Digital White Papers

July 2014: Knowledge Management

publication of the International Legal Technology Association

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ILTA WHITE PAPER: JULY 2014 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 49 sharing and collaborating, senior leadership and others throughout the enterprise have become more interested in building KM into their culture. In addition to honing skills in familiar territory, active participants in combinations find they develop brand new skills. Several panelists remarked that after one or two combinations, they have gotten pretty good at the process of merging firms. As in any discipline, lessons are learned, best practices surface and efficient processes are developed. ACCESS TO BETTER TECHNOLOGY Combinations can also open a whole new world of technology options. As Brian Clayton, CIO at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP, explains, firms can become very entrenched in what they are doing and find themselves with a somewhat closed IT environment. Through combining with other firms, Clayton notes, "I came across magnificent vendors and technologies I never would have encountered. We have gotten technologies from smaller firms that we then adopted because they were great. We would probably still be tied to BlackBerry smartphones and Word; instead, we have a much broader IT portfolio now." All interviewed agree that doing side-by- side comparisons and getting the inside scoop on similar applications is a great opportunity. Many reported doing "bake-offs" of the firms' redundant applications and moving everyone onto the winning application. Enhanced leverage with vendors is another plus. In one scenario, a midsize firm using a lesser-known accounting system found itself able to nudge the vendor into more enhancements to keep up with the firm's needs as it continued to grow through mergers. Because the vendor met the challenge, the firm has stayed with the system. Participants also describe both their firms and themselves as becoming much more agile and flexible after experiencing a merger. The consensus is that one must balance being political with being true, and remain reserved and open throughout the process. When tackling any issue, people have a tendency to try to get right to the solution, sometimes too quickly. Successfully combining with other firms teaches one the value of coming to the table with questions and a genuine interest in hearing others, always asking why. BEST PRACTICES FOR SMOOTH COMBINATIONS Having worked through an impressive number of successful combinations, those interviewed did not have to think long to offer some sage advice in the form of best practices. First and foremost is communication. They suggest preparing yourself by creating a checklist of questions covering everything from processes to resources and personnel. This positions you to start a focused dialogue with people in similar roles as soon as your business unit is drawn into the process and given the go-ahead to make contact. Learning what you can about the other firm's organization and culture is also vital to get a sense of how it works and what it values. This can be a bit harder, but Brian Clayton offers an interesting strategy. On learning of an upcoming combination, Clayton's first step is to go to ILTA's website to see if the other parties are ILTA members. Clayton says this tells him how the firm views and values IT, and he finds the process much easier with ILTA member firms. He also looks at the forums and groups the firms' members belong to for a sense of their interests. Another best practice is to make certain that all business services leaders involved in the process are looking at the big picture and working together. Finance, marketing, IT, KM, HR and all other areas of operations will be touched by the changes to come. All run the very real risk of duplicating efforts, going down incompatible paths or tripping over each other if they do not collaborate. As firms come together, everyone involved needs to become adept at listening, asking questions and asking more questions. If a firm rushes in with preconceived notions and solutions at the ready, it loses the opportunity to gain a rich understanding of what people really need, how they work best and what they have to offer. Equally important is making the most of the rare opportunity to compare everything, select the best and learn from the whole new pool of talent. Finally, build in plenty of time to document every step that every department and person WHEN FIRMS COMBINE: A KM PERSPECTIVE ON LAW FIRM MERGERS

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