Richard Punt, the newly appointed global head of Deloitte Legal, has ambitiously set his sights on boosting the provision of integrated consulting services to general counsel (GCs). In conversation with Bloomberg Law, Punt addressed the snail-paced foray of the Big Four into legal services, which he admitted has been slower than widely expected.
Assuming leadership of Deloitte Legal in June, Punt now steers a massive ship manned by approximately 3,000 legal professionals across 75 countries. He previously held pivotal roles such as Chief Strategy Officer at Thomson Reuters and CEO of Allen & Overy’s flexible resources division, Peerpoint.
Punt is putting his weight behind “business transformation” – a suite of proactive services provided by Deloitte. These services are designed to enable general counsel to deliver enhanced value to their businesses through optimised processes. GCs have previously shown an aversion to proactively modernising their operations, a trend Punt is keen to reverse.
He believes the firm’s vast scale and experience in implementing sweeping changes could play a crucial role in persuading GCs to shake off their reticence. Deloitte Legal currently offers a broad portfolio of advisory services to corporate legal departments, with key offerings such as support on M&A, contracts, regulatory and compliance issues, employment law, and corporate law.
Despite the expanded gamut of services, Punt understands that law firms are less apprehensive about competition from accounting behemoths than in previous years. He sees Deloitte Legal’s business as serving a complementary role to the elite services provided by top-tier law firms. However, he doesn’t discount the idea that the Big Four, ALSPs (alternative legal service providers), tech companies, and other law firms vie for a bigger piece of the pie offered by the consulting and outsourcing services for legal departments.
The Big Four have significantly strengthened their legal services operations over the last decade, sparking fears that they might eat into law firms’ revenues. However, Punt sees this as the ideal time for legal departments to accept the transformational offer on the table, citing “something existential” about the risks associated with not modernising.
Technology developments, particularly generative AI, are stoking interest among legal departments to reconsider their workflows. Punt asserts that demonstrating the genuine impact and benefits to clients is paramount in driving continued investment and development.
While Deloitte does not disclose its legal revenue, Law.com reported in 2023 that the company’s UK legal division was close to reaching the size of the UK’s 50th largest law firm by revenue – a sum of approximately 75 million pounds.
Punt also noted that driving the adaptation of new legal processes, such as AI tools to better understand contracts, is most welcomed by GCs in advanced economies such as the US, UK, and Western Europe. Interest has also been observed in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia where companies are eager to fast-track their use of generative AI.
As legal departments tighten their belts amid surging demands, Punt believes corporate leaders need to pivot towards embracing AI and embedding legal solutions directly into their workstreams. He envisages an essential role for his firm in supporting this evolution and helping GCs become more radical in the way they run their departments.