THE MAIN TENDENCIES OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEGAL SERVICES BUSINESS IN UKRAINE

Author
, professor, Kharkiv, Pushinska, 77

In heading

 Economic theory of law;

Signed print

 10.06.2019

Issues number

 2019 - № 2 (37)

Page

 67-88

Type of articles

 Scientific article

Code UDK

 330.1:234(477):334.012.42

ISSN print

 2411-5584

Abstract

 Problem setting. Over the past few years, a number of new phenomena and processes in the sphere of professional activity of lawyers have been inherent to development of the legal services business in Ukraine. Such tendencies actualize research aimed at indicating the content, directions, and forms of contemporary transformations of legal consulting.
Recent research and publications analysis. Nowadays, scientists carry out applied research of legal consulting oriented towards expert evaluations of development of the legal services market. Experts of a periodical of Ukrainian lawyers “The Practice of Law” and, particularly, O. Nasadiuk have significantly contributed to this field of research. Scientific papers of L. S. Shevchenko and O. V. Yarmak are dedicated to analyzing development of legal consulting. Accumulated statistical, expert, and analytical data require scientific generalization and systematization being a theoretical basis for improving and implementing effective measures for enhancing competitiveness of entities of legal consulting in the national and international markets of legal consulting.
Paper objective. The author aims at substantiating peculiarities, tendencies, and transformations being inherent to the legal services business in Ukraine, drawing on an analysis of its development during 2015–2018.
Paper main body. A two-vector conception of legal consulting (job – entrepreneurship) currently transforms into the three-factor one: legal consulting is a job – entrepreneurship – service. There is a set of service characteristics of consulting: – legal consulting – a professional business in the service sector; – activity of lawyers and legal consultants in providing legal aid – legal servicing neutral persons and legal services; – a legal services firm is a service company oriented towards qualitative satisfaction of customer’s needs in the process of legal servicing. The three-vector conceptual model of legal services business considers customer orientation as the main factor of success in the sector of legal consulting and a socio-ethical component. Scientists not only highlight socio-ethical frameworks of legal consulting but also perceive them as an effective factor for promoting legal services, forming a customer database, conquering new markets, and enhancing effectiveness and competitiveness of a legal services business.
Changes of the structure of supply in the market of legal services of Ukraine are inherent to contemporary market transformations of legal consulting.
Commoditization of supply is a noticeable feature of the legal services market in Ukraine. It encompasses the following characteristics: а) the increase of supply of indistinguishable legal services by different firms; b) transformation of unique (niche) legal practices into the typical one. Commoditization of supply contradicts the conception of customer orientation of the legal services business based on a principle of an individual
approach to servicing customers. Contemporary changes in the structure of typical legal services, as well as supply of legal services in general foster overcoming this contradiction.
Scaling a legal services business and the structural transformation based on combining organizational principles of activity of multidivisional legal services supermarkets and boutiques are tendencies of development of a legal services business.
Conclusions of the research. Having done the analysis of development of Ukrainian legal consulting, the author indicates that there are a number of interrelated transformations being currently inherent to legal consulting, namely:
– conceptual transformations – a contemporary conceptual model of legal services business, which is influenced and recognized by a juridical community, exists as a threevector model, and combines intellectual (professional), entrepreneurial, and service characteristics of the legal services business, factors of competitiveness, and is customeroriented and socio-ethical activity;
– market transformations, which shape commoditization of legal services supply and restructuration of a product portfolio of legal consulting, stipulating changes in the structure of supply in the market of legal services: expansion of complex and package services, pro-bono legal practices, on-line legal consulting, changes in the structure of legal services in the form of functions such as outsourcing, etc.; scaling legal services business, combining organizational principles of activity of legal services supermarket and boutiques, enhancing competition at the expense of engaging consulting and auditing firms, and activation of entities from regional markets of legal consulting.
Conceptual and market changes in the sphere of legal consulting stipulate the necessity for organizational and managerial transformations of the legal services business, which are a subject for further research of tendencies concerned with development of legal consulting in Ukraine.
Short Abstract for an article
Abstract. The author has substantiated the content, reasons, and main directions of current transformations of legal consulting in Ukraine. The author has indicated conceptual changes related to forming the three-vector model (job – entrepreneurship – service) of the socio-ethical legal services business. The factors of competitiveness of the legal services business include customer-orientation and compliance with professional and social ethical standards. The author has determined the main directions and types of market transformations of legal consulting by object of transformation (commoditization of legal services supply and restructuration of a product portfolio) and by entity of transformation (scaling a legal services business, combining organizational principles of activity of legal services supermarkets and boutiques).

Keywords

 legal consulting, legal services business, three-vector conceptual model of the legal services business, customer orientation, socio-ethical legal consulting, market transformations of legal consulting, commoditization of legal service supply, complex and package legal services, scaling a legal services business.

Reviewer

External reviewer

Article in PDF

 67-88

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Code DOI

 10.31359/2411-5584-2019-37-2-67

24.05.2019