The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/67910
case studies From Just-in-Case to Just-in-Time On-Demand Learning by Chris Boyd and Larry Brown of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati To do their jobs well, attorneys in law firms and corporate legal departments need to build strong knowledge of legal fundamentals and then stay current on developments in multiple fields. To maintain their state bar memberships, they also need to comply with mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) requirements. And they should be able to do all of these things conveniently and cost-effectively. The traditional method of training many lawyers at once is the live lecture, often with slides as visual aids and sometimes with in-class exercises to promote learning and retention. This format clearly has limitations for legal organizations that are increasingly global and dispersed, and for busy lawyers who sometimes can't attend in person and at the same time as their peers. Even done well, this format is limited in its ability to train lawyers effectively. How can the law firm or corporate law department of 2020 use technology to achieve the twin goals of retained learning and CLE compliance? Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR), headquartered in Palo Alto and employing over 600 attorneys in 10 offices in the United States, China and Europe, has deployed an online training platform to do just that. Old Challenges, New Challenges WSGR provides extensive training to its attorneys to help them deepen their knowledge, strengthen their skills and better serve clients. WSGR also offers similar training to attorneys working for client companies' legal departments. Like other firms, WSGR faces some challenges with using the traditional live lecture model of legal training: • Timeliness. Attorneys would ideally like to learn how to do something right before they do it, rather than (or in addition to) learning ahead of time in a classroom. Between the time attorneys attend a live class and the time they do the related work, they'll typically have retained only a fraction of a class's content — so it's better to be able to get the instruction and use it right away. • Making Time for Training. Attending to urgent client needs can prevent attorneys from attending live training sessions. • Geographically Dispersed Attendees. Providing effective training to attorneys in different offices requires using videoconferencing and webconferencing technologies that are, at best, a poor substitute for the in-person experience and, at worst, repeatedly unreliable and frustrating for remote attendees. • Tech-Friendly Tools. The newest generation of lawyers grew up using online features such as on-demand video, searchable 48 Peer to Peer