Innovations in Legal KM
Oz Benamram, Hélène Russell, Jack Bostelman, Chris Boyd, Mark Gediman, Harriet Creamer, Andrea Miskolczi, Cyndi Murphy, Cynthia Brown, James Loft, Kathy Skinner
Published: 2021
Pages: 116
eBook: 9781787425804
An exploration of the endeavors of various law firms - the problems they have faced, and the solutions they have developed - to improve their KM processes, and, ultimately, their bottom line
Table of Contents
Cover | Cover | |
---|---|---|
Title page | i | |
Copyright page | ii | |
Contents | iii | |
Executive summary | vii | |
About the authors | xi | |
Chapter 1: Measurement of KM projects: a practical guide for busy people | 1 | |
The value and difficulty of measuring | 1 | |
Where to start with KM measurement | 3 | |
Why: understanding your purpose | 4 | |
Who: understanding the audience for the measurement | 7 | |
How: deciding on the practicalities of measurement | 9 | |
Summary | 13 | |
Annex 1 | 14 | |
Annex 2 | 16 | |
Annex 3 | 17 | |
Annex 4 | 18 | |
Chapter 2: Are you your vendor’s captive? How to optimize your research dollars | 21 | |
Not about going sole provider | 22 | |
Cost as a driver | 23 | |
Communication is key | 23 | |
Where to begin | 25 | |
Successful user dialog | 25 | |
Enhancing the toolkit | 26 | |
Increased user support | 26 | |
Where do I start? | 27 | |
Chapter 3: Using KM to increase firm profitability and pricing predictability | 29 | |
Introduction | 29 | |
Case study one – Practice efficiency improvements | 29 | |
How KM can increase fee predictability | 35 | |
Examples of KM resources | 36 | |
Second financial case study – shift work from partners to associates | 37 | |
Third financial case study – more efficient partner pitch preparation | 39 | |
Conclusion | 40 | |
Appendix A – The three financial models | 41 | |
Appendix B – How to start/restart a KM practice efficiency program | 45 | |
Conclusion | 48 | |
Chapter 4: Our “small” project with a big impact: Littler’s Knowledge Desk, a case study | 51 | |
Introducing Littler’s Knowledge Desk | 51 | |
Chapter 5: Library and knowledge management – a good fit | 57 | |
Document management systems | 57 | |
Records management systems | 59 | |
Legal research | 60 | |
Training and professional development | 61 | |
Litigation support and eDiscovery databases | 61 | |
Client-facing products | 61 | |
Matter budgeting and alternative fee arrangements | 62 | |
Conclusion | 63 | |
Chapter 6: Case study – Bringing lawyers out of their silos: promoting smart collaboration at Wolf Theiss | 65 | |
Smart collaboration and mixing gin and tonics | 66 | |
The benefits of smart collaboration | 66 | |
Barriers to collaboration | 68 | |
Steps to break down the silos | 69 | |
First results | 70 | |
Chapter 7: Lawyer-led KM – a case study for mid-sized firms | 73 | |
Assessing firm needs | 74 | |
Partner engagement | 75 | |
Working with the business plan | 75 | |
Maximizing and incentivizing lawyer resources | 76 | |
Targeted initiatives | 76 | |
Technology | 78 | |
Working with PSLs | 79 | |
Conclusion | 80 | |
Chapter 8: Matter-centric knowledge management at Stewart McKelvey | 83 | |
Background | 83 | |
Matter types | 84 | |
Client/industry types | 85 | |
Document types | 85 | |
SMartNet | 87 | |
Feedback matters | 89 | |
Conclusion | 90 | |
Chapter 9: New organizational value brought about by AI technologies | 91 | |
Making more from what we already have (new knowledge from old) | 91 | |
Making automated decisions – at scale | 93 | |
Making everyone in your organization a specialist | 95 | |
Supporting remote- or safety-critical environments with the best knowledge | 97 | |
Seeing more than people can, including into the future | 98 | |
Knowledge for everyone in the organization | 99 | |
User-based knowledge and interactions | 100 | |
Conclusion | 101 |
Oz Benamram
Oz Benamram is chief knowledge officer at White & Case, providing the firm with strategic direction on the use of KM and technology. He leads the knowledge department in developing and implementing the systems and processes that enable the firm to use its collective knowledge to benefit clients worldwide. Oz is a globally recognized thought leader and a frequent speaker on legal IT and KM subjects. He has won numerous awards for leading innovation in legal KM, including the creation of an enterprise search system.
Helene Russell
Helene Russell of TheKnowledgeBusiness specializes in helping organizations to grow and improve profitability, by helping them to understand and improve their knowledge systems. Helene is the author of the Law Society's Knowledge Management Handbook and Legal Monitor's Practical Projects in Legal KM. She teaches open and in-house courses in knowledge management and also offers coaching, mentoring, and advice. She also runs Knowledge Network UK, the only regional knowledge sharing and networking group for law firm KMers in UK. Helene has spoken extensively on KM for Ark, Butterworths, UWE, Bristol Law Society, Allice, and at Knowledge Network UK, and has written regularly for Managing Partner Magazine. After a decade as a solicitor with a major regional firm specializing in clinical negligence defense litigation, eight years in knowledge management and having recently obtained an MBA with distinction, she has a unique, deep understanding of how knowledge flows helps law firms and professional services organizations.
