The last word: What should you be doing?

There are four inextricably linked aspects of a firm’s collective body of knowledge. Simon Haigh shares the approach that Australian firm Minter Ellison is adopting to weather the current economic storm and maintain competitive advantage.

1. Culture
This includes the firm’s vision, collection of values, and corresponding processes in terms of investing in its people. The more harmoniously these components combine together, the stronger the positive culture will be. However, research shows that the intangible workplace elements of a business are often the last to change. Nowhere is this more so than in law firms. In practice, the challenge is that, even in downturns, it is often difficult to get commitment from lawyers to use their time for knowledge management (KM) initiatives. What is required, therefore, is a leap of faith on the part of partners and other senior lawyers. The current downturn can offer lawyers time to put their hands up and open their knowledge base for the greater good of the firm, and also concentrate on developing client relationships.
After all, when partners freely share their knowledge and wisdom with junior lawyers, a greater sense of engagement follows, and this costs very little. To this end, our firm has initiated a three-part cultural change programme for 2009: (a) changing the partner performance appraisal system to increase partner KM weighting; (b) enhancing development discussions, advancements and performance reviews and processes to address KM contributions and proposed KM contributions; and, (c) steering the culture towards greater individual responsibility for knowledge sharing, supported by increased training.

2. Technology
Let’s be honest, there are numerous killer applications out there, all promising great things for law firms. However, at no other time are the following truisms more pertinent: (a) garbage in, garbage out; and (b) costs must be scrutinised in terms of real value-add effectiveness. While technology is, of course, of value in the KM sphere, unless your firm has hidden cash reserves, now is probably not the time to be splashing out on the latest fad. What is arguably of more value is for lawyers to strive to innovate in their own practice areas and share those innovations to maximise the firm’s operations. Examples being rolled out here in 2009, at little if no additional cost, include e-filing, developing client-data rooms to be charged to clients (with their agreement) as disbursements (given their efficiency) provide added value, and developing online collaborative technologies.

3. Knowledge content
Now is the ideal time for firms to identify, capture and share their ‘quality knowledge content’. It is essential to focus on the opportunities this downturn presents for longer-term growth, particularly where costs are low. The adopted process should aim to identity which content should be captured and developed to ensure junior lawyers are equipped to develop and provide consistent, high-quality work. This means senior lawyers can focus on developing valuable client relationships. It is a central component of our KM strategy as it (a) focuses the capture and sharing of explicit and tacit knowledge around the particular needs of each practice group, while also breaking down unnecessary knowledge silos. To this end, we are introducing a fun process, which will deliver long-term growth by having the lawyers work directly on building the firm’s collective knowledge through precedents, know-how, transaction maps, checklists and other such devices (a little practice group competition here can work wonders); and, (b) capturing all learning and development and KM training online.

4. Client-relationship development
In addition to the usual billable hours ‘gravy train’, what will help law firms differentiate themselves from the crowd is maximising their client relationships. This can be achieved by ensuring lawyers are fully aware of the client’s needs and, in turn, ensuring the client has no misconceptions or doubts about the part the firm will play in their success. Hosting client seminars, meeting with them on regular occasions and ensuring an optimal knowledge flow back and forth are all practices that we are prioritising at present.
Over the next year, those firms that grasp the current opportunities to invest in their people, quick-kill technological offerings, knowledge content, and client-relationship development to capture, develop and share their collective wisdom, will be best placed to reap the rewards when the inevitable upturn arrives.

Simon Haigh is chief knowledge office at Minter Ellison. He can be contacted at simon.haigh@minterellison.com