Speaking to Australia's Lawyers Weekly following the hiring of his firm’s 100th employee in five years since foundation, LegalVision chief executive Lachlan McKnight accused biglaw firms of offering bad service. He put his comment in the context that growth in law is incredibly difficult, and rapid growth is even harder.

‘Frankly pathetic’

Mr McKnight said that successfully breaking into the legal market requires ‘newlaw providers to be ten times better than traditional providers to entice clients across.’ He added that traditional law firm brands still hold sway but clients are, in general, being ‘badly serviced’ by the traditional law firms. Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in the legal industry, Mr McKnight told the magazine, average out at ‘around 15, which he described as ‘frankly pathetic.’ He explained: ‘If a law firm focuses on NPS, on delivering efficient, cost-effective outcomes using process engineering and some automation, it’s going to be doing better than 95 per cent of its competitors.’ 

‘Autonomy and flexibility’

Mr McKnight argues all firms need to offer more autonomy and flexibility for clients if they are to succeeded in a hotly contested market.