How has the legal market changed in recent years?

At the end of 2017 we had about 45,000 lawyers in Chile, distributed among legal departments of companies, legal studies, government legal departments, teaching and freelance workers, among others; number is increasing.

As for the Studies of Lawyers, according to the book Big Law: Studies of Lawyers in Chile (Íñigo De la Maza G., Rafael Mery Nieto, Juan Enrique Vargas V.; Thomson Reuters Chile, 2016), As of 2013, there were 76 lawyers' offices in Chile, whose typology varies between large, medium, small and boutique offices, which are generally specialized.

In recent years there have been changes in the system, with the supply being refunded. This has been due to different factors among which we believe are the departure of partners from large legal studies to create specialized studies, accelerating the establishment of boutique studies; the arrival of large international lawyer studiessuch as the case of three major global firms, CMS, Dentons and DLA Piper, which joined local offices; the greater integration of major auditors in the development of the provision of legal services; and the birth of multiple initiatives and projects related to Legaltech.

At the same time and as a result of the above, the environment has become more competitive, which has forced many traditional legal studies to change their service models, partner, or merge to give sustainability to your business in accordance with the value and efficiency search required by the customers.

Some of the trends that have marked the change in the global legal market have been the incorporation of Legaltechas noted above, including technology in legal departments of companies, government entities and legal studies; as well as the emergence of alternative legal service providers that focus their proposal of value on providing the companies with talents and transitional equipment; and the opening of spaces for remote work.

Other cases of solutions are those relating to externalizations in negotiation, drafting, administration, classification and analysis of documentation, and outsourcing of purchase requirements, contracts and other similar requirements.

This is how Chile's legal market is changing and will change even more, Let us be attentive, and let us apply all those tools that will allow us to save resources and make our work more efficient and effective.

Jimena Altuzarra, Communications Coordinator at Alster Legal.