header-logo header-logo

Smart investments (Pt 2)

29 January 2016 / Dr Marc K Peter
Issue: 7684 / Categories: Features
printer mail-detail
nlj_7684_peter

Developing a new skill set can give Chambers the edge in an increasingly competitive market, as Dr Marc K Peter explains

It is undoubtedly an exciting time to be a barrister or manage a set of chambers. Factors such as alternative business structures (ABSs), direct access and the dramatic leap forward in technological advancements with regards to legal research, drafting and client management are enabling entrepreneurial spirits within the Bar to drive their chambers to great heights both financially and in terms of exceptional client service.

However, barristers’ turnover has decreased in the last four years by an average of 8.5% per year, making business development and marketing activities increasingly important (ONS (Turnover of Legal Activities 2010-2014)). As a result, greater numbers of individual barristers and chambers are engaging in strategic, well-executed marketing plans to attract regular, well-paid work. Our own research into the market shows that more barristers now believe that providing access to the best legal information available, having a clear IT strategy in place and investing in efficiency tools

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll