#HOMEeconomics

While law firms have been relatively well prepared for this transition to work from home, the future will have a number of challenges for legal professionals. Toby Brown is always looking at trends in the industry and understands that there are waves of challenges coming. Law firms are doing a good job of responding to needs, but they struggle with handling what comes next. Clients are going to start looking at their future needs, and firms need to do the same.

He lays out some of the issues that hit the industry in the Great Recession and sees some of the same pressures (and opportunities) in the current situation. Are law firms situated to handle the upcoming challenges? Are they equipped with the proper staffing roles to take advantage of the opportunities? Are they hiring the "next-gen" roles like pricing and project management professionals? Are we ready for Summer Associates in May? Are we ready for pass/fail grades? Are we ready for a bust in the oil and hospitality businesses? 

Are we continuing to react, or are we thinking ahead? 

Speaking of 'next-gen' roles, Toby has helped create the new Legal Value Network as a place for these roles to find and share with each other. While the timing of the new community may be poorly timed with the current situation, Toby thinks it actually might be the perfect time since pricing and other professionals are going to need a community to help each other proactively address the market as we struggle with the changes that lie ahead.

Remember, we may all be In Seclusion, but we're in this together.

Host: Greg Lambert (@glambert)