Evergreen Legal Services Explained
Evergreen legal services are services that are designed to be delivered on a regular or recurring basis. In other words, evergreen legal services would be services that do not have a defined endpoint and instead are ongoing. This differs from many legal services as these services often are designed to address a specific legal need or circumstance. Evergreen legal services are designed to help ensure that the ongoing legal needs of a business are regularly reviewed and updated.
Similar to how an evergreen contract might automatically renew after a period of time , evergreen legal services involve reviewing the legal needs of a business on a regular basis. This might involve performing a specific type of legal work every three months or six months. This would likely vary depending on the business and the nature of the legal matter itself but there are likely to be ongoing and recurring legal needs for every business.
Evergreen legal services are particularly beneficial if there are recurring legal needs for a business but the need for a lawyer to be involved may vary based on the specific circumstances of a business. The business can choose exactly what they need and have those legal services performed at regular intervals.
The Advantages of Evergreen Legal Services
From a business standpoint, utilizing evergreen legal services means that instead of paying a large upfront retainer, you’re spreading out the cost of your legal needs over a set amount of time for a per-month or per-hour basis.
In terms of your budget, evergreen legal services means that you can plan your legal expenses more easily and realistically, putting away a few extra hundred dollars every single month (or whatever the dollar figure is) for your needs.
How is it beneficial to a law firm to offer evergreen legal services? Simple – because the way the system works means you’ll end up long term with the support you need. Habits, after all, take time to form. And, as we all know, commercial cases can come up at any time and need to be dealt with right away, leaving clients susceptible to law firms that might take advantage of their clients’ inexperience to to increase the retainer/remain on a short-term basis.
Optioning for evergreen legal services means you’ll have stability. It means you’ll be able to pay your legal fees as time goes on rather than in one lump sum. This also means that there are no surprises when it comes to costs.
Evergreen legal services means consistency. You’ll get to know your lawyer, and your lawyer will get to know you. It means being able to trust someone to get the job done, no matter the size of your business. Sometimes, people write off smaller businesses, but little by little you can build your foundation.
Long-term value means that while the concern that a retainer might not last, if they’re bundled into an evergreen legal services retainer, you’ll be in the clear. In fact, with evergreen legal services it’s common for the retainer amount to grow larger than the original amount, while the services rendered actually decrease as a result of that larger retainer (after all, this has become a relationship).
Typical Evergreen Legal Services
Evergreen legal services are provided in all areas of the law; from an estate planning attorney to a business with compliance management issues. Below we’ll highlight some of the areas of law where evergreen services are common:
Estate Planning
With some evergreen estate planning solutions a lawyer will perform an estate plan audit which is paid for upfront at the time of the audit. The lawyer will then work from his or her normal hourly rate to complete the plan audit and make recommendations. In an evergreen business plan, the attorney will review the plan audit updates annually and suggest changes that have occurred or will likely occur over the next year. Pricing for an evergreen business plan is generally billed at a discounted, flat-fee rate, as opposed to an hourly rate. This type of service is popular in personal estate planning.
Insurance
In the case of insurance compliance, law firms have been offering retainer contracts to insurance companies in response to compliance management needs. What’s more, with the number of proposed rules and regulations that have been recently drafted or finalized, informed counsel is going to be critical to the insurance industry. Consequently, there appears to be an increasing number of firms who are interested in offering these type of compliance services to the industry.
Franchise
Franchise 500 companies appear to have a large need for evergreen legal services. Primer’s "Franchise 500" list is the most comprehensive franchise business ranking in the world in terms of franchise systems, units and franchisor support. With more than 17,000 franchised restaurants, lodging units and stores, and approximately 60,000 franchised job sites, this annual list shows why Franchise 500 companies rank among the biggest operators in the U.S. economy. Evergreen legal services that focus on regulations, intellectual property protection, compliance and litigation for these kinds of companies are in high demand.
Business Advisory
The company whose business and revenue relies on evergreen sales could benefit from a regular review of their contracts and agreements as the company develops and grows. A business that relies on subscription based services would be a good example of this type of company. A regular review of their agreement, pricing and service offerings could result in dramatic savings for the business that relies on its business relationships.
The industries highlighted above are just a few of the types of businesses that typically use evergreen legal services. The overall value of this type of legal services to the business and the client is high. With law firm profitability being scrutinized more than ever, it’s clear that evergreen legal services are here to stay.
