Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/43390
LAW DEPARTMENTS AND CLOUD LAWYERING … WHAT'S THE FORECAST? Law firms have responded to these new approaches by creating best practices to get work done more efficiently. Implementing knowledge management initiatives can result in less time spent on matters and the possibility of providing legal services — those traditionally offered only on an hourly basis — for flat fees. And standard project management tools, techniques and professionals can be applied to manage matters and track budgets. This all adds up to law firms breaking down legal work to component units of work and rethinking internal staffing models to increase efficiencies. When it comes to law firm specialization, it's worth noting that the large, one-stop-shop firm model is facing increased pressure. For example, CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (a major U.K. firm) recently announced their decision to engage a specialty firm for all of its immigration work. This is quite a change from the days of a firm wanting to retain every single piece of work it could get its hands on. That said, it is a clear sign of the future when certain types of work may not require the absolute highest level of legal expertise, and instead may be better handled through efficient workflow (e.g., perhaps groups of paralegals will perform many of the individual tasks, generating attorney- supervised output at a flat rate). The technology implications — particularly cloud- hosted or software-as-a-service (SaaS) — are important considerations. While often touted as a panacea, they are not without a certain amount of risk. In the 2011 Law Department Technology Survey, we found that, while adoption of cloud computing has been slow for corporate legal departments, more than 80 percent of those who took the plunge had a positive experience in doing so. This type of technology is working to change the relationship between the in-house corporate attorneys and their outside counsel firms. Law departments often negotiate terms to standardize on hosted service providers and require firms to embrace those vendors. Individuals and small-volume consumers of legal services may read about the LegalZoom- and Google RocketLawyer-type of cloud lawyers, but that is not what most law departments are really looking for; although, time will tell if small businesses can benefit from such services (if they are willing to accept the risks). More likely, a hybrid will emerge that further accelerates the commoditization of the legal practice without the uncertainty. This gets to the core of the Susskind model, wherein an unbundled services model becomes available to any consumer, with access to advisors along the way. SUNNY OR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES? Some see this as a positive outcome. Lawyers, whether working in a corporate legal department or in any sort of law firm as outside counsel, must be innovative in their approaches in order to meet the challenges of today's business world. They are constantly forced to find creative new ways to do the same work in less time, which incidentally makes them smarter and more aligned with how the rest of the corporate world works. Still, cloud-hosted services — applications running on location-unknown servers — have not yet proven to be a winning proposition. That might come as a surprise, as many of the www.iltanet.org Corporate Law Departments 9