There are many indications that the legal economy will continue to face a difficult year, with many managing partners predicting stagnation or worse. The picture from general counsel and heads of legal confirms this picture – their budgets show no increase is planned, and that some of that spend will go on hiring more in-house lawyers.

The growing pressure must be for firms to become better at collaboration to maintain or improve profit margins.

There are examples of collaboration in the legal market. Transactions that make use of a magic circle firm, but demand that a mid-tier UK firm is used for specified parts of the advice, have made the headlines, even though such deals are still small in number.

But when one considers the options for clients, whose legal budgets are static but whose legal needs are still growing, demands on firms to collaborate will become more frequent. They may make demands that firms on a panel devise joint ways in which savings can be delivered. Clients may also ask more frequently for legal process outsourcers to be used for some advice and, as is already happening, give notice that the bar will be consulted directly more often.

Corporate and not-for-profit clients are under pressure to demand that advisers gain an easier facility with all these options, because the alternative is that they accept that they fail to cover some risks with adequate legal support and advice.

On these grounds, firms whose lawyers are good at collaborating stand a better chance of thriving in a shrinking market.