My first role in legal PR was for the long forgotten Wilde Sapte - a banking and finance firm. It is perhaps now best remembered for almost jumping into bed with Andersens.
The fall out of that failed courtship led to Wilde Sapte falling into the Denton's bed. Many at the time argued that the Big Four (then Five) would be best to leave the legal market alone.
This article - with a terrific infographic - charts the fall and rise of the Big Four accountancy firm's attack on the global legal market.
They bring true international reach, a strong brand, and an attractive multi-disciplinary offer. Few law firms can compete.
Perhaps the real threat to Big Law comes not from within itself, but from the bean counters.
It is now common knowledge that the global market for legal services has become increasingly competitive. What is less well-known is that a major source of this competition in the coming years is likely to be an adversary that many lawyers – particularly those in the United States – believed had been banished from the field more than a decade ago. These competitors are commonly known as the Big 4 accounting firms, although in truth they haven’t been primarily “accounting firms” in several decades.
https://blogs.thomsonreuters.com/answerson/big-4-accounting-firms-legal-services/
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