Netflix-style offer seeks to disrupt legal sector

Commercial law and insurance specialist BLM is looking to take the risk out of legal advice with the launch of a subscription-based service.

BLM Clarity has been designed for companies which require legal advice across several areas, rather than for a specific deal or litigation matter.

Steve Kuncewicz, partner and head of BLM’s creative, digital and marketing sector group, said: “We’ve seen so many other areas of business in areas of life go subscription – you don’t have a problem paying for Netflix or Amazon or anything else like that.

“What we’re looking to do is to make it easy to get access to legal support, to make it feel as if every time you have a minor query you don’t have to open up a brand new file because I think that’s a real barrier to access.

“If you are a fast moving entrepreneurial client that might have a different query every day, this service is designed to deal with that.”

James Harvey, BLM

James Harvey, partner and executive board member at BLM, believed the new offer will enable the firm as it “listens to our clients and help them manage their risk, supporting their growth.”

He said: “Clarity introduces a more flexible approach to the way businesses use lawyers. This is about working in partnership with businesses and introducing legal services as a business enabler, not just something considered as a distress purchase.”

Although fixed-fee models are increasingly popular for legal services, paying per hour is still the most common.

BLM is now a £100m+ turnover firm operting in 13 UK city regions, including Manchester and Liverpool. Its background in insurance work, which is typically fixed fee because of the volumes involved, gives it the confidence to go further with its pricing structures.

Steve Kuncewicz, BLM

Lawyers, along with all professional services firms, aspire to have trusted advisor status with their clients but it is the accountants that more often occupy that space.

“If you’re an accountant, it is easy to get to that trusted advisor because it’s less transactional,” said Kuncewicz.

“It is the place that everybody aspires to. The research we’ve seen suggests that your average client will come to you when they have a specific query, or they are dealing with a particular disposal or acquisition. But there will be all sorts of other queries that they worry about referring to a lawyer.”

The service has been designed for SMEs, but there is already interest from larger corporates because it can support in-house legal teams who may need extra capacity or expertise in a specific area.

Kuncewicz added: “If you are close to a business and you understand what matters to them commercially, you become very much aware that you need to structure the advice you give in a way that gets their attention and that answers the question – as opposed to giving them a massive treatise on the law.

“The more we talk to clients, the more touch points we have with them, the better relationship we have with them. It benefits both sides as we learn so much more about what matters to them.

“They feel that they can ask a question and they’ll get an answer – and a practical one – on any number of different legal queries.”