Maintaining Relationships: A Study of the Legal Industry

It has been argued that the mix management paradigm offers little guidance or practical rules for services. However, it is becoming apparent that relationship marketing is a powerful approach to understanding market dynamics. This article aims to focus upon relationships between barristers and solicitors within the legal industry. In particular, the research attempts to uncover the dynamics of and motivation for relationship maintenance and dissolution within the context of the legal industry. The article will begin with a brief review of the literature on relationship maintenance and a discussion of the context of the legal industry. This is followed by an overview of the research design and methodology adopted in the study. After the presentation of the findings, the article concludes with a discussion and a series of implications for practitioners and theorists.