Where is the legal marketplace heading? Will legal services ever be affordable? And how will BigData revolutionise the marketplace? A group of academics headed up by Daniel Katz and Renee Newman Knake from Michigan State University have set up a event to predict the future. Today the Reinvent Law Laboratory - #ReinventLaw  - will bring  together legal thinkers from across the world, giving their perspective on innovation, technology and entrepreneurship in the law. 

IT guru Richard Susskind, who has been reinventing the law for longer than most, will give the closing address whilst private equity law firm guru George Beaton will launch his book NewLaw New Rules – painting a picture of life post 2018 for law firms when companies such as Axiom  will pose a threat to current BigLaw firms with its new model of legal business and year-on-year growth of 30 per cent plus. 

According to Mr Beaton, NewLaw firms will see investors seeking return on capital; some of the staff will have a financial interest in the success of their business but as an asset, not to maximise equity partners’ profits each year. And it is a place where the balance sheets are as important as the income statements. The biggest change of all is that fees are fixed in NewLaw firms – leaving the provider, not the clients taking the risks of poor matter management. Mr Beaton says that  ‘Like butterflies in the Amazon, virtual and crowd-based professional services firms are starting to disrupt. They are leading the rise and rise of the NewFirm business model.'