Will the Legal Sector come back with a bang?

With the end of the lockdown starting to come into view, it is sensible to wonder how the legal landscape will look as this post-lockdown world comes into focus. Will business levels return to normal? Will firms carry on as they did before? What opportunities will be presented?

Changing practice areas The below table shows how business levels have been affected by COVID-19 across different practice areas.

But how will this look post lockdown? Will certain areas bounce back? Will new areas spring up? Let’s take a look at a few areas.

In the recession of 2008, nearly 27,000 companies became insolvent and it is predicted that we will be hit by an even worse recession over the coming months. As a company becomes insolvent and goes into administration, they will require an administrator, or they may be subject to a takeover or a merger. These require specialist legal services and should the recession hit as hard as it did 12 years ago, many firms will be needed for this work.

This may also lead to an increase in employment work as more firms make redundancies and require solicitors to ensure they do so legally. As more companies introduce new ways of working, they may also require changes to employment contracts and new measures put in place, requiring the advice of an employment solicitor.

Now let’s look at conveyancing. This has been the worst affected area during the lockdown as moving to a new house became near enough impossible. But will this change once the lockdown is over? Early indicator show that the answer is yes. Conveyancers should prepare themselves for a surge in business as the lockdown ends, especially with the changes to Stamp Duty announced by the Chancellor in July.

This is likely to be affected by changes in two other practice areas. As families spend more time together, divorce rates will start to rise, as, unfortunately, will levels of domestic violence. Though unfortunate for those involved, this brings a welcome boost to the legal industry. Those in family departments will see an increase in business, but as couples get divorced, any property that they own may have to be sold as part of the settlement, and the couple will look for new homes bringing more business to the conveyancing sector.

Another area that could benefit conveyancing is the boost in wills and probate work. By the end of May, COVID-19 had claimed more than 37,000 lives in the UK. This unfortunate loss of life means that there will be more cases that need to go through the probate process. As estates are distributed, assets, including homes, may need to be sold, again introducing more business to conveyancing departments.

Criminal law is another area of law that will require the services of a vast number of solicitors. Recent figures have shown that the lockdown could lead to a backlog of over 40,000 court cases in UK courts. Changes to the way cases are held, could lead to even more appeals further down the line, meaning there could be a surge in business for criminal firms.

More competition for jobs

Staff that have been made redundant will all be fighting for jobs and if fears over furloughed staff being made redundant come to fruition, the market will become even more fierce.

Those practice areas experiencing a rise in business following the lockdown may need to hire more staff. Indeed, the outlook amongst those surveyed would suggest that things are looking up.

We asked how the respondents to our survey felt about the future of the legal industry. 40% of our respondents answered that they were optimistic. 46% were neutral, while only 14% were pessimistic about how things would go.

This would suggest that those optimistic about the future will be looking at growth, which should mean more job opportunities for those who have unfortunately become unemployed as a result of the pandemic.

As we move forward following the pandemic, however, we may experience new ways of working. Social distancing may become a necessity for a while until cases of COVID-19 are reduced to zero, even as people return to work. This won’t be possible if everybody returns to the office.

This is why many firms are turning to remote working.

To see more about how firms are starting to work remotely and more, read the full report, ‘How COVID-19 has affected the UK Legal Industry’ here: www.dpssoftware.co.uk/blog/how-hascovid-19-affected-the-legal-business/ ■

By DPS Software