A few years ago, I became troubled by a phenomenon I was observing in the legal sector: dissatisfied lawyers and dissatisfied clients. Lawyers were working at an unsustainable pace.Their firms were throwing money at them to persuade them to stay. And clients resented paying far too much for their services.

It was clear that certain fundamental principles of the law firm business model – such as the billable hour, apprenticeships, partner tournaments, the “lockstep” approach to remuneration – were not suited to the changing economic and social context in which law firms were operating. Something would have to change.