Blog: The Shift from Law-Centric to Client-Centric
Legal services have historically been defined by internal standards:
Quality of Legal Analysis
Depth of Research
Seniority of Practitioners
However, while these metrics matter, this traditional law-centric model is rapidly eroding. Clients today are more informed, budget-conscious, and more demanding of commercial alignment than ever before.
Recent research highlights the pressure on legal functions:
70% of corporate legal departments are under pressure to reduce legal spend.
65% expect law firms to innovate in their service delivery.
This is not just a trend, it’s a structural shift in how legal value is perceived and delivered.
3 Key Trends Driving this Shift
Economic Pressure: CFOs are demanding that legal functions justify their costs with business outcomes.
Procurement Influence: Many clients now evaluate legal vendors through formal RFPs, service-level agreements (SLAs), and performance scorecards.
Comparative Benchmarking: Clients compare law firms not only against each other but also against other business services and their own internal teams.
What Client-Centric Legal Looks Like
Client-centric firms are responding by reimagining service delivery. They are focusing on outcomes, efficiency, and alignment with business priorities:
Reimagined Service Delivery: Streamlining administrative tasks, offering self-service options, and using technology to improve efficiency.
Business-Aligned Advice: Counsel delivers strategies that balance legal rigor with commercial objectives.
Clear Communication: Translating complex legal advice into actionable business guidance, delivered with clarity and agility.
Microsoft’s “Trusted Advisor” program, for instance, encourages external counsel to provide business-aligned legal strategies, reduce administrative burden, and communicate with clarity and agility. Firms and teams that deliver in this way are winning long-term loyalty and competitive advantage.
Legal teams and firms that thrive today focus on clients first. To stay competitive, legal functions must shift from law-centric excellence to client-centric outcomes.
