20 Years Ago - Reprise: Two Decades of Change and the Constants That Matter

As 3Kites approaches its twenty first year, we’ve taken a moment to review the topics we were writing about and the projects we were engaged on 15 to 20 years ago to reflect on the changes that we have seen in the legal sector especially. Although much of this earlier content was prepared against the backdrop of a different technological landscape, it is interesting to see how many of these challenges fee earners and business services teams continue to tackle... whilst we adapt our services to assist clients’ with new technologies, evolving business strategies and the impact of private equity entering the market. 

Our earliest articles and projects covered themes including change management, client-centricity, collaboration, process improvement and legal technology maturity.  Many of these map directly onto pressures firms face today in areas such as growth/M&A, AI adoption, pricing transparency, application upgrades and talent retention.   

Not-new news: 

1. An article summarising key points from 2009’s Legal Week’s Strategic Tech Forum noted that “if other entities emerge that have the capital to invest in different ways of delivering legal services, the competitive position of all the players in the market will be affected, whether or not they are the subject of outside investment”.  We see this today, especially amongst small to medium sized firms which are considering how to respond to PE entrants such as Law Front and Knights (see ‘More Recent Changes’ #1). 

2. In 2010, we wrote “the reality is that inefficiencies exist in most processes; it’s just that they mattered less when firms were doing so well”.  I have a meeting later this month to discuss how we can help to improve business services processes as firms grapple with finding cost savings, albeit where many have already been round this loop a number of times so may now be turning to AI. 

3. A 2011 article pondered why “systematisation and price predictability” are difficult to achieve.  The impact of AI on work previously thought to be beyond automation is a truly fundamental change that requires new ways of working, staffing and charging.   

4. The idea that PMS projects fail when treated as IT upgrades rather than a business transformation opportunity remains as true in 2026 as it has throughout our history, although is possibly more readily accepted today. 

5. Firms still underuse the systems they buy, although this has only increased in those firms where fee earners are able to install software bought on the web. 

6. Whilst KM maturity continues to vary significantly between firms, having retreated during the financial crisis in 2008-9, its value has only increased since Covid restricted the time people spent working in the same physical location, reflecting the need for the digital access to knowledge which supports teams today.  

More recent changes 

1. The volume of law firm mergers: Whilst a lot remains the same (looking to scale, for geographic access, diversification and cost leverage), private equity investment and the future partnership model have accelerated this trend adding to the importance of strategic planning to ensure mergers happen for the right reasons. 

2. Microsoft Azure was launched in 2010 (following other options), although cloud was not a consideration for most law firms in the early years.  It first became a question of what the options were, evolved into weighing cloud against the status quo before becoming a red-line requirement - in 2026, we haven’t had a client consider on-prem solutions for a number of years.  As a result, previous concerns have fallen away or reduced in importance although costs have steadily increased. 

3. People were talking about data protection 15-20 years ago but not to the extent that we hear about GDPR today.  This is aligned with growing cyber concerns which have grown as state-sponsored hacks proliferated.  Tech resources have responded by switching from on-site server management to providing increased security. 

4. The most significant change has been the rise of AI.  This has gone from 0-60 at such speed that many firms are struggling to know what their response should be.  Some of this is hype but there is no doubt that tools are being used to generate content, automate processes and change the landscape in unprecedented ways.  Firms are having to consider AI’s impact on staffing, training, pricing, culture and strategy in equal measure, having recently seen Covid’s changes to established work practices.  Today, “innovation” is simply keeping up! 

   
   

The speed and depth of change we are now witnessing has dramatically increased from 15-20 years ago.  Many firms see this as an existential crisis happening in front of their eyes whilst others accept change is coming and see it as an opportunity to simply consolidate a position or, better yet, to get ahead.   

From a 3Kites perspective, we are in the latter camp.  We see change as an opportunity for improving service, improving the work-life balance, building a sustainable future and more.  Today’s 3Kites service offering for clients benefits from our collective experience going back over the last 20 years and beyond as Managing Partners, IT Directors, Knowledge leaders, Risk & Compliance Partners, GCs, product vendors, project managers... and me! 

Note that the companion piece to this, covering the history of 3Kites over the last 20 years and featuring a similar picture to above but taken in 2009, is available on our website or by clicking on this link It was 20 years ago today .