Jack Bostelman
Jack Bostelman is president of KM/JD Consulting LLC in San Francisco, California, which advises law firm leaders on practice management, including knowledge management and other productivity improvements. Before founding KM/JD Consulting, Jack was a partner for over 20 years at pre-eminent AmLaw 20 firm Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City, where he had a nationally recognized transactional securities law practice and exercised management responsibilities.
Chris Boyd
Chris Boyd is senior director of professional services at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati LLP in Palo Alto, California. Chris runs the firm's recruiting, training, and knowledge management programs, all of which are designed to help the firm deliver superlative value to its clients. Chris was previously an attorney at the firm and also led KM programs at several internet start-ups.
Mark Gediman
Mark Gediman is the director of information services for Best Best & Krieger, LLP and has been with BB&K since 2000, managing the research needs of more than 200 attorneys and paralegals in nine offi ces from DC to California. He is a past-president of the Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) and the co-founder and co-chair of the Competitive Intelligence Caucus of the Private Law Libraries- Information Professionals (PLL-IP) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). He has over 25 years of experience in law library management and writes regularly on Competitive Intelligence, research, and library management issues. He presents frequently for AALL and the Inland Counties Association of Paralegals as well as for SCALL, NoCALL, ACI and HALL. He has authored Chapter 8 of Business Intelligence for Law Firms (ARK Group, 2012) and articles in AALL Spectrum, Practicing Law Management Week, Paralegal Today, and Facts & Findings - The Magazine of the National Assoc. of Legal Assistants (NALA). He is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside.
Harriet Creamer
Harriet Creamer has over 25 years of experience of working in the legal services sector, both as a client lawyer and in management. Harriet trained, practiced and became a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer, where - having become the City of London's first PSL - she headed up their knowledge management function, developing and managing knowledge services across their worldwide network of offices. Since leaving Freshfields, Harriet has been a director of Outer Circle, a consultancy she established with a colleague to provide knowledge management and practice development advice, principally to professional services firms. She has extensive experience of helping firms use their knowledge strategically, both to strengthen client relationships and drive profitability. She also advises firms on how to ensure that their knowledge management activities are aligned to and support the delivery of their strategic business objectives and that they derive value from their investment in knowledge management. She regularly works with partners and groups of partners to help them identify and prioritize the development of key knowledge tools for their practice areas. Harriet is an experienced presenter and a regular speaker at KM conferences and other events, as well as writing regularly on aspects of KM for the legal press. She is a member of the Law Society's Standing Committee on Company Law.
Andrea Miskolczi
Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Wolf Theiss
Cyndi Murphy
Cyndi Murphy is the knowledge manager in the Halifax, Nova Scotia office of Stewart McKelvey. Her firmwide responsibilities include liaising with various administrative departments for the successful implementation of knowledge management projects, overseeing content management of the internal Sharepoint portal and various internal research-oriented databases, and attending meetings of the Practice Innovation Advisory Committee. She was a member of the three-person team that designed and implemented a new Sharepoint portal which launched in January 2016 and she continues to be integrally involved with ongoing enhancements to the portal. Cyndi is a former president of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and an active member of the association's Knowledge Management and Private Law Libraries Special Interest Groups.
Cynthia Brown
Cynthia Brown is the director of research services at Littler Mendelson, the world's largest employment and labor law practice representing management where she has bridged the worlds of the Library and Knowledge Management since 2007. Her previous experience includes working as in-house counsel for four years at a small risk management firm, as an account manager and training consultant at LexisNexis, and running a solo library in Salt Lake City at Jones Waldo Holbrook & McDonough.
James Loft
James Loft is a graduate of knowledge management from Loughborough University and has worked extensively in innovation and new technologies in transport and financial services culminating in the running of an artificial intelligence consultancy firm that helps companies make AI tools fit their businesses rather than the other way around. His mission is to demystify the world of `applied AI' for organizations, to level the playing field for the progression of the technology now, rather than as a vision for the future. With an experienced background in innovation and service design, he understands the gentle but vital balance between design and technology, and advocates an MVP style approach to new technology in order to achieve success. An active member of a community of AI companies, tools and platforms, James possesses a broad understanding of the possibilities the technologies can offer and will support in their implementation where possible to advance the marketplace.
Kathy Skinner
Kathy Skinner is Director of Research and Information Services at White & Case. In her role, Kathy leads the global research and information team as port of the firm's broader knowledge function, and she is responsible for the coordination and delivery of research services and products, along with ensuring operational excellence and cost-efficiency in all of the firms' 41 offices. Prior to joining White & Case, Kathy was director of research services at Morrison and Foerster. Kathy received her A.B. and M.L.I.S. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley.