Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
Eight Things for Indian Law Firms to Think About
As part of our ongoing experiment to test the potential value of artificial planning in law firm management, we asked the newest version of our chatbot, openai GPT-4, what Indian law firms should be considering in their planning for the incursion of foreign law firms into the Indian legal market.
The response outlined eight good starting points.
Merger, Best Friends, or Something Else?
Many small and midsize law firms find themselves in some difficult — and for most of them, unprecedented — strategic predicaments.
They also are confronted with a wide range of possibilities such as, mergers, Vereins, general and specialized networks, and "best friends" relationships.
How can each firm make the decision that is best for them?
Don’t let the big guys scare you.
From all the attention that "Big Law" is getting in the legal press and at legal conferences, one might erroneously assume that a relatively small number of large firms are destined to rule the legal world, and that smaller firms are irrelevant to the future of the legal profession.
Don't believe it.
The International Challenge to Asian Law Firms
As international law firms from outside the region become more deeply embedded in the legal markets of Asia, the leading local and national law firms, which previously may have held relatively secure market positions, must respond quickly and accurately to these new competitors, or face relegation to the lower, less-profitable levels of the market.
Five Asian Legal Markets to Watch: Vietnam
Vietnam will experience substantial growth in its economy and legal market in the next five years. In our view, it already is a "must be there" location for any international firm that is seriously interested in developing a Southeast Asian practice, especially law firms based in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region.
We also expect that a group of well-regarded independent Vietnamese law firms can continue to compete effectively against the local offices of foreign law firms.
This is the second of our series of briefings on high-potential legal markets in Asia for the next five years.
Five Asian Markets to Watch: Philippines
Our recent evaluation of the growth prospects of Asian legal markets between now and 2020 persuade us that the Philippines will present great opportunities for local and foreign law firms. We expect more foreign law firms to increase their activities and, for some, their presence in the Philippines.
We also expect that increased competition will challenge the strategic thinking and management acumen of Philippine law firms, including well-established market leaders, as perhaps never before.
Preparing for the Trojan Horse
As reported recently in this blog, Indian lawyers anticipate a liberalization of restrictions on foreign lawyers and law firms in the near future; although the concept is not without opposition from some members of the profession. Walker Clark clients elsewhere also have had to respond to the effects that the entry of foreign lawyers and law firms have in markets that previously were largely insulated, either by local market conditions or by regulatory design, from foreign competition.
Our experiences advising national and local firms in these markets suggest five basic questions that lawyer and law firms should ask as they start planning to meet these new competitive challenges.
An Open Indian Legal Market: Opportunity or Threat to Indian Law Firms?
The Bar Council of India is about to approve rules to permit foreign lawyers to practice in India. National and local law firms in India are already concerned about how the entry of foreign lawyers and law firms could change the competitive dynamics of the Indian legal market.
Is your law firm ambicultural?
A managing partner of a client law firm of Walker Clark recently told me, "The problem with our firm is that we have too many opportunities and too many good ideas. At the end of the day we are like dogs chasing our own tails."
This is a frequent phenomenon in successful law firms.
