The Law Tendr platform, launched in November, enables clients to post up details of their requirements. Lawyers can then bid to carry out the work. But Colin Jasper of Jasper Consulting warns that considerable expertise needs to be used by lawyers to make the process work for them. He said: 'If you're a lawyer serving a market like this, the only way to make money is to treat it like a commodity, to look for high leverage work, to look at work that can be done in a fairly process-oriented manner.'

US success

Despite the obvious drawbacks of these auctions, Mr Jasper believes that this is a potential growth area. In the US, the UpCounsel service appears to be making a success of the market, saying in January that it had signed up 5,000 lawyers. Sources: Lawyers Weekly and LawTendr