Advent of e‐business concepts in legal services and its impact on the quality of service

This paper examines the rise of electronic‐commerce and its implications for quality and service delivery with particular reference to its impact on legal services. E‐commerce is growing at a phenomenal rate with more organisations offering their goods and services on‐line every day. Importantly, this growth is being matched by the number of people gaining access to the Internet in a variety of ways. E‐commerce offers both opportunities and threats to law firms. The main threat is identified as coming from on‐line competitors offering reduced prices and higher customer services. This competition is forcing law firms to change their attitude to new technology generally and the Internet in particular. A Web presence allows legal practices to be more transparent and to offer greater access to information to customers by way of improving their services. This improved communication may lead to a reduction in complaints against solicitors. The paper concludes that the Internet will have a profound effect on the way private law firms conduct business.