Digital White Papers

KM PROFESSIONALS: A NATURAL FIT FOR LPM How is KM involved? marketing-speak, but it's clear LPM is not a flash in the pan. A few firms commented they were in the process of creating or formalizing an LPM program and/or that, unofficially, many pieces of LPM are already being practiced even though the program is still informal. I suspect a lot more firms are actually in that stage than the survey reflected. Does your firm routinely include KM or LPM details in pitches? A lot of the responses included typical KM tools and activities, so here are the responses that were less typical: •We've all but given up on pure KM. We've decided to embed KM into our LPM efforts, so there is a strong focus on reusable assets during each of our LPM engagements. If you have a KM group, are they involved in the LPM program? •We have KM counsel who assist lawyers in finding relevant information. An LPM (nonpracticing) attorney will be hired to assist with creating process maps to help our lawyers handle cases effectively and efficiently, with repeatable processes. 59.3% of respondents said yes. The extent of involvement may not be clear, but it's important to note KM and LPM are closely aligned. Yes   No   •We will work occasionally with our business development team on pitches as requested by clients. Responses indicating KM directly runs LPM include: •KM runs our LPM. •Our Director of KM is the co-leader for LPM. •LMPO is under the KM umbrella. •KM is the principal agency for LPM. Yes  -‐  bot Yes  -‐  KM Yes  -‐  LPM No   36.4% said they include details of both of these efforts, while 6% routinely include only KM details and 21.1% include only LPM details. This is interesting given how relatively nascent LPM is compared to KM and that KM often is involved in LPM. For those working at a firm with both competencies, why not promote both? It could be that bits and pieces of KM are covered or embedded within the details of the LPM program. I am also surprised by these numbers because I reviewed about 25 large firm websites to see what they were saying about technology, KM and/or LPM, and the percentages were far smaller than this survey reveals. Of course, a website and a pitch are not the same thing, but if you've got the materials ready, why not leverage them everywhere?

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