KorumLegal was featured in Asia Law Portal’s Q&A recently. Our Director, Titus Rahiri, provided more insight to KorumLegal’s vision and offering. Read the full article here:NewLaw expands in Asia with the addition of Hong Kong’s KorumLegal.
“The name ‘Korum’ is a play on the word quorum which is about bringing a number of peopletogether in order to transact business. It also uses the word ‘koru’ which is a Maori (NZ) wordsymbolising the spiral shape of a new unfurling silver fern frond – and signifies new life, growthand strength. So I liked the fusion of the words and meanings.
Over my fifteen years as a lawyer in New Zealand, London and Hong Kong and coveringbusiness across the globe, I have increasingly recognized the need for disruption and innovationin the industry – a need for doing things differently. As initially a ‘seller’ and more recently a‘buyer’ of legal services, I saw that the industry has been largely immune from market forcesshaking the way it operated. So in a sense, I’ve put my ‘seller’ hat back on – but it looksdifferent.”
“I have worked in private practice in large law firms and as in-house counsel in largemultinational listed companies as well as start-ups. In 2013, while Senior Legal Director at Expedia I completed an Executive MBA in London andmy final research project looked at ‘Value Innovation in Law’ and specifically how legalservices providers could innovate to create and capture value within the paradigm ofglobalisation, regulatory change and technology advancement, as well as the power-shift fromlaw firms to General Counsels. That’s where I explored the rise of alternative legal services as itwas known as then – using strategy and finance models. The Legal Services Act had just comeinto force in the UK so that triggered a deregulation of the industry.
With that, I spoke to some of the leading figures in NewLaw at the time in London who helpedshaped my interest in this area including Al Giles (Axiom), Simon Harper (LOD), Janvi Pateland Denise Nurse (Halebury), Donna Sewell and Helen Goldberg (LegalEdge) and also AlexHamilton (RadiantLaw). I also explored what was going on in the Americas and Asia Pacific.”
“I think we are largely the same in that NewLaw is about providing different tools, models andways of providing legal services than what the industry has been traditionally used to. Theproblem that Korum seeks to solve is the global issue with the legal services industry in that it is(i) expensive, (ii) inaccessible and (iii) complex. The way Korum solves this is by providingflexible and experienced lawyers under a lean law model. We spend a lot of time ensuring thatour consultants are experienced, exceptional talent who understand our clients’ business andrequirements. Our flexibility provides a range of working options to suit clients and consultants– making us accessible. And we are not a law firm, so we don’t have the Ivory Towers or theexpensive partnership model – this allows us to deliver real value to our clients.
We are looking for ways to leverage and utilise technology to create efficiencies – however,Korum still believes in providing a human face to the provision of legal services. We are notautomated or robotic – yet, although that is another interesting progression and discussion.Our client base is broad – from start-ups, SME’s and family offices to large multinationalcorporates and financial institutions. We are also happy to work with law firms who areinnovative and want to offer their clients a flexible solution.”
“There is a large start-up ecosystem in the Asia-Pacific region which lends to the Korum model asa more affordable, flexible and efficient way of getting legal support – rather than hiring alawyer as an employee or paying expensive fees to law firms. We are also interested in growinga community amongst our clients as well as our lawyers and consultants. This creates a positiveculture and supported network which is important when your team is not located under one roof. This is a culture that I’ve noticed the start-up community actively engages in and lives.
I have recently been to various events and conferences for start-ups and other entrepreneurs andinnovators who are interested in supporting other start-ups. There are a number of incubators,accelerators, conferences and communities which also support this space. There are also anumber of co-working spaces which collaborate with the start-up community. So, I think it’s anexciting time to bring a NewLaw model to this space.
We understand that start-up life is very busy and demanding. There are a million and one thingsto think about and do – marketing, business development, building platforms, generatingrevenue, paying staff and bills all the while staying sane. We’re experiencing that too. And so,simplifying the complex is one of our goals for clients. Also, providing cost-effective legalsolutions. With our model, services can cost up to 60% less than more traditional models.”
“Hong Kong is a dynamic and entrepreneurial city with great opportunities. So this is our startingbase. We are focusing our attention here at the moment to build up our structure, systems andprocesses. We are focused on gaining traction and growing a solid business in Hong Kong first.
Obviously we have our eye on expanding in the APAC region including NZ, Australia andSingapore – and will go where our clients need us to be (and where regulators allow us to be!).We want to build a scalable business to add value to our clients’ global businesses – and thelawyers on our team have qualifications and experience covering various jurisdictions and can belocated around the globe.
As a general counsel, our role in advising our clients has a regional if not global focus anyway,and our priority is to enable our clients to do business while managing risk. Globalisation andtechnology have enabled a more connected and flexible way of doing business which works forKorum’s clients and consultants.”
Read the full article here:
NewLaw expands in Asia with the addition of Hong Kong’s Korum Legal