I love a maverick who brings an entirely new model to an entrenched industry, especially when that industry happens to be law. If you want your company to win with a game-changing strategy, you need to read about VistaLaw.

Rob Walton, a VistaLaw co-founder, started with an insight that he admits isn’t a big surprise: The current legal industry model is not very efficient. Partners at the big law firms are encouraged to charge the most billable hours at the highest rate possible. Partners at major firms can bill up to $1,000 per hour, and they bill associates out at a rate that far exceeds their value and experience. 

According to Walton, the in-house counsel of a Fortune 500 company once commented that legal services are the only vendors where rates go up instead of down every year. This source compared the legal industry to a medieval guild, protecting itself and its members even though their model does not meet the needs of customers. 

While there are legitimate reasons to bill as many hours as possible (e.g., to avoid liability by being as thorough as possible), corporate clients get frustrated by the cost, inefficiency, and difficulty getting a clear answer on an issue. They want to see more reasonable fees, faster answers, and clear results. 

In addition to the mismatch between what clients want and what law firms deliver, Walton noticed two other shifts in the legal industry: 

First, many legal services are becoming commodities. Clients are not willing to pay high rates for commodity services. The current legal model – based on a pyramid with a few multi-million dollar earners at the top and many associates grinding away while billing out at higher rates than they deserve– is not sustainable when services become a commodity. 

Second, technology makes it much easier to render legal services without high overhead (e.g. expensive offices, high travel bills). 

In this context – and after tiring of working in the current legal industry – Walton and his partners decided to try a new model, one that offered better value to clients. In this new model:

First, only experienced attorneys do the work. Clients don’t have to pay huge hourly rates to train junior law firm associates on their own dime.

Second, only trusted attorneys can join the team. VistaLaw is not a temporary staffing firm or a recruiting firm. To join VistaLaw, an attorney needs to be brought in by a partner who knows him or her well from previous work. That way, every member of the firm is trusted and “vouched for.” 

Third, prices are reasonable, not outrageous. VistaLaw provides flexible pricing schemes based on (gasp!) what works for the client.

Fourth, the emphasis is on efficiency. Walton and his partners rent simple offices for 40 hours per month (not week) to meet with clients when required. They work from home when appropriate, or side by side with clients, and don’t need the high-rent Class A office buildings. 

Fifth, the firm is an early adopter of technology that can make them more efficient. Many attorneys might know about Blackberries and Google, but they don’t really use technology to make their practice more efficient. For instance, in addition to using Skype for free international teleconferences, VistaLaw is experimenting with Wikis to create best-in-class legal documents. 

This model appears to be especially valuable to companies that have a need for a major project (e.g., getting the books in order for a rapidly growing company) or that have a peak period and need to supplement their in-house legal counsel.

Since its inception, VistaLaw has a presence in Washington DC, London, Paris, and the Middle East. Walton’s vision is to continue to expand cautiously as they see areas for growth, while remaining nimble. 

So, what are the lessons if you want to change the way an industry works? According to Walton:

One proactive and embrace change. Exploit your lack of patience for doing things the same old, cumbersome way.

Two: Be sensitive to the constantly changing needs of the customer to reduce costs and be more efficient. If you are, you can discover an entirely new way of delivering solutions.

Three: Embrace technology to be more responsive and efficient.

Four: Provide excellent value. For instance, don’t bill the client as if you were creating a solution from scratch when you are not actually reinventing the wheel.

Five: Realize that loyalty from an employer and job security are dead.  “No one can say with confidence that their company will be there ten or fifteen years from now,” Walton says. “Find what you want to do, and do it.”