Thought leader

By Simon Witney, professional services partner, SJ Berwin LLP

When I became a professional support lawyer (PSL) at SJ Berwin in 1997, many of my colleagues thought I was mad. Who in their right mind would want to step away from the core business into a support role which (at least in my firm) was new and barely understood?

Knowledge management (KM) in law firms has come a long way since then. Not only is it a well-established function, but it is hard to see how we could do without it. As well as providing support to fee earners, it has also become strategic – leading the practice forwards in the way that it delivers legal services to clients, while spearheading innovation.

There are also a lot of good people doing it. I chaired a conference organised by Ark Group earlier this year, and the quality of the debate – led by excellent speakers from a wide range of firms, and fuelled by contributions from the floor – was extremely high. There is no doubt that KM is playing a key part in the development of law firms across Europe, and it has become a real source of competitive advantage.

However, one of the main themes at the conference was integration and the missed opportunities that many firms still need to grasp. Too often, KM exists in a vacuum and is not properly connected to core support functions, or even fee-earning lawyers.

So, for example, there can be a disconnect between the PSLs, who are often at the heart of KM initiatives, and the firm’s IT strategy. Library and information-services teams don’t often work with business-development people. The training strategy may be driven by the firm’s needs, but how often does it respond directly to what clients are saying about the firm?

Often, these missed connections are merely symptoms of a deeper problem. Too often, KM is still seen as a side issue, rather than a core element of a firm’s vision for the future.

But now that KM has become an integral part of the way many firms do business it is important to put it where it belongs: at the heart of the business strategy. Well executed KM strategies are delivering real business benefits in many firms, but in most, KM professionals are only scratching at the surface of what is achievable.

Perhaps the first question that you need to ask is whether your firm has a coherent KM strategy, and if so, whether the firm’s senior management understands what it is. If they do, they will use that strategy to inform a wide range of business decisions and to ensure that the firm’s infrastructure underpins and reinforces strategic ambitions.

But if your firm isn’t yet in this position – and most are not – KM professionals need to work together to show their decision makers the power of joined-up thinking. Identifying KM as a strategic imperative with buy-in right across the organisation, is a critical first step. Only then can you expect to get KM initiatives out of their boxes and have their impact felt right across the firm.