Law firms need to be educated on the emerging competition for legal services. Alternative Legal Service Providers (“ALSP”) are here to stay, and corporate counsel are finding them to be attractive alternatives to the historical law firm model. 

Thompson Reuters released the latest study on how ALSP are impacting the legal industry. As noted in the executive summary:

“In June 2018, Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute, in partnership with Georgetown University Law’s Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession, University of Oxford Saïd Business School, and U.K.-based legal research firm Acritas, launched a major study to determine and quantify the impact of ALSPs across the legal service industry. This report is the second time these institutions have partnered on a comprehensive study of ALSPs. The first study, conducted two years ago, examined a young industry carving out an important niche market. Just two years later, this study returns to find an industry that is quickly becoming mainstream.

This year, for the first time, the four organizations conducted research on the use of ALSPs within the United States as well as outside of it, specifically, in the United Kingdom and Canada. To do so, the four organizations analyzed survey responses about the use of ALSPs from 517 decision-makers at law firms and in corporate legal departments. This research was augmented by 35 interviews with executives at ALSPs.”

To download the full report click here.

To read a summary about the report, click here.

RFPs can be used to ask law firms which types of ALSP they have worked with in the past and collaborate with outside counsel to strategize how to best incorporate them into your legal operations.

Alternatively, corporate counsel may prefer to issue an RFP directly to ALSP’s to identify if these types of companies can provide more effective legal solutions to some of your matters.

Matthew Prinn is a legal consultant who specializes in RFPs in the legal industry. He can be reached at [email protected].