Last week's ArkKM conference kicked off with a keynote speaker who put up a slide that said "I'm kind of a BIG DEAL #MyFirmThinksSo". It was not the ego-trip it sounds like. It was actually a great example of how Baker Donelson is setting themselves apart by rewarding innovation. Focusing on a culture of excellence, underpinned by smart KM systems and processes, and all properly funded through their innovation incubator system, called "The Venture Fund". Sounds look the Google of law firms! This excellent kick-off set the tone of a great conference that explored how today's law firms are grappling with real challenges in KM, in law firms, in 2015.
With data we get Uber (but no flying cars yet)
Our two day conference at New York Law School in downtown Manhattan, started on "Back to the Future" day. For those of you who were not on the internet that day, October 21, 2015 was the day Marty McFly travelled to in the second Back to the Future movie. And Ed Walters from FastCase delivered a fantastic Ted Talk about data that pulled in many references on how access to data is changing the way we think.
While we might not yet have the flying cars that Back to the Future predicted, Ed did give a great parody of trying to explain to his young son what it was like to flag a taxi in New York City before Uber. I'm taking some liberties here, but it went something like this: "What do you mean Daddy, you stuck your hand out in the street and waited even if you didn't know where the taxis were, whether they would take you and what it would cost?".
Data empowers so much change, so quickly, and his message was not to overlook it. He went so far as to say "Data is the new oil". When you go to a KM conference, I think a fundamental appreciation of data is served up at the door and Ed certainly set the stage for this incredibly well.
Beyond data - systems and people
With a solid appreciation of data instilled in the room, two sub-topics emerged over the two day conference that really drove home how we can come back to our firms, ready to take on what one of the subsequent speakers called our "small big data" problems.
The first I will grossly oversimplify into structure and systems. The conference had a few firms openly discuss how they have solved their matter systems, how they are gaining knowledge from pricing, and what projects their firm is taking on during this stage of KM development. The key takeaway here is that this is a journey with stages along the way. Not all systems fall into place in a day, but dedicating time resources to the early stages of the process will pay dividends in the end. One CKO said through her early investments in mapping processes for matter phases, and their relevant documents and forms, she has been able to increase billing by 5-30%. For any firm those are big numbers!
With efficiency in handling the data in mind as a goal, the conference speakers still had to present the other challenge to this equation - people and processes.
How does all this data, system and structure figure back into being good lawyers? How do you handle the change management aspects, the mergers, the retention challenges? Law firm efficiency is not a new trend but it is a challenging one. There was a great LPM discussion where the audience had to vote on whether they agreed or disagreed with statements like "It is more important to have a qualified project manager than to have someone with law firm experience". Boy did that get lively! One speaker emphasised how transparency, agility, diversity, and trust are key to building an effective KM team and function. And two others helped focus on Kotter's model of steps to change as key to changing the way people work.
But this was not a prescriptive conference, there was no final takeaway that said "Take these pills and call me in the morning". Lots of ideas were explored but there were no silver bullets.
Build a knowledge service for your relationship workers
My own favourite takeaway falls across both the themes of process and systems (and anyone who knows me will nod in recognition that I am a little obsessed with this topic): focus on the clients. Remind lawyers they are no longer just knowledge workers, they are relationship workers. The firm with lawyers who know more about the relationship with the client, and the better they are at maintaining it (through data, systems, and structures), will be the winning firm.
On my way out the door of the conference, I was lucky enough to snag a copy of 2020 Vision: The Future of Legal Services, which I have quite nerdily been reading on my commute for the last few days. Like the wonderful speakers at the ArkKM conference, the contributors to this book are leading thinkers in how law firms can do more with data by improving their systems, data structures, processes, and people skills to prepare for changes ahead. For someone who has been in the legal environment for more than 15 years, this was a great way to spend Back to the Future day (week!)
