In time of crisis it is usual to see innovation, and the rapid implementation of change. We can be at our best and most inventive when put under pressure.

It is also my view that the specialist law firm has a particular advantage: its focus on a deliberately narrow range of activities can offer benefits to both its clients and its staff. Decision making can be swift, and a range of ideas can be tried out and assessed quickly, without unnecessary politics and competing interests presenting obstacles.

The experience of COVID-19 has highlighted three main areas where the innovation and flexibility which are hallmarks of the best specialist law firms are already proving key: technology, funding and culture.

When it comes to technology, firms with experience of working with international clients, as well as those in the UK, are likely to have an advantage in responding to Covid-19, as are those who have embraced and facilitated remote working.

Since late March 2020, firms' choice of IT systems, agile working procedures, and contingency plans have all been tested as never before. In particular, as hearings in litigation and arbitration became virtual, it has been necessary quickly to implement detailed alternative plans for dealing with the sorts of things that can often be taken for granted, such as the physical co-location of all or most of the solicitors, barristers, clients, witnesses, experts, and judges/arbitrators.

Not all matters require the same technological solutions, and at CYK we consider it an advantage for our clients that we are not tied to any single platform for e-disclosure, or e-bundles.

Although there is a great deal that can and should be written about witnesses giving evidence remotely, and the arrangements needed in order to ensure that fairness is not compromised, technology has shown itself to be up to the task of remote hearings. As ever, all can be at the mercy of the simplest things though, in particular the reliability and speed of a user's internet connection!

Accelerated progress towards more regular remote hearings offers the potential to generate significant savings for clients, in particular those from overseas, including the time and money spent on attending some or all of a lengthy trial. This development highlights the need for exceptional lawyers to be exceptional project managers.

More than ever, those engaged in complex litigation need to plan not only their legal strategy, but also every other element of a matter, from a communications strategy right down to the most particular details regarding the interface between various pieces of software, the availability of hardware (eg multiple screens), and a failover connection to the internet for all key people, including witnesses.

Litigation funders have identified Covid-19 as an opportunity for their offering to become even more widely understood, accepted, and used than it already is. The difficulties that many potential claimants faced, in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, in finding the means to pursue even the most meritorious claims, are being used to illustrate how different the situation now is for those with a Covid-19 related dispute.

The litigation funding market has become a great deal more sophisticated over the past 12 years creating significant competition among funders, and greater diversity of approach.

New entrants are challenging older assumptions around risk, reward, and pricing. We work with the funders best suited to the client and matter, and the process of selecting the right funder has become a little like choosing the right counsel team: it is a very significant relationship. We anticipate that more matters will be funded, including by clients who would traditionally have self-funded, but now wish to preserve cash reserves, or reduce risk (including adverse cost risk).

Of all the things that have been learned so far by lawyers from the Covid-19 experience, the most significance may be what they have learned about the culture of their own firm. It's not only systems, procedures, and innovation that have been put to the test, but also the essence and culture of firms.

I believe that the relatively smaller size of a specialist firm can be one of its great strengths; when the going gets tough there is the opportunity truly to listen to, and to develop a bespoke approach with, every individual staff member.

I am convinced the firm and its clients benefit from that in ways which may be difficult to measure meaningfully, but which are a better investment in the future success of the firm than anything else.

Robert Coffey is the managing partner of Cooke, Young & Keidan