P2P

36 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 bandwidth to service other (billable) areas. For example, there is an obvious opportunity for Estate Planning practices to update these types of arrangements (wills, trusts etc) given the effects of COVID-19 such as market changes, health concerns and so on. Enabling that practice to effectively and rapidly engage existing and potential clients with specific proposals to drive business can be accelerated by employing internal sources of information and technology to largely automate what could be very manual processes. Quality Enhancing Promoting the ability of the legal practitioners to provide a richer, more complete product that results in an improved client experience. Providing access to precedents and models beyond usual sources by looking at some of the newer entrants to the research space, many of who offer access to their corpus of information directly through APIs, or using AI tools in contract analysis are examples of this type of initiative. These should definitely be done in partnership with willing practice groups who can see immediate benefit, from Structured Finance practices to Securities Litigation and M&A. Shorter term operational The ability to deliver the solution in short order, resulting in basic capability that effectively remotely replicates, or is an improvement on, the service delivery prior to COVID-19. Moving from a manual to a digitally- based closing process, perhaps with electronic signature capability, is a good example of this type of initiative. Longer term strategic This includes initiatives that can't be (fully) accomplished in the short term but elements can be incorporated in immediate initiatives. Many of the human capital needs for the digital future will be in the form of what are called 'knowledge workers', and firms will have to continue to assess staffing levels and capabilities for the new normal, within this context. The question to be asked is, can existing staff be retained and retooled both to serve the immediate operational and service delivery needs as well as staffing needs for the longer term to service IG initiatives? As firms have had to pivot to support remote working, they are likely to already be realizing areas of strengths, weaknesses and opportunity. Cultural/Political Internally, in a law firm partnership, it is always smart to focus on initiatives that impact significant practices and influential rainmakers. With that focus, target initiatives to the most active, popular, profitable, influential practice areas and leverage the resulting successful initiatives for the future. Be targeted at first. Then expand. There is merit to the saying "if you build it (correctly), they will come." Externally, the opportunity to engage clients directly through collaboration platforms as part of the digital transition is invaluable, and properly managed can certainly enhance the relationship between the law firm and client teams. The following grid outlines various opportunities presented by this current upheaval in service delivery - all focused on internal retooling. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list, but rather a tool to promote your own creating thinking in what might be most relevant for your Firm. Once you've mapped out your potential areas of focus, a next logical and practical step can be to expand into a RACI matrix to help with prioritizing where to best begin. N E X T W A V E O F I N F O R M A T I O N G O V E R N A N C E

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