BDO Law Firm Workplace Survey

It isn’t news that margin pressure, automation and technology are disrupting the legal industry. During the past few years, law firms have been deeply impacted by non-traditional entrants. These new players—armed with new business models leveraging technology—have commoditized generic legal services and put legacy players, who continue to operate with overcapacity and high overhead and fixed fee structures, on notice. 
 
Meanwhile, looking beyond the internal dynamics of the legal trade, the world outside is changing rapidly in terms of how work is conducted, where it is conducted and by whom. In perhaps the first time in history, we will see at least four different generations of the workforce under the same roof, each with a very different set of expectations. For instance, while older generations of executives value the private office, millennials favor working in a highly collaborative and open concept workplace enabled through mobility technology. Today’s workforce can and prefers to work from home or while on the road as they visit clients who are more widely dispersed and as mobile as they are.

Are Law Firms Adapting? 

But to what extent have law firms adapted their workplace practices to capitalize on trends that have delivered success in many other industries?  What unique challenges are they facing in implementing strategies to drive growth? Is the pace of change sufficient to sustain critical momentum and help improve immediate cash flow requirements?
 
Download BDO’s Law Firm Workplace Survey which examines the opinions and insights of AmLaw350 executives about strategic decisions, operational practices and organizational constraints they face while implementing real state and workplace strategies in major law firms across the U.S.