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 9 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 their processes for meeting client expectations, and their insights on how the shifts in their market will impact their practice. These allies will also give you valuable credibility among their peers. Do the same on the operations side. Develop a line of regular communication to understand how they are supporting firm needs. You are best suited to connect the dots for the firm since you have an ear to the practice and also how it is supported. BE A TRUSTED ADVISOR: Take part in educating your firm on the changes in the industry as well as the current availability and capabilities of technolo solutions that can help with legal work and its delivery. Innovators must be multi- lingual: you must speak the language of the practice, the clients, and the firm and be able to translate needs, balance those with goals, and coalesce all of the above with market availability in a manner that will lead to meaningful impact. LEARN FROM YOUR TRAINERS: Partner with your training team to learn strategies to help acclimate attorneys to new technologies as well as new legal team dynamics and new ways of working. Due to the shift towards mobile workforces, attorneys are increasingly working with dispersed or virtual teams, which requires new ways of working collaboratively on client work. Clients have buying power and increasingly spread work out among many outside counsel. Client expectations have shifted, and attorneys are sometimes expected to work with cross- functional, multi-firm teams. These teams can be a combination of in-house attorneys, attorneys from other firms, and non-attorney staff. Conclusion: Legal innovation involves finding balance between risk taking and protecting the integrity of the practice (an entirely new practice in its own right!). There is no one innovation strate that will work for all law firms, and you will likely need to employ multiple strategies for your firm. It takes time to listen and learn from the people in your firm, identify the firm's needs, and its clients' needs in order to develop the right approach to innovation. Employing any combination of the above strategies within your firm will help you create valuable relationships that are built upon mutual respect and trust, two components that are critical to impactful legal innovation. ILTA Amy Monaghan is the Practice Innovations Manager at Perkins Coie. As a member of the Knowledge Management team, Amy works side- by-side with practice groups and clients to design, develop and implement innovative solutions, particularly those involving artificial intelligence, document automation tools, and logical reasoning systems. Amy is responsible for educating the firm and its clients on the availability and capabilities of legal technology and is a frequent speaker on these topics. Amy volunteers with ILTA as a knowledge management content coordinating team member and was recently named a "Young Professional to Watch" by the association.

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