As the market turns its attention to a post-pandemic landscape, it will benefit boutique lawyers to continue to employ a proactive mindset, Mr Yu said.

“Instead of external circumstances pushing the firms to adapt, we will continue to accelerate as an industry if we continue the game-changing flexible and innovative mindsets we had during the pandemic,” he posited.

Speaking ahead of his appearance at the 2021 Boutique Law Summit, Mr Yu – the founder of Quantum Law Group and winner of the Sole Practitioner of the Year category at the 2020 Australian Law Awards – said that boutique firm owners should identify the opportunities in any crisis, and COVID-19 is no different as the vaccine roll-out commences.

“The post-pandemic world is going to be an interesting one as COVID-19 has not only forced law firms to adapt to different circumstances, but challenged firms on their traditional views of what is required to deliver legal services and what is valuable to the client,” he told Lawyers Weekly.

“There has been a paradigm shift in the mass adoption of game-changing technological tools in providing legal services over the last 12 months, such that technology is not only good to have, but in some cases even mandated (such as e-conveyancing) and laws have changed quickly to follow suit to allow electronic transactions.”

The nature of being a boutique law firm, Mr Yu continued, is such that business owners compete with legal practices that have multiples of the resources available in a highly competitive marketplace.

“As such, efficiency and strategy are key. However, being smaller in size also offers its advantages in being able to provide a more personalised approach to service delivery and also being able to quickly manoeuvre to take advantage of any trends or openings in the market,” he outlined.

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“This also means more scope for experimentation and innovation. Boutiques in being nimble and adopting more game-changing strategies/initiatives will enable them to be able to deliver value and compete better in this marketplace.”

When asked if enough boutique firms are adopting, or are willing to adopt, such a necessary mindset at this juncture, Mr Yu said that most do have mindsets that differ to the big end of town, so as “to survive in a saturated marketplace”, but that they simultaneously do not like change, and employing a foreign mindset can be confronting, especially without the support that a larger law firm has.

“Having worked in boutiques and large law firms, I can see that they are very different business models. Adopting a different game-changing mindset can be challenging when deviating from tradition. If it were easy, then every single business would be a disruptor. It may also take time for established boutiques to adopt a different mindset,” he said.

“That said, change can be good, but too much change too quickly is very detrimental for any business. This is like going to the gym – it is good if you go three times a week but very bad if you go 12 hours every day.

“In the future, if boutiques do not adopt the right mindset then it is likely that they will be outcompeted, like any other business, especially in a world where short-term interests such as price are becoming more important to many clients than long-term relationships. Therefore, the adoption of an open mindset is not only good, it is crucial to long term success.”

Boutique practices must, Mr Yu surmised, be taking time out of working in the business and working on the business.

“Of course, this is easier said than done. Internally mindset wise, we should look towards our desired future vision and then work backwards to implement and achieve it,” he noted.

“Externally at the same time, we should keep track of market behaviours, understand short to long-term trends, take time to invest in new processes and technology and be willing to think and act differently.”

Furthermore, the attitude of operating as one has always done must be left by the wayside, Mr Yu added.

“Progress does not stagnate and time marches on. It waits for no man, woman or firm (national or boutique). If you are not innovating then it is likely that someone else will,” he concluded.

Mr Yu spoke on The Lawyers Weekly Show last year about the importance of establishing collaborative relationships and also about discovering one’s “why”.

Are you looking to launch your own practice but not sure where to start? Lawyers Weekly’s Boutique Law Summit returns to Sydney this month, designed for individuals who are looking to maximise their competitive edge in a post-pandemic marketplace. The event will be held on Friday, 26 March at the Four Seasons Hotel with a full agenda available to view here. To learn more about the event, click here.