3 Simple Steps to Law Firm Innovation

Last year I published a post about how law firms can be leaders in this legal industry disruption that is happening right now. Of course, in-house legal departments can create incentives for law firms to change, but every individual lawyer at a law firm can take some fairly simple steps that will show genuine interest in innovation and provide clients with immediate greater value. Everyone likes instant gratification and learning new things. From my experience, if every law firm lawyer would consider giving these three things a try, their clients would see immediate impact:

1.   Use the Data You Already Have. Law firms hold an incredible amount of valuable data about the work that they do for their corporate clients. It is amazing how much value a client will derive from some basic data points. How many memos/contracts/pleadings/etc. did Firm create for Client in any given period? How many times did the same contract provision get negotiated in the contracts that Firm handled for Client? Deliver this information in a nice consumable format, with some easy-to-read visuals, and clients will be delighted, asking for more.

2.   Pre-empt Recurring Engagement Problems. When law firms deal with clients over and over again, they not only get to know the in-house lawyers who request the work, but also get to know lots of the business people who engage with the in-house lawyers. In fact, the law firms become quite familiar with the repeat "customers" so to speak - the business people who repeatedly seek advice at the last minute, or repeatedly start with the wrong contract template. That is the key. If there is a repeat engagement issue that the law firm identifies, then the in-house team should know about it. Firms can bring these business client issues to the in-house team's attention along with a proposal on how those problems can be solved. Firms can suggest training the business or creating materials for the in-house team to use to train the business. Creating self-help guidance that can encourage self-sufficiency in the business will be very much appreciated by the in-house legal team. Yes, it is lost revenue for the firms potentially, but the value created will surely be rewarded with more work in the future and deeper engagement.

3.   Suggest Even Slightest Process Improvements. Never mind six sigma belt colors. Don't worry about post-it notes and process maps. I am talking about the basics. The way the engagement flows between Firm and Client is usually organic and follows general communication patterns: inquiry via e-mail or call, response in same medium, back and forth until final deliverable of output results in an invoice to the client. A few small tweaks in the engagement process can make both sides much more effective. For example, if the Firm seems to always ask the same sort of questions at the start of certain engagements, why not provide those questions in advance to the Client? If Client becomes accustomed to providing these "intake" details at the start, Firm will get to work faster and with less back and forth. As for delivering the work product, why not put it on a shared online platform, so that the client has easy access to it and it can be refreshed as needed? Even if Client only accesses it once, the fact alone that Firm offered delivery via an online collaboration site demonstrates a genuine interest to innovate.

These are just some very basic ideas and have nothing to do with the substantive practice of law. All of these suggestions are focused on improving the engagement experience. But even these suggestions require that the practicing lawyers to embrace new concepts in order to discuss them with clients. Right now, most lawyers, busy with billing hours, are overwhelmed by the amount of legal industry news coming into their inbox. It is hard to sift through what is real and what is hype. The above examples are pragmatic and easy to try. Most lawyers, however, are not comfortable talking about data or process because they simply have not been trained on how either applies to their work, nor have most of them worked with these capabilities in practice. Lawyers don't need to be experts in these skillsets, but they MUST be familiar with them.

I am happy to be working with law firm lawyers to give them the tools they need to talk to their clients in new ways. Some basic vocabulary and tips can go a long way in a client meeting... www.innolegalservices.com