Big Law’s Summer Job Is Launching ‘New Law’ Competitors

Some of the largest law firms are striking back at non-traditional competitors who’ve grown into formidable businesses by nibbling away at lower-cost, higher-volume work.

Three major firms in the past three weeks have launched service offerings aimed at growing their share of the market for work increasingly handled by businesses often referred to as alternative legal service providers or “New Law” companies.

More law firms are expected to follow that playbook, lured by what many see as a fast-growing market that reached nearly $11 billion as of 2017, Thomson Reuters estimates.

“There is often an unstated assumption that law firms ...