional model that has been tried only a few times before, but never with such high-end staff: they are launching a contract lawyer business.
The service will be called “Peerpoint,” and initially will contract A&O alumni in the London area, though it plans on working with a wider range of lawyers, and expanding its scope internationally.
Wim Dejonghe, managing partner of the business, told Legal Week that “the traditional law firm model is under pressure and lacks flexibility. In a low growth environment, peaks in client demand are far more variable, so we need greater flexibility in our model.” A highly be-jargoned bit of phraseology, this, by which he means “we’re making no money, we’re trying something new.”
“We also want to provide an option for those high-caliber lawyers who enjoy the challenge of working with top tier clients without the added demands of working in a large law firm. Peerpoint enables us to do both.”
Well good! Let them succeed. Any Darwinist will tell you when times get tough, the tough evolve.
“I think we really focus on the top end of the market with this; we are looking at the same kind of work we do in London. It bodes well for the legal industry as a whole if we get these things right.”
The trial, if it is successful, will free up highly qualified lawyers to have what all people with power want: freedom to use it.