Collaboration is the most powerful driver of client institutionalisation. According to Thomson Reuters’ research, clients who identify collaborative teams within an outside law firm spend an average of 56 percent of their budget at that firm — more than twice the average share of spend received by the firms that clients use the most. Law firms in India discuss how they are embracing collaborative strategies, from integrated practice areas and cross-departmental meetings to advanced technologies and trust-building initiatives, all aimed at delivering superior value to clients.
WHAT ARE YOUR FIRM’S STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE CROSS-TEAM COLLABORATION TO BRING BETTER EFFICIENCY AND VALUE TO YOUR CLIENTS?
Prachi Dhave, managing partner, Dhaval Vussonji & Associates
We have structured our teams into integrated practice areas, that work closely together across various practice areas. We have several matters wherein real estate teams are involved in considering banking team’s ideas and expertise on a day-to-day basis. Juniors are recommended to work along with seniors and openly contribute their thought processes. We hold cross-departmental meetings in a project-wise manner and brainstorming sessions are organised to discuss ongoing cases, keeping our litigation team in the loop to share insights and for development of integrated legal strategies.
We have established incentive structures that reward collaboration and teamwork. By aligning our reward systems with collaborative goals, we encourage our lawyers to work together more efficiently.
We actively seek feedback from our clients and our teams to identify areas for improvement in our collaborative efforts. This feedback is crucial in refining our strategies and ensuring we meet our clients' evolving needs. These strategies collectively enable us to deliver superior legal service and greater value to our clients, leveraging the full breadth of our firm's expertise and fostering a culture of collaboration. We are committed to continuously enhancing our collaborative efforts to exceed client expectations as a whole.
Sonali Mahapatra, partner, Talwar Thakore & Associates
We truly believe that having a wide-lens perspective of what the client needs is the only way to deliver value to clients, and central to that is collaboration within the firm.
Our lawyers talk to each other about what clients are doing, how law and regulation are developing, new products and legal technology, and we do this across practice areas and seniorities. This is part of our culture as a firm and key to bringing home a wider perspective on what clients need and how we can deliver.
We make sure we understand what the requirements and challenges facing our clients are. In doing that we bring in relevant lawyers across practice areas, not constrained by internal divisions. This helps us craft products and advice drawing on technologies available within different work streams, which our clients truly appreciate.
Our recruitment actively considers diversity, and we know that bringing different voices and perspectives to the table greatly enhances what we can deliver.
We spend time and effort learning as a group. Our training programmes are open to all lawyers irrespective of their practice area, and we have firmwide, office-wide and practice-area-wide know-how updates through the year.
We use advanced collaborative technologies such as Citrix and cloud-based document sharing. These tools facilitate seamless communication and coordination among team members across different locations and time zones.
Shinoj Koshy, partner, Luthra and Luthra Law Offices
Collaboration within a law firm is fundamentally based on two essential forms of trust: “Relational trust,” which reflects confidence in the personal rapport with one’s colleagues, and “competence trust,” which is a strong belief in their professional abilities and integrity. As a firm, we are committed to fostering both types of trust to promote teamwork at all levels.
We organise off-site and social events to encourage interactions between team members from different practice areas and offices. These events provide a casual setting designed to build relational trust by allowing colleagues to develop personal connections. However, we recognised early on that relational trust and personal rapport alone isn’t enough to drive collaboration on client work, it requires the establishment of competence trust.
We purposefully create opportunities for cross-practice collaboration, initially focusing on non-billable activities such as internal workshops and Continuing Legal Education sessions. These initiatives serve as platforms for our lawyers to showcase their technical skills and interpersonal capabilities, thereby fostering the confidence needed to collaborate effectively on client engagements.
We also ensure that our lawyers are informed about the work being done by their colleagues across practice areas through internal communications and deal debriefs. This helps team members stay updated and know whom to contact when facing client needs that extend beyond their own expertise or practice area.
