Is a Subscription Model Right for Your Law Firm?

What’s not to love about recurring revenue and predictable income? Offering subscription-based legal services lays the foundation for law firms to maintain long-term relationships with clients who can access a curated selection of legal services for a monthly fee. 

Business clients appreciate predictable legal fees. And with a subscription to legal services, they avoid the drawn-out process of selecting outside counsel for new projects. Rather than weeks of hassle, they start work as soon as they are ready, which can be a competitive advantage in fast-moving marketplaces. 

But does your legal practice area lend itself to subscribability? What characteristics make a legal service subscription-worthy? How does technology come into play, and what does it take to get your pricing and terms right?

Using technology to support subscription-worthy legal services.

Not every practice area is suitable for a subscription model. Not surprisingly, trial work tends to be much too unpredictable. The most subscribable legal services follow repeatable, standardized workflows that leave little to chance, e.g., transactional services such as generating business agreements. 

Ironically or not, these are also the types of legal services that are easiest to automate. The more repeatable and predictable a legal service workflow is, the more likely you can profit from scaling it through automation and offering it as a subscription service. Examples include:

• Document Review and Drafting: Offer access to a complete resource bank of business planning templates and guides for clients to tap into as a starting point. Resource banks can work for estate planning, IP, family law, and other practice areas as well. Clients can add hours for experienced lawyers to review and draft custom legal documents. 
• Contract Management: Assist with reviewing, negotiating, and updating contracts on an ongoing basis. 
• Intellectual Property Protection: Offer services that include a specified number of monthly trademark searches and registrations, copyright filings, and patent applications.

Automating the tasks involved in these services boosts profitability as work grows more efficient and reliable. You may offer access to an automated tool that lets clients answer questionnaires to generate tailored contracts. Part of the subscription could include a fixed number of hours for lawyer consultations on contract issues. In this way, you can offer multiple levels of service based on client needs. Additional legal assistance to consider for subscription include:

• General Legal Consultations: Offer a set number of consultations per month or year during which clients seek advice on various legal matters. 
• Regulatory Compliance: A basic level of service may include regular updates on relevant regulatory changes and written guidance on compliance. A higher service level can consist of ongoing direct support to ensure compliance with changing regulations. 
• Employment Law Support: Advice, guidance, and services such as drafting employment contracts, handling employee disputes, and ensuring compliance with labor laws. 

Tailored packages may include unlimited phone calls and email consultations, contract drafting and review quotas, training videos and monthly webinars on specific legal topics, business entity formation, or even research hours as needed.

Data-driven analyses align subscription pricing and terms.

Getting subscription pricing and terms right requires thorough data-driven analyses of your firm's current business model to understand cash flow. Steps include tracking data on how clients use your firm's legal services to pinpoint which are most popular. For popular services that are also subscribable, evaluating the firm's business intelligence data can reveal the costs and resources needed to deliver them efficiently and effectively. This knowledge forms the basis for designing subscription pricing and terms that align with your firm's business model.

Predictive analytics can help inform your evaluations of the potential profitability of various subscription models. Using data to understand the past and gain insight into the future opens the door for developing pricing and terms that clients happily agree to and protect firm profits. 

Also consider any potential legal implications and restrictions, such as American Bar Association regulations on advanced fees for legal services, which may require trust accounting and other safeguards. Automatic service and payment renewal laws may also vary by state, making it essential to stay informed of each jurisdiction's requirements. 

With these elements in place, you'll be well on your way to enjoying predictable revenue and fostering lasting client relationships. After more than 25 years of Transforming the Business of Law™, Amicus Capital Group’s team of experts is more than ready to steer your firm toward profitable subscribable legal services. Call 877-926-4287 today to discover how to use automation to support subscription services and better differentiate your firm in today's competitive legal market.