Making the Right Choice for Evergreen Legal Services
A critical step in obtaining evergreen legal services is to choose the correct provider. To do so, clients must evaluate several criteria to ensure that the selected provider is capable of offering the best legal advice and guidance possible. The most important factors are:
Reputation
Expertise
Tailored solutions
Customer Reviews
Many providers have built a positive reputation over time by developing quality relationships with their clients. This leads to a base of loyal customers, which is the sign of a very trustworthy and efficient service provider.
Providers must be experts in their field. This means that they are expected to be knowledgeable in a variety of legal specialties, and that they keep abreast on new and updated laws .
A top-notch evergreen legal service provider will tailor solutions to the client’s current and future needs. They will have the experience and knowledge to grow with the company, and to adjust their legal services to suit ever-changing goals.
Being well reviewed by existing clients is a good indicator of the quality of work a provider offers. Loyal customers who praise their service partners are usually very happy with the stellar work that is performed. Prospective clients must seek out testimonials, reading every review they can find so that they can gauge the public opinion of the service provider.
The Future of Evergreen Legal Services
Evergreen Legal services will continue to be a major way for businesses and law firms to get legal work done. Technology and AI will help in many areas. Right now, there are many areas where real time access to a lawyer or a team of non-lawyer professionals are place savers, and sometimes become a substitute for getting advice when you need it, And there is a whole wave of tools that allow law firms to create business automation with legal standards. Those will keep popping up.
Expect to see more and more innovation in the area of chatbots and other AI powered solutions to provide real time access to assistance, sometimes on a tiered level. Chatbots have been proven to be cost effective and efficacious in getting people to the right place or issue efficiently. There is a growing consensus to use chatbots in customer service and in the area of human resources. Chatbots are being used in various types of practice areas, and the trend may be strengthening for this portion of the legal industry.
The use of chatbots and other AI solutions in legal practice areas such as divorce, as an example, is already being tried out. They may not be as sophisticated as other areas, but they are beginning to grow in popularity. There are several ways to use chatbots in legal advisor situations. Bots are being used to guide customers through a process, to offer advice, offering suggestions for process, and to give answers to many FAQs. They can help solve a problem and do background work while providing 24/7 solutions. We see lots of good things happening in the vicinity of legal chatbots and AI powered solutions.
Examples of Successful Evergreen Legal Services
Evergreen legal services have been successfully implemented by businesses across various industries, leading to significant improvements in their legal compliance and efficiency. In one case study, a mid-sized technology firm faced challenges in managing its employment agreements. Employee turnover was high, and contract disputes were frequent, leading to unnecessary litigation costs. The company decided to adopt an evergreen model to keep its contracts and legal documents up to date.
With the help of a legal implementation partner, the company established a system that automatically tracked changes in laws and regulations applicable to its employment sector. This system generated alerts for the legal team to review the agreements and make necessary changes. As a result, the company saw a 50% reduction in contract disputes, a decrease in legal expenditures, and increased compliance with employment regulations.
In another example, a large financial services entity needed to address the evolving legal landscape concerning customer data privacy. The company, struggling with regulatory compliance, sought a solution to remain compliant with the changing laws. By implementing evergreen legal services, the company ensured that their policies on customer data were always current.
The corporation’s legal department, in collaboration with their selected legal service provider, established a recurring review of their data policies and third-party data handling agreements . By implementing an evergreen strategy, they not only maintained compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) but also strengthened customer trust through transparent communication about their privacy policy changes.
Finally, an e-commerce retailer struggled with handling the various consumer protection laws across states, each posing different requirements. The retailer faced challenges in keeping all the terms of service and privacy policies up to date with each of these laws. To remedy this, an evergreen legal service system was established within the corporation, allowing for automated updates to its legal documents in accordance with changes in laws.
The company chose to employ an evergreen legal service organization that continuously monitors legal regulations across their markets. By doing so, they not only reduced their workload in managing these documents but also ensured that they were compliant with constantly changing state and federal laws. This led to a substantial reduction in potential legal liability claims from consumers.
These examples show how businesses across various sectors have turned to evergreen legal services as a means to streamline their legal obligations, thus reducing the time and cost associated with ongoing legal compliance.