Digital White Papers

6 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ILTA 2018 KM Survey: Growth, New Technology, and Familiar Challenges Most organizations continue to get by with fewer than three full-time staff dedicated to KM. Almost half of responding organizations do not have an aorney as one of the full-time KM staff, while over 60% report a technologist as being among the full- time staff. Encouragingly, over one-third of respondents believe that staffing will increase over the next year, with 7% of those expecting significant increases. Areas of Focus KM's greatest area of sole responsibility continues to be models and precedent databases, as well as legal research and opinion databases (both internal and external), consistent with what was reported in the 2008 survey. And while fewer organizations reported having enterprise search and intranets in 2008 than today, KM's responsibility for such programs remains significant, with KM shouldering sole responsibility for them in many organizations. KM's responsibility for document assembly tools has increased significantly over the years, with KM being either fully or partially responsible for such tools 70% (2018) of the time in those organizations that use document assembly tools, up from 50% (2008) and 67% (2016). The number of organizations using artificial intelligence (AI) tools has increased since 2016, with nearly 70% answering in the affirmative. Of those, roughly 70% of respondents reported KM is either fully or partially responsible for the use of such AI tools. In contrast, while 78% of respondents report the use of data analytics, KM is less likely to be involved, being either fully or partially responsible for such programs in roughly 50% of those organizations. Client-facing KM initiatives remain popular, the most common of which is client access to content through a secure site or portal, as it also was in 2016 and in 2008. Many KM departments are supporting or demonstrating technology or KM tools to clients (41%) and/or partnering with clients on innovation or research and development (38%). In terms of top areas of KM focus in 2018, a new category of response added this year – piloting new technology – received the largest share of responses at 30%. Other new response categories this year were data analytics, at 18%, and machine learning, at 12%. Other Firm Tools/Programs In the span of two short years, organizations having someone dedicated to supporting lawyers preparing and evaluating fee estimates increased from 54% (2016) to 70% (2018). Methods used to help provide fee estimates also changed, with more organizations in 2018 using either custom built or third-party budgeting tools, workflow or process automation, and/or professional development on fee estimates, pricing or maer management as part of their pricing and budgeting programs. Still, less than 30% of responding organizations use full-time Project Managers to help lawyers manage legal maers to budget. Of those organizations reporting the use of collaboration tools, we see some new product names in the mix in 2018. Sharepoint and Skype remain the most used, but HighQ, Jabber and MS Teams also received mention. While about the same number of organizations report having innovation strategies or formal initiatives as did in 2016, KM today plays a more active role in innovation initiatives, with KM either AMY HALVERSON Amy Halverson is Director of Knowledge Management, Research & Information Services at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. An attorney and former litigator, she focuses on the creation of firm-wide knowledge sharing and collaboration systems that increase the value provided by firms to clients and advance the business and practice of law. Amy initially left private practice to direct the online editorial operations of a national legal news and information web site. She then returned to the law firm environment, where she calls upon her legal and technical experience to facilitate the development of tools that capitalize on existing law firm information flows and business processes. An active member of the California State Bar, she is a graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law and of UCLA.

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