Five Forces

While Richard Susskind's book "The End of Lawyers?" is always a hot topic when discussing trends in the business of law, Mark Gerow makes a compelling argument in Law Technology News that the market forces Susskind describes were first outlined by Michael Porter's "Five Forces" back in 1979.

"Five Forces" detailed the following market forces that impact any industry (not specifically law) as:


Within this context, Gerow highlights how these forces are effecting the current state of the business of law.

• "Clients have more bargaining power due to increased options for sourcing legal services (both geographically and in terms of method of delivery.)"

• "The threat of new entrants has increased in certain segments due to globalization."

• "The threat of substitute products (such as outsourced e-discovery) has increased."

• "Rivalry within the industry is high due to the barriers of exit (a law firm can't choose to switch to healthcare services if the legal market becomes too crowded, it must "stand and fight".)"

It's interesting to view the legal industry through this broader lens, crystallizing the impact the internet has had in increasing competitive pressures on a legal industry that had been largely insulated from theses dynamics in the past.