By Aebra Coe

Law360 (October 20, 2020, 7:38 PM EDT ) Many law firms have moved toward a centralization of their operations in recent years and away from partners operating independently alongside one another as "loners," but the social distancing necessitated by the pandemic could impact that, according to a Tuesday speaker at the Legal Marketing Association's annual conference.

The increased professionalization of law firm operations, in which management takes the wheel on joint activities like marketing and branding, has long faced up against "the forces of decentralization" as individual partners seek more autonomy in their practices, according to Jordan Furlong, a principal at consultancy Law21 and featured speaker in a webinar presented by the LMA on Tuesday.

Furlong said his concern is that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the law firm environment, with most attorneys still working remotely most of the time for the foreseeable future, could act as an accelerator for decentralization of law firm business operations, and loner partners could double down and try to hoard business and power within their firms.

But, he added, he does not think the gains law firms have made in the arena will be easily lost, and despite pushback from some partners, many firms will continue down the track of centralization.

The centralized functions like marketing, business development, IT, pricing and innovation are actually likely to become more important as law firms face uncertainty and a changing industry, Furlong said.

In today's legal market, law firms must be able to differentiate themselves from the competition and, to do that, they need to rely on a uniform branding strategy, he said.

So, how does a law firm with the majority of attorneys and staff not working in the office encourage a culture of working together and centralization in order to strengthen its brand?

Law firms' marketing departments have to integrate and partner with other departments and support teams like professional development and knowledge management to create a "multidimensional, multidisciplinary" approach to presenting a unified image of the firm in the marketplace and internally, Furlong said.

Doing so internally can be the hardest part but is also most important to fighting the forces of decentralization. Professionals need to remind attorneys that they are there for a reason and help make the workplace operate more effectively, Furlong said.

"Lawyers don't necessarily see or understand or accept this idea that they're not islands of genius and brilliance [and that] they are part of a collaborative team," he said. "What's happening now is we're going to create something new. It's up to us now to decide what it's going to be."

--Editing by Janice Carter Brown.

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