Digital White Papers

I L T A W H I T E P A P E R | K N O W L E D G E M A N A G E M E N T 7 R - E - S - P - E - C - T : R E F R A M I N G H O W W E A P P R O A C H I N N O V A T I O N I N A L A W F I R M encouraging innovation within practice groups through hack-a-thons, innovation challenges or process improvement and design thinking workshops; or completely redesigning the firm model to a more technolo-focused, platform- based structure to mimic client structure. As you can tell from this small sampling of current efforts, there is no industry-wide innovation silver bullet. Making innovation more complicated is the shift from one legal market, to multiple markets. 5 And it is quite possible that you will need multiple strategies for your one firm. Because a single firm can fit into multiple markets depending on which practice areas are involved, you will need different innovation techniques to compete in those markets. Given the fast pace of innovation and the multitude of moving parts to stay on top of just within your firm, your innovation professionals will need to deploy many skills in order to properly strategize, develop, and implement initiatives. One of the most important skills will be the ability to effectively communicate with people across the firm. Note that each of the strategies below relies on communication, a soft skill that can have high impact 6 , and one that everyone can benefit from continuous development. Fostering Innovation as Cultural Norm Within a Firm: Determining what qualifies as "innovative" is very subjective and can have many definitions depending on your audience. It can also be a daunting phrase. Attorneys may not believe their work needs to change or may feel that the amount of effort to improve their completion and/or delivery of legal work is too large of a task to take on while continuing to provide consistent, quality work to clients. Innovation professionals should be prepared to take as much time as needed to listen, educate, and collaborate in order to reframe biases or chip away at long-held beliefs that may no longer be productive. Consider ways your firm can create an inclusive environment that serves as the "place" where attorneys can turn to for experimentation. Consistent with other practical advice on implementing change, I subscribe to the "start small and grow outward" philosophy. Because this takes time, dedication, and substantial resources, this can be difficult in a climate where speed to market is rewarded. Change agents must be able to work within the firm at an individual (one-on-one with attorneys) and organizational level. 7 Below are examples of the types of efforts you should consider to support innovative thinking: EDUCATE YOURSELF: Learn your firm. Learn about its history and its clients. To the extent you can, educate yourself about the business of your clients and what their legal needs are. Learn who the influencers in your firm are and what motivates them. Always ask "why?" You achieve at least two goals when you ask "why." First, you develop rapport with the person or group you are speaking with by being an engaged audience and letting people share their stories. Second, you begin to uncover the reasons behind the status quo, which will give you insight into what motivates people, and conversely, what does not. You will also need to educate yourself on how your firm supports the practice of law on the operations side. This is an area that is quickly changing and a lot of friction can exist. It takes focus 5 See the Legal Executive Institute's 2019 Report on the State of the Legal Market at p. 16 "Given the changed market realities previously described, it is probably accurate to say that there is no longer a single legal market (if indeed there ever was one)." 6 See Bill Henderson, "Two Types of Legal Innovation: Type 0 Substantive Law, Type 1 Service Delivery," legalevolution.org, October 28, 2018. In this post Henderson details Patrick McKenna's "Lifecycle of a Practice Area" research including polls McKenna has taken where a majority of law firm partners who responded that they have not shared ideas on legal service improvement with their firm did not do so because "[w]hen asked why, partners explain that they doubt the firm or practice group will support them." While not explicitly linked to communication, it's a fair assumption that regular, qualitative communication with partners about their practice and their ideas on improvements could increase their perception of being supported by the firm. 7 See Bill Henderson, "Innovation in Organizations, Part 1," legalevolution.org, July 7, 2017.

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