Most legal work is delivered as bespoke, one-off engagements, which is right for complex, unique matters. But some legal services are repeatable enough that they can be “productised”, packaged as a clear, defined and consistent offering, much like a product. Productising suitable services can make your practice more efficient and consistent, easier to price and deliver, and more scalable. The key is knowing what can genuinely be standardised and what still requires bespoke handling.
Quick answer
Productising a legal service means taking a suitable, repeatable legal service and packaging it as a clear, defined and standardised offering, with a defined scope, process and, often, fixed pricing. This makes the service more consistent and efficient to deliver, while making it easier for clients to understand and for you to price.
To productise a service:
- Identify a service that is genuinely repeatable and can be reasonably standardised.
- Define clearly what is included and what is not.
- Build a standard process and templates for delivering the service.
- Price it appropriately, often through a fixed fee for a clearly defined offering.
- Deliver it reliably and consistently without compromising quality.
Productising works well for well-defined, recurring services. It is less suitable for complex, unique matters that require substantial professional judgment and tailored handling. The benefits can include greater efficiency, consistency, clearer pricing and communication, and easier scaling or delegation.
The important point is that productising is not about turning every legal matter into a template. It is about identifying the repeatable parts of your practice and building a sensible system around them, while continuing to handle genuinely bespoke work as bespoke. Quality and compliance with applicable professional conduct rules must remain central.
What productising means and when it fits
Productising takes a repeatable service and turns it into a defined offering with a clear scope, standard process, consistent delivery and, often, fixed pricing, rather than treating every engagement as entirely bespoke.
It fits services that are repeatable and reasonably standardisable, meaning they are similar enough across clients that a standard scope and process can work effectively. It does not fit highly complex, unique or bespoke matters that genuinely require tailored handling.
The first step, therefore, is not creating a package. It is identifying which of your services are genuinely suitable to be productised, while continuing to handle bespoke work in the way it requires.
How to productise a service
1. Identify a suitable service
Choose a service that you perform regularly and that follows a reasonably similar pattern from one matter to another. The more repeatable the underlying work, the easier it is to create a defined offering around it.
2. Define the scope clearly
Specify exactly what the service includes and what it does not include. Clear scope helps avoid misunderstandings and makes it easier to deal with work that falls outside the original engagement. See “Fee Models for Lawyers”.
3. Build a standard process and templates
Create an efficient, repeatable process for delivering the service. Templates, checklists, standard documents and internal workflows can help ensure that the work is delivered consistently and to the required standard. See “How to Build Systems and SOPs in a Small Legal Practice”.
4. Price it appropriately
A clearly defined service often lends itself to fixed pricing because the scope and delivery process are easier to understand in advance. The fee should still be appropriate to the work involved, the value delivered and the costs of providing the service.
5. Deliver consistently and well
A productised service should still receive proper legal attention and professional judgment. Standardisation should make delivery more reliable and efficient, not reduce the quality of the legal service.
Why it helps
Productising suitable services can bring several practical benefits. A standard process and reusable templates can improve efficiency by reducing unnecessary repetition. A defined offering can also improve consistency because the same core process is followed across similar matters.
It can make pricing and communication clearer as well. When the scope of a service is already defined, it becomes easier to explain what a client is engaging you to do and to identify when a request falls outside that scope.
There can also be a scaling benefit. Standardised services are generally easier to delegate, train others on and manage than work that is recreated from scratch each time. This can allow you to spend more of your time on matters that genuinely require your expertise and judgment. See “Scaling a Legal Practice Beyond Yourself”.
YLCC ACTION STEP: Look at your current services and identify one that is genuinely repeatable and reasonably standardisable. Define its scope, build an efficient process and supporting templates, price it appropriately, and focus on delivering it consistently well. Keep genuinely bespoke work bespoke, and use productisation to make the repeatable parts of your practice more efficient and manageable.
If this is you
If much of your work is repeatable: Productising suitable services can improve efficiency and consistency. Start by identifying where the same work is being done repeatedly and consider whether a defined scope and process would make delivery easier.
If your work is highly bespoke: Not everything should be productised. Complex and unique matters often require tailored handling, so productise only the services that can genuinely support standardisation.
If you worry productising means lower quality: It should not. Done properly, standardisation can improve consistency and reliability. Productising is about delivering a clearly defined service well, not about cutting corners.
PLEASE DON’T DO THIS: Please don’t try to productise complex, unique matters that genuinely require bespoke handling, or sacrifice quality and professional judgment in the pursuit of standardisation. Avoid vague scopes, inconsistent delivery and tools or processes that do not suit the nature of the work. Productise only genuinely suitable services, maintain professional standards, and stay within the applicable professional conduct rules.
FAQs
- What does it mean to productise a legal service? It means taking a suitable, repeatable legal service and packaging it as a clear, defined and standardised offering with defined scope, a standard process, consistent delivery and often fixed pricing.
- Which legal services can be productised? Services that are repeatable and can be reasonably standardised are the most suitable. Highly complex, unique or bespoke matters may require tailored handling.
- How do I productise a legal service? Identify a suitable service, define its scope clearly, build a standard process and templates, price it appropriately, and deliver it consistently while maintaining quality.
- What are the benefits of productising a legal service? It can improve efficiency and consistency, make pricing and communication clearer, and make suitable services easier to scale or delegate.
- Does productising reduce the quality of legal services? It should not. Properly designed standardisation can improve consistency and reliability, but quality and professional judgment should never be sacrificed.
