Peer to Peer Magazine

WWW.ILTANET.ORG 79 How do you determine whether your process can be better improved with a people change or a technology change? Ted: I don't see these as being mutually exclusive — there usually is significant people and technology change required when improving a process. Step one in a firmwide effort to adopt business process improvements (BPIs) is getting buy-in at the executive level. Step two is getting leaders to show commitment to BPI, and that can take the form of getting certified, having explicit communications with the rest of the firm regarding the initiative, structuring incentives around compliance or even publicly recognizing excellence in the realm when it happens. All of those things are people-centric. Once the people at the firm have been aligned in this way, then you can bring in the technology. Toby: I start on the people side of things. I'm very focused on profitability, so first I see how things are being staffed. Are we using the right level of expertise to perform different tasks? If not, go back and ask why the process is driving work to that level of timekeeper. Beyond that, pressures related to pricing and rates can dictate where we use technology. For example, we're looking to use technology to speed up a process that could no longer be affected by staffing changes. Angela: That's going to depend on the process and the firm or law department. Every organization has a different appetite for change and for fiscal investment in process improvements. There is a tendency for people to think that technology will be some magical panacea for process problems, but technology alone can't fix an issue. As Ted mentioned, technology and people must go hand-in-hand. And when I think about a technology change, I don't necessarily mean a new technology. Often we reuse or better leverage existing technology to help solve a problem. What are the benefits of making improvements to business and legal processes? Angela Dowd: Reduction of waste is one of the first benefits that comes to mind. Since the Great Recession, we continuously hear that firms and law departments are being challenged to do more with less, both internally and from clients. Process improvements are a way to not only cut costs but also to eliminate tedious tasks. Process improvements can reduce errors and improve the quality and consistency of the work produced. Business and legal process improvements ultimately are about delivering value to the client. Ted Theodoropolous: The management consultant Edwards Deming once said that if you can't describe what you're doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing. I believe that to be true, and it's widely accepted in most industries. Firms would benefit from adopting that mantra and incorporating it into the DNA of their business. They can differentiate their firm from others by demonstrating to clients a commitment to efficiency. Toby Brown: On the business side, there's definitely room for improvement in the way firms are run, separately from how we deliver our services. Those benefits are somewhat obvious in terms of efficiencies. I see more important benefits in being responsive to the lawyers and partners in the firm. On the legal side, the canary in the coal mine for me is write-offs and write-downs, depending on how you define those. If we look to process improvements in the way we deliver our services, we can reduce our exposure to work for which we don't get paid. I would call that the short-run benefit. The long-run benefit will be happier clients because we'll be more competitive in our pricing and cost of services. About the Author Angela Dowd is the Director of Practice Innovation at Burns & Levinson, LLP. She joined the firm in 1998 in human resources before moving into IT. She has been an active member of ILTA for many years, speaking at annual conferences and currently in her second term as the North Atlantic Regional Vice President. Angela also served as an ILTA co-City Representative for Boston for many years. Contact her at adowd@burnslev.com. About the Author Ted Theodoropoulos is the President of Acrowire, an IT consulting firm specializing in technology solutions for legal services. After 10+ years in several corporate positions ranging from Microsoft to Bank of America, Ted pursued his passion and business full-time, driving tangible business results through technology. Acrowire increases productivity and eliminates inefficiencies, ultimately accelerating firm growth through SharePoint development, software development, business process improvement and cloud services. Contact Ted at ted@acrowire.com. About the Author Toby Brown is the Chief Practice Officer at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. His primary role is working with firm partners and clients in developing alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) and driving new business. In past roles, he drove marketing efforts and various knowledge management initiatives, including competitive intelligence, client relationships (CRM) and firm expertise. Toby has published numerous articles in journals and publications, and he has served on a number of legal service boards, bar association task forces and legal market organizations. Contact him at brownt@akingump.com.

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