P2P

55 I L T A N E T . O R G as the sole arbiter of the firm's technology road map. Modern legal services is a team sport. Back to your questions, though. As to demand dynamics, I agree law departments and law firms alike are drowning in work. What's still scarce for many clients is budget. Technology moves fast, but people and organizations move slower. What vendors say their tools do in demos and on panels doesn't always match the lived experience of pilot users. I wouldn't assume adoption hiccups are entirely or mostly due to partner recalcitrance. The best performing firms this year will absolutely turn away work – and they'll make the right picks about which mandates to pursue and which mandates to turn away. As to where CIOs need to invest time and energy to help their firms win, we'll save that for an in-depth dive in the next issue – but here's what is top of mind for me: 1. Customer orientation 2. Skills inventory 3. Emphasis on cross-functional collaboration 4. Focus on data enablement 5. New buy-to-build paradigm What do you think? Brad: Those sound right to me. I agree those are critical points of focus for CIOs helping to lead their firms into the future, and therefore worthy of a traditional article. I think we should write that – it can be part two of this piece. ILTA Jae Um is a strategy executive, insights analyst & business designer for fast-changing legal markets, with over a decade of industry experience. She is the founder and Executive Director of Six Parsecs, an insights firm for the legal vertical. In addition to strategic consulting for law firm leadership, Jae serves on advisory boards for emerging legal tech companies. She is also a contributing author to Legal Evolution, American Lawyer, and other publications covering the legal industry. Brad Blickstein is principal of Blickstein Group, the leading industry intelligence firm focused on helping legal service providers better understand and serve their clients. He is also co-head of Baretz+Brunelle's NewLaw practice group. Brd has been studying, analyzing and reporting on how legal services are purchased and delivered for nearly 30 years and is the creator and publisher of seminal research, including The Annual Law Department Survey.

• Cover