In a rapidly evolving legal landscape, Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) are emerging as key players in driving innovation. Chris Murnane, Legal Solutions Director at Johnson Hana in Dublin, recently shared insights at a Platforum9 session on how these new models are transforming legal service delivery.
The Rise of ALSPs in a Traditionally Conservative Industry
The legal industry has historically been conservative and risk-averse, with traditional law firms often resistant to change. However, as other business functions like HR, accounting, and sales have undergone significant operational transformations over the past decade, the legal department is now facing similar scrutiny.
“I think historically, the legal department or legal team in large companies has been under-digitised,” Murnane explains. “That lens has now spun over to the legal function to be like, ‘you need to do more with less.'”
This shift coincides with the rapid development of AI tools, creating both opportunities and challenges for legal teams who may not have their basic processes and data properly organised yet.
From E-Discovery to Comprehensive Legal Solutions
ALSPs were born out of the e-discovery world about a decade ago, when law firms struggled to handle the massive data volumes required for litigation and investigative work. This created an opening for service providers who could combine technology and flexible staffing models to deliver more efficient solutions.
From these roots, ALSPs have expanded their offerings to include:
- Augmented staffing for in-house legal teams
- Managed legal services for high-volume processes
- Technology-enabled contract management
- Privacy operations
- Project management expertise
The “Lawyer Whisperer” Approach
Murnane describes his role as that of a “lawyer whisperer” – someone who sits between traditional legal work and technology-driven process solutions. He works with in-house legal teams to identify pain points, map out processes, and design outsourced solutions that combine the right technology with the right people.
“I spend a lot of time with clients understanding their needs and pain points. I also then spend a lot of time out in the market understanding where legal tech is at, like what are the newest innovations,” he notes.
Rethinking Value and Billing Models
Perhaps one of the most innovative aspects of ALSPs is their approach to pricing. Rather than charging by the hour, ALSPs like Johnson Hana often use unit pricing or value-based billing that aligns with business outcomes.
“We work out what the value is overall to the company,” Murnane says. “They’re not paying per hour. They’re paying for per unit of contract negotiated back.”
This shift in focus helps reposition legal departments from cost centers to “revenue heroes” by demonstrating how faster contract turnaround times can accelerate sales cycles and drive business growth.
Flexibility in Staffing
ALSPs have also pioneered more flexible staffing models. Johnson Hana maintains a roster of approximately 600 lawyers, with 100-150 deployed on projects at any given time. Many work 15-20 hours per week on an asynchronous basis, providing a valuable option for highly skilled lawyers who don’t want traditional full-time roles.
“We’re almost like five times oversubscribed because there’s very few offerings for people who have a really good skillset but don’t want to do the 40 hours plus,” Murnane notes. This taps into a previously underutilised talent pool in the legal market.
The Right-Sourcing Approach
A key innovation from ALSPs is what Murnane calls “right tooling and right sourcing.” This means examining each legal process to determine how much can be automated through technology, and then finding the right level of expertise for the remaining human tasks.
Interestingly, Murnane doesn’t automatically turn to lawyers for all tasks. “We don’t pay lawyers to do admin work almost ever. They’re too expensive and, to be honest, not that great at it. I think lawyers are just generally terrible project managers.”
Instead, ALSPs often deploy specialised project managers who are experts at process optimisation, bringing in lawyers only for the specific tasks where their legal expertise adds value.
Future Challenges and Opportunities
While AI is rapidly evolving, Murnane believes there will still be a crucial role for human oversight. “There’s still the question of who manages the AI? Who’s putting things into the AI? Making sure the process works, making sure the output’s okay.”
He’s also observed that many of the legal tech solutions claiming to fully automate legal processes often still require significant human involvement to implement and manage effectively.
Breaking Down the Myth of “Bespoke” Legal Work
One of the biggest mindset shifts ALSPs are driving is challenging the notion that legal work is uniquely bespoke and cannot be systematised.
“Lawyers are famous for thinking that the value of what they’re doing is super bespoke every time,” Murnane observes. “And actually everything is a wider process that you can put a systematic project management lens on.”
This perspective allows legal departments to identify repeatable components of their work that can be standardised, automated, or outsourced, freeing up lawyers to focus on truly high-value, strategic work.
Conclusion
As legal departments face increasing pressure to modernize their operations and deliver more value with fewer resources, ALSPs are positioning themselves as innovation partners that can help bridge the gap between traditional legal services and technology-enabled solutions.
By combining flexible staffing models, process expertise, technology adoption, and alternative pricing structures, ALSPs like Johnson Hana are helping to transform how legal services are delivered – potentially allowing lawyers to “focus on the more interesting and strategic value-add work” while routine processes are handled more efficiently through a combination of technology and right-sourced talent.
