DLA’s fixed-price venture chases commercial market
A fixed-price legal services provider today became the first new entrant of the alternative business structure era to enter the commercial market. Riverview Law, backed with funding from global firm DLA Piper, aims to attract every type of client from small and medium-sized businesses to large corporations.
The firm’s offer includes annual contracts providing unlimited legal advice, the scrapping of hourly billing and fixed fees on all services. Large organisations will be invited to outsource in-house legal functions to Riverview Law, also at a fixed price. A team of around 75 lawyers has been recruited, including 43 barristers - 12 Queen's counsel, to provide legal support in a corporate - rather than partnership - structure.
The new firm is a trading name of LawVest Ltd, whose shareholders include DLA Piper and AdvisorPlus, a provider of outsourced HR, employment and health and safety advice.
LawVest’s chief executive, Karl Chapman (pictured), said: ‘We have many advantages law firms don’t have; we started with a blank piece of paper, we spent time talking to businesses about what they want, and then we designed an operating and customer service model that delivers it - top lawyers, legal assistants and customer support people, combined with end-to-end technology and low overheads.
‘Some law firms have already said to us that it won’t work because it’s impossible to deliver comprehensive fixed pricing. Our response is simple: maybe you can’t deliver fixed pricing, but we can.’ Riverview Law says it can offer businesses with up to 1,000 employees annual contracts for all their day-to-day legal support from £200 a month.
The level of funding from DLA Piper has not been disclosed, but the deal raises the possibility of the established firm competing for business with its new partner. DLA Piper co-chief executive Sir Nigel Knowles is the non-executive chairman of LawVest.
Comments
LawVest has been years in the making
I wondered when this announcement would come. Having watched (and admired) the growth of AdviserPlus in the employment and Health & Safety area for many years, I have no doubt that Riverview Law will be an extremely strong competitor for any law firm ... and it will be fascinating to watch how DLA Piper itself adjusts to this new player.
Karl Chapman will have done his homework and will not be offering something that he cannot deliver. AdvisorPlus has been around for many years, ample time to hone its online and call centre skills.
It will be interesting to see whether small and medium sized law firms are still happy to go it alone in 2012, or whether more firms will seek the safety of collaboration with other firms ... such as Quality Solicitors (for smaller firms) and indeed the various versions of our own Law Donut online resource centres.
Rory MccGwire
Anybody home...?
Just a little surprised there are no comments (apart from this one so far).
RiverView and all the other new entities are going to grab your market share like a gang of unruly school kids in an unattended sweetshop.
A lot of the lawyers serving the High Street to SME market segment are just standing around scratching their heads.
Perhaps the silence is simply a lack of will to confront the reality of what is so evidently happening? The shock of the new, perhaps?
Fixed Fees are the way forward
I run a small specialist litigation law firm whose client base is both individuals and SMEs.
We already offer fixed fees but combined with hourly rates. The way it works is that a fixed fee is given to the client as the maximum ceiling to which their matter can reach. They are then charged on an hourly basis, and billed each month, until either the matter settles or they reach the fixed fee limit. If the latter and the matter has not finished, the rest of the case is run for free.
Do you think that DLA will run it that way or fixed fee come what may - even if the matter settles after a few hours work (if so I can’t see clients being happy with this); or do you think matters will be separated into blocks as with many architects?
Why can't fees be fixed?
Those who say it can't be done will have to watch this space and see how it works: but how about this for a try:
Instead of asking "How do they do it?" or saying "It can't be done", why not ask yourself "How can I do it?" and find a way of doing it? If you try hard, I bet a way can be found. The hard part is overcoming the preconceptions. Once that is done, the rest is simply implementation of the plan you have created for yourself.
Thinking differently is what is needed in the new environment. Thinking we can do. Thinking differently is harder - but vital!
Are fixed fees REALLY that exciting?
Well done to Karl, Sir Nigel and everyone involved in LawVest. Having watched so far with interest I look forward to finding out more as the business launches. However, with respect to all organisations now offering fixed fees, including HighStreetLawyer.com over a year ago, and the various legal comparison sites, fixed fees are hardly exciting news.
Fixed fees show that an organisation believes in simplicity, transparency, clarity and putting the client first. Fixed fees put the risk of incorrect pricing where it belongs, with the provider of the service not with the recipient. Fixed fees are common place in most other professions and in other parts of the legal profession and have been for some time.
I think it is a sad indictment of the legal profession that so many law firms find it hard to offer fixed fees, whilst others find it groundbreaking. I appreciate that contentious work provides some challenges to the fixed fee model but if that's what the consumer wants, then that's the challenge lawyers have to rise to. I guess it's up to businesses such as LawVest, HighStreetLawyer.com and others willing to think carefully about what their customers want who will lead the way.
Fixed cost legal services are the future.
CompareLegalCosts.com launched last year to provide a web portal for Law Firms to deliver fixed cost legal services to businesses and consumers. We had our critics, but today’s announcement by DLA and Riverview Law fully endorses our view that fixed cost legal services are the future.
This is what businesses and consumers desire and it is welcome news that a leading global law firm shares our vision. DLA and Riverview Law lead the way and others must surely follow if they wish to thrive in this new legal landscape?
Since launching CompareLegalCosts.com last year we have seen an influx of enquiries from businesses and consumers for a range of legal services.
Last week I posted a discussion around news of competition from outside the legal business. This week the news is about competition from within.
Michael Welsh
Solicitor and Founder of CompareLegalCosts.com
FIXED FEES - FRIEND OR FOE?
As a Partner in a firm of Scottish solicitors, I read this article with interest. We have been offering a fixed fee service to clients, when required or requested, for some time over all disciplines. It has proved very popular. We are of a size where we can be flexible with our approach to feeing and can come up with fee packages that work for our clients. We are not slaves to the chargeable hourly rate or pre-occupied with minimum hours billed. This enables us to provide a very competitive service. We regularly receive referrals from English solicitors on this basis which gives some certainty over cost exposure and the commercial viability of transactions.