Successful Digital Transformation in Law firms
A Question of Culture
Published: 2021
Pages: 341
eBook: 9781787423848
Written by one of the most respected leaders of law firm innovation, this book will help those contemplating or leading digital change in law firms to develop and execute a compelling digital transformation strategy.
+ Explore the cultural barriers to transformation, and learn how to overcome them
+ Gain insight from the operating models of successful digital businesses
+ Develop a business case and practical strategy for digital transformation
+ Understand the importance of diversity and purpose in driving digital change
+ Manage change and adoption challenges
+ Build on learnings from the COVID-19 crisis to accelerate digital transformation
As law firms take stock in the aftermath of COVID-19, there is an opportunity to rethink the law firm operating model for the next decade and beyond. The crisis has reinforced the importance of agility and resilience, and the critical role digital technologies play in client service. For law firms, digital transformation should no longer be viewed as an indulgence, but as an urgent necessity. For those that embrace this challenge, the rewards, for both clients and colleagues, will be substantial.
Written by one of the most respected leaders of law firm innovation, this book will help those contemplating or leading digital change in law firms to develop and execute a compelling digital transformation strategy. With a particular focus on the cultural and organisational challenges inherent in a law firm partnership, the book provides practical advice on how to effect meaningful and sustainable change.
This invaluable guide for law firm leaders, lawyers, and those leading digital change in a law firm includes plenty of best-practice examples from outside as well as inside the legal profession. The book provides valuable insight for start-ups and technology providers looking to partner with law firms, and for aspiring lawyers starting their professional careers. Along with practical guidance on shaping digital transformation, this engaging work will give the reader a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape in legal services, sharing diverse perspectives and case studies from leaders from different parts of the legal sector.
Table of Contents
| Cover | Cover | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | 1 | |
| Copyright | 2 | |
| Table of contents | 3 | |
| Dedication | 10 | |
| Acknowledgements | 11 | |
| Foreword | 15 | |
| Introduction | 19 | |
| Part I: Why digital transformation matters – and how to get started | 25 | |
| Chapter 1: What is digital transformation? | 27 | |
| 1. Meaningful change or management speak? | 27 | |
| 2. Innovation vs digital transformation | 28 | |
| 3. Why should law firms change? | 30 | |
| 3.1 Money, money, money | 30 | |
| 3.2 Law firm expertise | 31 | |
| 3.3 The mythology around law firm brand | 35 | |
| 4. “Only the paranoid survive” | 37 | |
| 5. The disruption test | 38 | |
| 6. The art of persuasion | 39 | |
| Chapter 2: Five defining elements of successful digital companies | 41 | |
| 1. Framing the challenge | 41 | |
| 2. Adapting best practice to the law firm environment | 42 | |
| 3. Beware of innovation theatre | 43 | |
| 4. What does ‘good’ look like? | 44 | |
| 5. The five elements of successful digital transformation | 45 | |
| 5.1 Element 1: digital companies are customer-centric | 45 | |
| 5.2 Element 2: Successful digital companies have a digital strategy (aligned to business strategy) | 61 | |
| 5.3 Element 3: Successful digital companies commit to digital change | 66 | |
| 5.4 Element 4: For successful digital transformation, you need the best (digital) people | 74 | |
| 5.5 Element 5: Create a culture in which transformation can continue to flourish | 80 | |
| Chapter 3: Developing the vision and strategy | 87 | |
| 1. Introduction | 87 | |
| 2. Eight steps to digital transformation | 88 | |
| 2.1 Step 1: Understand your firm’s business strategy | 89 | |
| 2.2 Step 2: Undertake a firm diagnostic and identify digital opportunity | 92 | |
| 2.3 Step 3: Review the competitor landscape | 102 | |
| 2.4 Step 4: Talk to clients | 105 | |
| 2.5 Step 5: Create the business case for funding | 108 | |
| 2.6 Step 6: Create a plan for execution and assemble the right team | 123 | |
| 2.7 Step 7: Create your vision and strategy document and communications plan | 134 | |
| 2.8 Step 8: Communicate and manage the change | 141 | |
| Part II: Product development and technology | 147 | |
| Chapter 4: Products | 149 | |
| 1. Law firm or software development house? | 149 | |
| 2. Embedding products into services | 151 | |
| 3. Law firm digital products – some examples | 151 | |
| 3.1 The subscription model | 153 | |
| 3.2 Partnering to develop and deliver products | 155 | |
