As AI and technology redefine the legal landscape, lawyers are under pressure to evolve – stepping up from problem-solvers to strategic business advisers. Here, Melissa Care shares how lawyers can seize this moment to sharpen their edge and thrive in the future of law.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Melissa Care, partner at Coutts Lawyers & Conveyancers, discussed how lawyers can move beyond the boundaries of traditional legal practice and begin positioning themselves as trusted strategic business advisers.
In the same episode, she stressed the need for lawyers to move beyond reactive service delivery and embrace the role of proactive strategic decision-makers amid a period of rapid change in the profession.
One of Care’s first insights into transitioning into a strategic business advisory role is that it all starts with a mindset shift – rethinking what it truly means to be a lawyer in today’s world.
“I think that lawyers should ask themselves, do they want to be more than just a lawyer? Do they want to be more than just a person sitting in an office drafting documents? Can they do more than what clients are now going to look to say, ‘Oh, well, AI can do that for me, [and] is it worth me even using a lawyer?’” she said.
The transition, Care explained, doesn’t need to be radical or immediate. Instead, lawyers can begin by taking small, practical steps with their existing commercial or business clients.
“It’s about making yourself more valuable and even starting small, small steps with the current commercial or business clients that firms have and lawyers have, even if they start small by starting to say to those clients, have you thought more about this, or is this something that you consider?” she said.
“You don’t have to go in fully and, you know, start advising on all sorts of things, but start to educate yourself on how you can help the clients that you’ve already got.”
Reflecting on her own journey into becoming a strategic business adviser, Care shared how this shift transformed her client relationships – building deeper trust and creating stronger, long-term partnerships.
“We started small, with can we have an overhaul of your employment practices? Can we assist with your policies? Can we be that adviser for you so that you can just pick up the phone when you need it and call us?” she said.
“When we started those little things, and then they started to realise that, ‘Oh, it was great to just have somebody that knew your business, you trusted, you could pick up the phone and they could answer it,’ they started to realise, ‘I could use this in other areas of my practice.’”
For lawyers looking to make the shift, Care emphasised that continuous learning is critical – but not necessarily through formal qualifications. Instead, she advocated for diversifying learning through a variety of continuing legal education (CLE) opportunities.
“Look for me like I haven’t gone and got an MBA myself, but the way I started to expand was starting to do more CLEs that weren’t just legal-based,” she said.
“Particularly with all the anti-money laundering things that are coming out, I’ve been doing a lot of those seminars with groups that aren’t just legal, but groups that are in the property sector and other businesses.”
