There has been a 7% rise in the number of lawyers at ‘virtual’ law firms since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as more lawyers consider the benefits of working outside the traditional law firm environment.
There are currently 1,355 lawyers at virtual law firms*, up from 1,270 lawyers pre-COVID-19 and just 803 in 2017.
The value of the fixed costs of traditional firms, such as expensive office space, meeting rooms, marketing departments and admin support staff has reduced markedly during the pandemic. This means many lawyers are questioning whether they could earn more individually at a lower-overhead virtual firm by retaining a higher percentage of their billing.
The pandemic and shift to working from home has also led more lawyers to look at whether a virtual firm could offer them a better work-life balance. Virtual law firms allow lawyers more freedom over the work they take on and the hours they work, as well as enabling them to work remotely from any location.
Virtual law is a growing industry, with several fast-growing and acquisitive practices. The biggest virtual firm, Keystone Law, now has 354 lawyers and is in the UK’s Top 100 firms, turning over £49.6 million last year. The firm has made a number of hires from top law firms including Clifford Chance in recent months.
The biggest rise in lawyer numbers during the pandemic was at Nexa Law, set up in 2016, which saw its number of lawyers rise 145% from 22 to 54. This came as the firm acquired specialist London corporate firm Peregrine Law.
Jon Cartwright, Partner, says: “The virtual law firm model has been gaining popularity in the profession over the last few years, but the pandemic has made a lot more lawyers question whether it could work for them.
“A lot of lawyers quite successfully working from home are now asking what value they are getting from some of the fixed costs that directly reduce their income. That makes the virtual firm model look a lot more appealing to some.
“Six months ago, a lot of lawyers wouldn’t have been able to imagine not spending some 45 to 50 hours a week in the office, but they have been forced to get used to it very quickly. Some are finding that the prospect of going back to their desks isn’t particularly appealing. The work-from-anywhere model of a virtual firm is going to particularly be attractive for those individuals.”
The number of lawyers at ‘virtual’ law firms up 7% since pre-COVID-19
*August 31 2020