| 3.3 Client-facing apps | 156 | |
| 3.4 Digital platforms | 157 | |
| 4. Digital products – the pros and cons | 161 | |
| 5. How to develop products successfully | 164 | |
| 5.1 Talk to customers | 165 | |
| 5.2 Use process | 165 | |
| 5.3 Establish product ownership | 165 | |
| 5.4 Build a team | 165 | |
| 5.5 Work in an agile way | 166 | |
| 5.6 Work cross-functionally | 166 | |
| 5.7 Measure success | 166 | |
| 5.8 Be cognisant of the culture | 166 | |
| 6. Establishing a process | 166 | |
| 7. The product lifecycle | 168 | |
| 7.1 Stage 1: Idea | 171 | |
| 7.2 Stage 2: Enablement | 171 | |
| 7.3 Stage 3: Validation | 172 | |
| 7.4 Stage 4: Proof of concept | 173 | |
| 7.5 Stage 5: Minimum valuable product (MVP) | 174 | |
| 7.6 Stage 6: Continuous delivery | 174 | |
| 7.7 Stage 7: Legacy | 175 | |
| 8. Managing the product delivery lifecycle: product ownership | 175 | |
| 9. Product owner skills | 176 | |
| 10. What does success look like? | 177 | |
| 10.1 The right measures | 180 | |
| 10.2 The go-to-market strategy | 181 | |
| 11. Products – or product thinking? | 183 | |
| 12. Products – some final thoughts | 184 | |
| Chapter 5: Technology | 187 | |
| 1. Legal tech | 187 | |
| 2. Simplification and convergence: making use of what you have | 189 | |
| 3. Back to basics | 191 | |
| 3.1 Legacy | 192 | |
| 3.2 Leadership and digital literacy | 193 | |
| 3.3 Cloud | 194 | |
| 3.4 Data | 197 | |
| 4. Technology leadership | 212 | |
| 5. In summary | 213 | |
| Part III: Sustaining the change | 215 | |
| Chapter 6: Petri dish or opera house? Culture under the microscope | 217 | |
| 1. The link between culture and digital transformation | 217 | |
| 2. Defining culture | 218 | |
| 3. The cultural strengths of law firms | 219 | |
| 4. Law firm culture: the challenges | 223 | |
| 5. Addressing culture under strain: lessons from the financial services sector | 225 | |
| 5.1 Governance | 230 | |
| 5.2 Incentives | 230 | |
| 5.3 Individual accountability | 231 | |
| 6. The enduring nature of the partnership model | 231 | |
| Chapter 7: Sustaining change – partnership | 235 | |
| 1. Time for a new model? | 235 | |
| 2. Structure and culture | 237 | |
| 2.1 The importance of agility | 240 | |
| 2.2 Investing for the long term | 241 | |
| 2.3 Rigidity of career structure | 242 | |
| 3. What are the options? | 245 | |
| 3.1 Option 1: Specialise | 245 | |
| 3.2 Option 2: Choose to change | 248 | |
| 3.3 Option 3: The ‘wait and see’ approach | 248 | |
| 4. Six structures that encourage cultural change | 248 | |
| 4.1 The acquisition model | 249 | |
| 4.2 The captive model | 254 | |
| 4.3 The intrapreneurship model | 256 | |
| 4.4 The incubation model | 260 | |
| 4.5 The spin-off model | 262 | |
| 4.6 The IPO | 265 | |
| 5. Choosing the right model | 267 | |
| 6. Structuring for success | 268 | |
| Chapter 8: Sustaining change – people | 269 | |
| 1. Law firms are people businesses | 269 | |
| 2. The law firm people problem | 271 | |
| 3. Who law firms hire | 273 | |
| 3.1 The lawyers | 273 | |
| 3.2 The digital professionals | 280 | |
| 3.3 The changing role of the law firm HR function | 280 | |
| 4. What law firms reward | 291 | |
| 4.1 The danger of recruiting in your own image | 291 | |
| 4.2 Fee earners and fee burners | 292 | |
| 4.3 Cognitive diversity: the power of mixing it up | 295 | |
| 4.4 The challenge of multidisciplinary teams | 295 | |
| 4.5 What’s the alternative? | 298 | |
| 4.6 Cognitive diversity and psychological safety | 298 | |
| Chapter 9: Sustaining change – purpose | 303 | |
| 1. Purpose – or perpetuity? | 303 | |
| 2. The corporate view of purpose | 303 | |
| 3. The law firm response | 307 | |
| 4. The role of purpose in sustaining transformation | 308 | |
| 5. Becoming purpose-driven – practical steps | 309 | |
| Chapter 10: Final thoughts | 313 | |
| Notes | 319 | |
| About the author | 327 | |
| Index | 329 | |
| About Globe Law and Business | 341 |
Law firm partners will realize quickly that Isabel Parker has not pulled any punches in her concise, direct and highly informative presentation of the digital transformation imperative for law firms and how they must rethink traditional approaches to successfully transform. Her own law firm experience, extensive research and talent for clarity combine here to deliver great insights. Almost all law firms give consideration to their culture, but Parker’s treatment of the subject is among the best as she provides an in-depth explanation of what it is, why it should matter to law firms and how firms can develop a culture that fosters digital transformation. The insights from this book will be of equal value to inhouse corporate counsel undertaking transformation initiatives. As a general counsel and student of digital transformation for many years, I will highly recommend this book as ‘required reading’ to law firm partners and my inhouse team alike!
