Eversheds doesn't deserve the recent flak

Poor old Eversheds. Straight after Legal Week this month reported the firm was piloting an outsourcing venture with its South African ally, the venture was subjected to a series of caustic remarks in the media spread across five separate articles within a week. The source of the sustained criticism was Eversheds' apparently ill-fated flirtation with commoditisation and low-end work.

The timing of this seems odd, since the firm has had a sizeable bulk division in Cardiff for donkey's years. And let us not forget that Eversheds won widespread plaudits several years back for its innovative partnering deal with Tyco, which required a fair amount of commoditisation.

True, national and regional law firms used to fret about the brand impact of bulk arms in the 1990s, when they were attempting to build 'proper' City reps. But this reservation was in the main because such businesses were tackling retail work more in tune with high street law rather than any inherent problem with commoditisation. In contrast, the current push is about parcelling up areas like contract review and due diligence that large plc clients want to outsource. And the market was a very different place in the mid-1990s. Talking about re-engineering legal services was once a sign you lacked class – now many major law firms regard it as a badge of honour.

Neither is commoditisation restricted to national firms – the finance practices of major City firms have for years wrestled, not always very happily, with such pressures for certain kinds of capital markets and structured finance work. It is true that managing the right mix between commodity services and bespoke, high-end work is something that has troubled business in general for years, and there are few easy answers on striking the perfect balance. But there are no shortage of companies that have managed to service both ends of the market – including half the world's banks.

So what Eversheds' grave sin is, I'm not sure. The firm has had its share of challenges in recent years but one of the consistently brighter points has been the touches of imagination it has shown, as illustrated by the Tyco deal, and a willingness to invest in the infrastructure to support alternative fee deals. Likewise, as I've argued before, it would be a healthy thing for some law firms to enter the LPO market – competition from law firms will encourage the current players to raise their game. Surely clients will benefit and law firms will get a useful chance to experiment with different models, helping them update their own businesses' processes. Still, maybe Eversheds will get the last laugh. After our story came out, they had enquiries from two multibillion-pound companies interested in the pilot.

For more, see Eversheds gears up to launch its own outsourcing business.

Eversheds on the Legal Week Wiki