As we close the door on another year, we get a chance to reflect on what a good year it was. In this article, we summarise our highlights and our vision for 2021. We consider how Covid-19 has challenged and changed businesses and law firms around the world. In this context, we present the Centurion Plus model and the NewLaw approach as a new way of working. We look back on our launch in Germany in the summer, our growing pool of internationally qualified and experienced lawyers, a growing client base, and our media presence in the past year. Finally, we lay out our vision and goals for 2021.
Covid-19 and its impact on businesses and the legal sector
2020 has been a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic threw many challenges at the world and triggered a global health and economic crisis. Significant global disruptions have impacted all businesses worldwide. The year has seen new opportunities too, considerable investment in health care systems and collaborations among life sciences companies to combat the spreading virus.
Notably for us, Covid-19 has transformed the legal sector. As travel was restricted lawyers had to adapt to the new normal quickly. Remote consultations with clients via videoconferencing and team calls from home challenged law firms all over the globe.
The Centurion Plus model was the perfect response to the new way of working. As a result of economic strains on most companies, legal departments have been forced to cut costs for external counsel. Simultaneously, the pandemic has increased their workload and pressure on their legal teams. Therefore, general counsel are actively looking for alternatives to affordable legal services without sacrificing quality.
The NewLaw approach
One approach to reduce the costs of external legal consultants is to engage NewLaw firms instead of traditional big law firms. In contrast to traditional firms and their billable hours model, these new emerging law firms offer an alternative flexible model allowing the businesses to work with premium on-demand attorneys on a per-project basis for considerably less expense. In this sense, Centurion Plus hit the nail on the head by offering this service to in-house counsel and SMEs.
Launch of Centurion Plus in Germany
Our biggest highlight this year was the start of our operations in Germany. The Centurion Law Group detected a shortage of agile legal services in Europe and as a result, launched Centurion Plus in the summer of 2020. Headquartered in Germany with offices in Berlin and Frankfurt, this NewLaw approach aims to successfully meet clients’ needs in line with the times.
Review of 2020’s milestones for Centurion Plus Germany
2020 was a year of growth which we hope to carry on to 2021. After the launch of Centurion Plus, we have expanded our pool of internationally qualified and experienced lawyers in Germany. Furthermore, the Centurion Plus website in German and English has attracted potential clients with new and relevant content on the blog about the concept of NewLaw, relocation motives after Brexit, sector overviews as well as industry trends in the legal sphere. Centurion Plus has acquired its first clients after the launch in Germany and strives to continue growing its client base in 2021.
Media Presence 2020
In 2020, German and international media outlets have taken notice of Centurion Plus and its flexible and cost-efficient approach towards the delivery of legal services. For further information see the list of important press mentions below.
- 11.08.2020. JUVE, one of the leading publishing houses reporting on the business law market in Germany and Austria, has published the following article about the launch of Centurion Plus in Germany. Next to its printed magazines and handbooks Juve distributes a well received weekly newsletter and relevant content on its website for law firms, legal departments, law students as well as aspiring lawyers.
- 12.08.2020. Leaders League, an international legal media outlet and rating agency for top executives, has commented on the launch of Centurion Plus in Frankfurt and Berlin. Leaders League publishes news, professional events, market intelligence reports, rankings, and directories.
- 11.08.2020. Law.com is an industry-leading media platform from the US that covers international news, ratings, and business intelligence from the legal sphere. Their article stresses the availability of flexible legal support in Europe that Centurion Plus offers its clients.
- 18.08.20. The Compliance magazine, focuses on delivering industry insights for legal and compliance experts and corporate departments. In their website category companies and organisations, they have published a piece on the approach of Centurion Plus for the German legal market. Furthermore, they have included the abstract in their newsletter from the 22.10.2020.
- Nachrichten.net, a German website about news from the business field reported on the launch of Centurion Plus in Germany.
Our 2021 Vision
Moreover, in 2021, Centurion Plus aims to further raise awareness in Germany and other European countries of the availability of flexible legal services and the NewLaw approach for law firms. Additionally, Centurion plans to form alliances with other law firms to provide them with qualified on-demand legal talent in 2021.
Our vision is to continue our growth trajectory. Continue supporting in-house departments on their routine work; support SMEs on their ad-hoc legal needs; connect companies with lawyers for short projects or in times of staff shortages; and collaborate with other local and international law firms.
In 2021 we will continue to invest in our team and attract the best talent there is. Up to now, we have been very fortunate to have an international, multilingual, diverse and gender-balanced team across all our functions. Our team is our greatest asset and we will continue expanding our team and its competences in the new year.
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