The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/271291
WWW.ILTANET.ORG 45 About the Author Brianna Leung, Director of Strategic Marketing for Traveling Coaches, is an industry thought leader in the areas of change management and user adoption of technology. She is also a futurist and is helping drive Traveling Coaches' movement toward next-generation learning for law firms. Brie's willingness to share research, trends and insightful recommendations with the legal technology community has garnered lasting working relationships and has made a true impact on the legal training industry. Contact her at bleung@travelingcoaches.com. become critical to profitability. In fact, according to the 2013 "Altman Weil Law Firms in Transition Flash Survey," only 40 percent of non-hourly billing projects are as profitable as regular hourly billing, and a mere 16 percent are more profitable. This speaks to the fact that law firms are still figuring out how to price, staff and work these engagements. • Changing Roles: Many firms have strategic plans to redefine their staffing models. Some firms are farther down the path than others, but most are eager to continue to reduce ratios, redefine the legal secretary role and assign work differently. In some cases, this shift is creating the need for attorneys to take on more document production and routine task work themselves. In other cases, attorneys doing more of their own work is driving a change in legal secretary and support roles, as they have less work. • Generational Shake-Up: The new generations of lawyers bring with them different goals for work-life balance and fresh viewpoints on technology that don't always align with those of the senior lawyers in the firm. As a generalization, these younger, tech-savvy lawyers are more driven to leverage technology to get things done, and they value work-life balance, prompting them to seek efficiency in their workdays. WHAT ARE THE EXPECTATIONS FOR EFFICIENCY? There are many definitions and visions for what lawyer efficiency really looks like (or could look like). For example, when asked about document production skills for lawyers, some define the goal as any lawyer creating his own documents. For others, it means document automation systems and processes that require a lawyer perform minimal tasks to create a document. Some think it looks like role redefinition and process mapping, which takes away the task of creating a document and maps that process to a lower-level employee or staff attorney, leaving the lawyer to produce the thoughts and words, but not the typed and formatted paragraphs. One answer everyone seems to agree on is "it depends." It depends on the practice group, the size of the firm, the age of the lawyer, the level of commodity work, the ratios, the billable rate and, of course, the client. With so many variables, it's no wonder most firms haven't yet cracked the efficiency nut. However, there are some generalizations that can be made. If you were starting from scratch, what are some technology tips and tricks you'd want most attorneys to learn for more expedient work? Mobility: Working remotely, using apps and other efficiency tools to work anytime and anywhere Mailbox Management: Using advanced search, filing email messages and taming the inbox Document Management: Managing versions, using links, naming files and mobile access Collaboration: Leveraging IM, using desktop sharing for Web meetings and working with extranets Document Production: Using the firm's templates, style sets and automation Document Comparison: Editing, comparing and managing document evolution Business Development: Presentation skills for pitches Data Analysis: Basic spreadsheet manipulation Time Entry: Capturing and managing time entries Here are just a few of the technology competencies we believe are important for most lawyers.