Bill Deckelman
EVP & General Counsel DXC Technology
Being December 31st I can say this without doubt: today I just finished the best read of 2021. Outstanding and inspiring work. Thanks to #isabelparker, that definitely put a great effort in writing this book, that is a must read for whoever wants to seriously implement digital transformation in her/his law firm. Congrats!
Dante De Benedetti
Socio presso focus; Studio legale associato
Thoroughly enjoying Isabel Parker‘s book on successfully implementing digital transformation. Although it’s predominantly for law firms, the principles apply to in-house as well. Highly recommend!
Eletra Japonas
CEO and Founder, tlb; Co-founder, oneNDA
This is a much-needed work, few (if any) legal professionals are more qualified by dint of experience, contacts and skill than Isabel Parker to deliver these timely messages. The book is very well written, edited and laid out as a pure visual and production matter, is well documented (but not excessively or annoyingly) by endnotes, and most of all, is well supported on all key points by case studies and interviews. The latter, importantly, are not just from law firms, but as appropriate, from digital leaders outside the legal profession. Both lend additional credibility. The author’s approach is fair and balanced; she recognizes both the undeniable strengths and current limitations in a rapidly transforming world of the traditional law firm model. She offers several plausible paths that firms can take in order to adapt, while being keenly realistic about the likely challenges to be faced and difficult choices to be made by law firms that will rise to the challenge and earnestly commit to putting client service first in today’s (and tomorrow’s) world.
While focused on law firms, there are many lessons that can apply directly or with slight adaptation to in-house legal departments that are embarking on similar transformation journeys. These lessons are also helpful to corporate legal departments in terms of evaluating law firms’ innovation credibility and in picking a core group with which to partner. Similarly, vendors to both law firms and legal departments will find Ms. Parker’s insights very valuable since they provide such deep context and visibility into the workings of such a key element of the legal profession.
The focus on culture is spot on and often under-appreciated; somewhat similar challenges apply in-house since so many in-house attorneys are products of the same law firm culture (and to be sure, educational system and culture of exceptionalism). They still carry some of these characteristics. As such they are often a sub-culture within their corporations, even when the corporation’s dominant culture is more dynamic and innovative. They (myself included) need to recognize this as we seek to adapt and transform. The author’s insights - and the cited research findings - about the importance of cognitive diversity, pluri-disciplinary teams and minimizing the lawyer v. non-lawyer dichotomy when evaluating new ideas apply in both worlds.
Very well worth the cost and time spent in reading, highlighting and annotating carefully.
Robert Dilworth
Managing Director & Associate General Counsel Bank of America
Isabel Parker
Executive director, Digital Legal Exchange
[email protected]
Isabel Parker is the executive director of the Digital Legal Exchange, and works with general counsel to help corporate legal functions become more integrated with the business through digital transformation. Prior to this, Isabel was chief legal innovation officer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, with accountability for the development and commercialisation of client-facing digital products, and founder and co-leader of the Freshfields Lab in Berlin. She trained at Freshfields as a finance lawyer and is qualified to practise law in England and Wales and the State of New York.
Isabel has always been committed to driving change in the legal sector. During her time as chief legal innovation officer at Freshfields, the firm was awarded the honour of being the most innovative law firm in Europe at the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards for 2019. Isabel was herself recognised as one of the top 10 innovative lawyers in Europe in the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Report for 2018, and in 2020 was the winner of a European Women in Legal Tech Award in the professional services category. Isabel has wide experience in advising law firms, new law companies and corporate legal teams on digital transformation, alternative resourcing and legal technology.