By David Galbenski

There is no doubt that the competitive landscape and market fundamentals for virtually every industry have been dramatically altered by the financial and economic crisis of the past 22 months.

Take the movie industry and The Walt Disney Company [NYSE: DIS].  As many of you know, the movie industry is dealing with rapidly declining DVD sales without an immediate replacement revenue source.  Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, recently stated in a Financial Times article, “[T]he business model that underpins the movie industry is changing.  If we don’t adapt to the change there won’t be a business.”  Iger further stated that the solution required “research and development, risk taking . . . [and] real focus on changing the status quo (emphasis added).”

Many companies  are focusing laser-sharp attention on efforts to change the status quo.  In addition, we are also seeing companies in diverse industries desiring to share the risk of a given project or product with a competitor to gain access to a commensurate share of the upside potential.  In the pharmaceutical industry, Johnson & Johnson [NYSE: JNJ], has announced a strategy to forge alliances with rival pharmaceutical companies in an effort to share the rising costs and risks of drug development.  Bill Weldon, Johnson & Johnson’s CEO, stated in a recent Financial Times article that “you’ll see more and more sharing of risks because the upside can be spectacular.”

The movie industry and the pharmaceutical industry are just two examples of major industries that have had significant shifts in their industry fundamentals.  And, legal services has not escaped this dramatic transformation.  As the new decade is dawning, Lumen Legal is catalyzing corporate and law firm leaders to rise up and lead an industry shift from the status quo to a new method of doing business in the re-shaped legal landscape of the 2010s.

One of the key catalysts to this change in the coming year will be the 2010 Lumen Innovation to Action Challenge (the “Challenge”).  The Challenge will involve Lumen’s identification of and collaboration with 30 innovative law firms and corporations that desire to change how legal services are valued and delivered. 

The 30 participants in the Challenge will utilize Lumen’s 6-step Innovation Process to bring their new and creative ideas to life in the coming year with an immediate, significant and positive impact to their legal service delivery model.  Not only that, the Challenge will recognize the top 3 innovations of 2010 from Challenge participants.  If you are interested in learning more and leading change in our industry, e-mail a Lumen innovator to schedule a time to chat.

As the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, so eloquently stated: “Change is the law of life.  And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.”  

Lumen looks forward to changing the industry with you and creating our collective future in the coming year.