Lawcast 221: Simon Harper on the innovative firm “Lawyers on Demand” and the changing face of legal services
Today I am talking to Simon Harper (pictured right) who co-founded Lawyers on Demand with Jonathan Brenner
Simon spent 8 years as an equity partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner where he spent time leading the TMT group and advising clients on the disruptive impact of the internet. In 2012 he stepped down from the BLP partnership to focus on developing and leading LOD. Always a fan of creative legal solutions, he founded LOD after thinking of the idea whilst lying on a beach.
An extract from the LOD website explains the concept:
Lawyers On Demand (LOD) is a new and innovative legal resourcing solution. It unites the possibilities offered by new ways of working to adapt the traditional legal model for the future.
Perhaps the most succinct description of LOD came from The Lawyer’s write-up of their 2010 Awards: “Lawyers On Demand is the way things are going”.
LOD was born out of changes in the way people worked. Users of legal services were keen to find a way to make their budgets stretch further, to get ‘more for less’. Many lawyers were looking for greater flexibility and autonomy without sacrificing quality of work and technology was making it easier to connect without always physically being in the same place.
From this, LOD emerged. The idea was to pair talented, freelance lawyers with clients looking for an alternative resource, all with the know-how support of a leading international law firm. It began as a pilot in 2007 with eight great lawyers. Since then it has increased ten-fold in size, won multiple awards and gained a fantastic list of clients.
In 2008 LOD won the Client Service Award at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards. Further, in 2010 Berwin Leighton Paisner won the awards for Law Firm of the Year from both The Lawyer and the British Legal Awards, each of which prominently cited LOD as a key factor in the win.
Listen to the podcast (40 mins)
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I’d like to thank Lawtel, Westlaw, Cassons For Counsel, City University Law School, David Phillips & Partners Solicitors, Inksters Solicitors, Iken, LBC Wise Counsel, Carrs Solicitors, JMW Solicitors – Manchester, Pannone, BPP Law School, Brecher Solicitors and Cellmark for sponsoring the the free student materials on Insite Law – appreciated.
With thanks to the Law Society for sponsoring the Law Review Weekly and my Lawcasts
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