What are your thoughts on ALSPs (alternative legal service providers) in the industry? How do you see them impacting traditional law firm models and client expectations in the coming years?
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Global Counsel in Travel and Hospitality7 months ago
ALSPs will certainly revolutionize the legal industry in years to come. They provide a more cost effective, creative, and efficient method for companies to address critical legal resource needs. They offer multiple contractual arrangements including secondments for longer term engagements. They are effective at both stop gap measures for departing urgent GCs or senior legal counsel, or over those that are taking extended leave (eg parental), or even for departments that don’t have expertise in a particular area.Head -Proactive Litigation Group7 months ago
Talking about cost efficiency, ALSPs often leverage technology and alternative staffing models to provide legal services at a lower cost compared to traditional law firms. Also, ALSPs are often more agile in adopting new technologies and innovative approaches to legal service delivery. This can lead to increased efficiencyDirector of Legal7 months ago
They are a great part of the resourcing legal eco system, maybe not for everything but certainly for getting routine legal work done that's not able to be automated, or assistance with a project. Overall, am a proponent for them. AI LegalTech Counsel & Legal Ops Innovation Leader | Digital Transformation Expert | Strategic Advisor in Services (non-Government)7 months ago
ALSPs can be a great resource for short-term projects, such as software implementations, data migrations, and strategic planning, where there is a need for specific expertise and a dedicated team to address a temporary skill gap.Freelance7 months ago
ALSPs must comprise part of the stable of legal providers to the corporate legal department, not only on short-term projects. Some more mature corporations have even created a panel for approved ALSP vendors, offering the corporate legal department flexibility and lower cost. ALSPs often employ innovative pricing models, such as fixed fees, subscription services, or outcome-based pricing, providing the corporation with more predictable legal costs. By outsourcing certain legal tasks to ALSPs, law firms and corporate legal departments can focus on high-value activities, such as litigation, negotiations, and strategic advice.Director of Legal in Software7 months ago
An ecosystem is how I look at ALSP's and the whole range of providers within the legal industry. Each group of players impact the others.
Freelance7 months ago
Absolutely. ALSPs are an integral part of the legal provider ecosystem where each player impacts the other. This point also informs the second part of the initial question: As ALSPs take on even more complex tasks, law firms run the risk of losing "market share" to ALSPs. Additionally, I see law firms offering more Alterative Fee Arrangements as GenAI makes, for example, a historically four hour project a one hour project, the law firm will need to become creative in their fee structure. Corporate clients will also need to realign how they value legal services, away from the proverbial billable hour.