Get IT right

The challenge facing law firms over the next few years in relation to their use of information systems is immense. There can be little doubt that many firms in Scotland will have to increase significantly the amount that they are investing each year in acquiring, deploying and thereafter maintaining the various IT tools which are becoming essential in order to operate competitively and successfully. They will also need to invest heavily in recruiting and retaining the people with the requisite skills to enable them to maximise the potential of these tools. But perhaps the biggest challenge will be to get their lawyers to embrace the necessary and inevitable changes in work practices.

Tools of the trade

As a general rule the legal profession has been quite slow to adopt modern technologies. This, I suspect, is primarily because there are larger, more profitable markets for the software vendors to target first. However, there is also an underlying distrust, perhaps fear, of technological (or indeed any) change in some quarters. I regularly hear “Luddite” lawyers advocate the view that far from advancing the practice of law, technology has somehow taken it backwards. One might translate this to mean that their inability to adapt to change and learn new skills outside their chosen discipline has made the practice of law more difficult for them.

It is certainly the case that many modern technologies are not yet as reliable as one would ideally like. The use of modern technology opens one’s business to a variety of indiscriminate security threats which are new to the practice of law. However, set against all of that, modern information systems offer every practice (big or small) the opportunity to conduct one’s business from almost any location in the world at any time of the night or day with instant access to all relevant documents and correspondence, real time financial information and the latest law.

Let’s be clear: these are the modern tools of our trade. The use of records management systems, practice management systems, case management systems, knowledge management systems, HR systems, customer relationship management systems, mobility tools, portals, deal rooms and so forth is no longer the exclusive preserve of the early adopters or the biggest firms. Very many firms are using combinations of some if not all of these tools already and have been doing so for some time. Investing in expensive and complex systems is only the first part of the story. It is the ability to support, maintain and use these tools effectively and to maximise their potential that will be critical in determining which firms will rise to and remain at the top. One has to employ or at least have access to people with the requisite skills and involve the business in the implementation to maximise their potential. These skills are not necessarily easy to find and do not come cheaply.

The portal: a must-have?

Arguably one of the biggest complaints in relation to the use of modern systems is the lack of integration between products. A document and records management must operate within the email client (e.g. Outlook) and within Word, for example. Financial information regarding a client matter should be readily accessible alongside correspondence, documents and all other information about that matter. This has led to a cluttered and complex desktop which is difficult to use. As we endeavour to simplify the front end and the user experience, we run the risk of making the back office ever more complex and difficult to support. The vendors’ answer to this has been the “portal” which they hope will become the next “killer application”.

The current trend in law firm portals is matter, client and person “centricity”. That is, aggregating data relevant to a particular matter, client or person from various legacy systems and applications into one contextual view. The idea is to give the fee-earner all the information they need in one place. One of the key benefits of this approach is that, rather than having to invest in costly and often bespoke integration of legacy systems in the back office, the aggregation can be done on demand by a web “layer”.

As the business comes to rely on the information and functions provided by the portal, and the functionality provided by an integrated suite of applications matures, the role of the IT team and their place in the business will also change. The business will start to ask for developments to the portal, new views and deeper analysis of the information. The IT team will have to develop a better understanding of the business and will be expected to provide the skills to help the business analyse the information. In turn, this will place the successful IT team in a position much more like the position of the finance team – as providers of key management information and tools. As the focus moves away from legacy applications, IT teams will need to re-skill or recruit to make sure they have the necessary skills to support these changes.

Knowledge management

Perhaps our ability to manage and utilise knowledge (in all its forms) successfully is going to be the biggest differentiator among law practices going forward. All firms have a vast amount of valuable information about clients, competitors, intermediaries, law and practice which is spread about their systems often in an unstructured way.

There are massive challenges in accurately capturing and categorising only the most relevant and valuable information and then presenting it back in context when required. Whilst the portal might be the delivery mechanism for the knowledge and information a firm holds, other tools, processes and most importantly cultures need to be adopted. For example, a customer relationship database is not the sole preserve of the marketing team – the whole firm must adopt a uniform way of recording and checking the information. As they say – “rubbish in… rubbish out”.

The missing piece of the jigsaw in terms of systems is a way of categorising knowledge and information in a consistent way regardless of the type or source – in technical terms a taxonomy. If clients, knowhow, documents and people could be categorised in a consistent way it will force a real shift in the way that law firms view and sort their information. Technology solutions to do this are appearing, but an agreed taxonomy of terms is still some way off for most (if not all) firms.

There are also major risks in firms retaining vast amounts of out-of-date, conflicting and incorrect information, which should be expunged from the systems at the earliest opportunity. Even the firms who are trail-blazing in the knowledge management arena would accept that they have not as yet “cracked it”.

Although there are many systems which purport to provide an answer to this problem, none offer a complete answer. Ultimately it is the skills, dedication and quality of the knowledge managers rather than the technical proficiency of the systems themselves that will make the biggest difference. Perhaps more than any other area it is in the management of knowledge that there will be the greatest need for recruitment of new skills and investment in the coming years.

The cultural impact

Obviously this increased reliance on new technologies will have a significant cultural impact within law firms. There is a clear need to learn new skills. Those that are unable to adapt will be marginalised and find it difficult to survive. Moreover, because they process a large number of tasks automatically and concurrently, these tools put control over and responsibility for many business processes directly into the hands of the lawyer. Information is available on and tasks are processed and controlled from the desktop. It therefore becomes inefficient (and in some instances impossible) to utilise intermediaries such as PAs to perform many functions which they have performed until now.

It is not only the law firm of course which has to adjust to change. The client too has to be ready to receive advice and give instructions through a variety of different channels. It is wrong to assume that all clients will relish or embrace this. Firms need to be cautious when using new technologies not to inadvertently disenfranchise key buyers of their services. This is a difficult balance to achieve. We have some very progressive clients who wish us to be at the very forefront when it comes to using new tools. At the same time we have clients who are equally as sceptical as many lawyers as to the benefits of these new systems, and moreover are more than satisfied with the current means of service delivery.

Undoubtedly many law firms will be facing a prolonged period of major change in their business systems and infrastructure. Inevitably there will be disruption. This sort of change does not come without some pain. However it is a challenge that should be relished. Everybody has an opportunity to succeed and to be able to offer improved and more competitive service to clients. To do so however we will need to recognise the increasing importance and the value of those members of our teams who are not lawyers but who make it all possible.

Laurence Ward is a partner in the IP/IT group of Dundas & Wilson