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The road ahead
After the shock of the global financial crisis, Europe's law firms must adapt or die, writes Charles-Henri de Pardieu
The turmoil caused by the global economic crisis following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008 pushed the entire financial system to the brink of disaster. Banks and law firms had to reconsider their business models as they were no longer able to maintain the same level of activity as had been conducted during the years before the crisis. Indeed, the financial meltdown brought to the forefront long standing issues with these business models that had been lurking below the surface for some time and was catalyst for change at all professional services firms. For instance, we learned in 2009 that independent law firms were arguably better placed to resist the financial crisis than some of the UK and US global giants. The European independents have positioned themselves in this way through the wide diversity of their activities, as well as their strong presence in domestic markets, and in so doing have provided a premium over global firms. Moreover, the inherent flexibility of independent law firms — owing to their size and fee structures — also increased their ability to resist the financial crisis.