The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/67910
THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF LEGAL IT LEADERSHIP • Find a senior partner to mentor you about the practice of law and the legal profession. • Get involved with technology and/or legal organizations. If you are gearing up for a future leadership role in legal IT, be sure to consider these additional suggestions: • Obtain a graduate degree from an accredited college or university. An MBA degree is a popular suggestion from current IT leaders. • Branch out and know all facets of the IT department. If you are in a small department, be sure to network with IT professionals from large law firms. • Get to know how the law firm business operates. • Controlling data that are accessed, copied, shared and edited continually by employees, clients and others on countless devices • Navigating political minefields within the organization; successful leaders learn to build a sphere of influential relationships so when the politics become dangerous, there are many providing support • Communicating with attorneys so they don't feel disconnected from what the IT team is or isn't doing Obstacles You'll Have to Overcome No matter where you are on the leadership ladder, every legal IT leader will have to overcome the following pitfalls and obstacles: • Finding and retaining talented staff; even in a down economy, it can be difficult to find solid candidates ur Outsourcing 3. Skills Are Specialized: Implementing a large- scale project without the assistance of outside expertise or industry benchmarks can be like working in a vacuum — or worse. The right outside resource can provide direct experience and best practices to achieve your organization's business objectives. It's also important to assemble the best team of internal and external resources when approaching a large project. This will ensure you achieve the best results. 5. Departmental Gaps Are Bridged: Departments might not always see the need to work together or, alternatively, divergent goals may have been developed among the different departments over time. The right outside resource is in a unique position to speak the many languages of the various departments. When this occurs, there is often a willingness to put aside departmental differences and work together in the firm's overall best interest. 4. Focus Is on the Big Picture: Some firms take a myopic view of isolated services without simultaneously integrating other system ramifications into their decision processes. With the right outside resource, there is an opportunity to take a step back and outline the overall strategy that should be employed. 6. Time Is Saved: How many hours does it take law firm staff to negotiate service contracts or figure out the best strategy for a project implementation? 100 … 200 … 500 hours? Bringing in experts to focus on these tasks frees up staff to focus on their already considerable workload. Peer to Peer 77