Hi

I hope you are well. Here are three interesting items for the week ahead.

READ

It's been nine months since I was last in an office. I suspect that this is a similar story for many of you. I don't know what will happen in 2021, but I know the data suggests that well over half of legal professionals want a blended approach to work. 

This week's reading was an excellent report on the future of work in the legal sector by Nine Feet Tall. The report, supported by Ashurst, DAC Beachcroft, and Osborne Clark, suggests that the future must include a flexible approach, and doing so presents an opportunity to reimagine work and culture.  

Why change? Consider some of the questions below (emphasis mine):

"The move away from office life doesn't just mean we set people up at home on laptops and the job is done. There are very real opportunities presenting themselves for long term change in how, when and where we work. With these opportunities come greater complexities… do we still need an office? How do we retain talent when the playing-field becomes more level? Which are the key processes ripe for digitisation? How is the client experience impacted?"

You can find the report here (email required) 

WATCH

Alex Hamilton, CEO and co-founder, of Radiant Law, joined me live from South Africa this week. 

Radiant Law has its 10th anniversary in January. During our conversation, Alex reflected on what's changed (and what's not) in the last decade.

"looking now from where we were ten years ago when obviously no one was doing that, and you know we were one of the first. There has been progress, but it's been slow. Really what's happened is that everyone's talked a lot. I fear that too many customers have been fobbed off too easily"

We also talk about regional trends, contracting mistakes, benchmarking contract performance within law firms, favorite books, and more.

Watch my discussion with Alex Hamilton (28 minutes) 

FUN

As most of us continue to be home, and many will likely spend hours sitting at your desk, I thought I would share a recent discovery that might help.

Dino Fit is a browser game that uses your webcam. The premise is that you jump in real life to make your dinosaur jump in the game. See how far you can get by timing your hops over obstacles. Feeling competitive, create a group to see the scores of friends and colleagues. 

Play Dino Fit here

N.B. The same game (sans real-life jumping) exists as an easter egg in the Chrome browser on Android devices.

Stay well.

Ab

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