Peer to Peer Magazine

PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 24 ASK THE VENDOR BUILD AN INFORMATION GOVERNANCE PLAN name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Garber company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HP Software website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.hp.com Legal organizations must implement and continue to modify their information governance policies, procedures and systems to draw value from the data within an organization. Legacy data continue to increase over time, so not addressing the issue only allows it to pile up with no real understanding of the value or dangers that might be contained within the data. However, an organization need not try to tackle everything at once to achieve results in the short term. By laying out a clear road map for attaining true information governance and taking a methodical approach toward achieving that goal through the use of a modular set of technologies, organizations can start with their most challenging data issues first, then continue down that information governance road, solving more problems along the way. Which business process should legal organizations improve immediately for long-term success? EMBRACE CLIENT TECHNOLOGIES name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scott Rosenberg company . . . . Project Leadership Associates website . . . . . . . www.projectleadership.net For too long, law firms and their corporate clients have used different technology systems. Often, the same data managed by the law firm is also tracked by the law department. To enable better in-house/outside counsel collaboration, it's important that law firms realize there is likely redundancy in data entry efforts and increased risk associated with information- sharing time lags. To expect corporate clients to make use of law firm systems is not reality; clients retain multiple firms, each with their own systems. Instead, law firms should embrace the use of client systems as a means of faster and more transparent communication and reduction of risk from data entry error and misinterpretation. An added benefit of this approach is increasing the likelihood of "binding" oneself to the client, as many are resistant to change once virtual legal teams are in place and working in synchronization. A good place to start is in opening shared access to client matter and document management systems. Once in position, working to then incorporate workflow-enabled processes into these solutions — e.g., requests for legal service, budget approval, new matter opening — will foster collaboration and increase client satisfaction…the ultimate objective. EMBRACE VALUE PRICING name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chuck Kellner company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . d4discovery.com Legal organizations of every kind should productively decrease their dependence on the billable hour as a measure of value. Alternative fee structures are increasingly popular for many legal endeavors. Managed services have gained significant traction over per-hour and volume-based fees for litigation support and e-discovery. However, many of these alternative arrangements are just reverse-engineered hourly rates. Law is one of the few business or professional endeavors that does not embrace value pricing as a basic element of supply. But more clients want to buy it that way. When asked "how much," it is incumbent on all of us to do better than "it depends."

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