Digital White Papers

33 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Advancing KM in a Security-Conscious World across the firm, with synchronous and asynchronous discussions and searchable archives. If your firm has neither solved the problem of pardon-the- interruption email messages nor discovered a way to capture and save these exchanges, these could be prime use cases to tackle with collaboration tools. Think about how you might integrate collaboration tools into aorneys' workflows with tools they already use to minimize the required change in behavior. Start with motivated practice areas or client teams. Once you find collaboration and social tools that meet their needs, market their success story to other groups. A great benefit is these tools are community-driven: if one team adopts them, the tools generate their own content and connections with lile need for KM management. Process Mapping and Checklists: The process involved in handling a case or transaction is as important to KM as the documents generated during that process. Try a process-mapping exercise with one or more practice groups related to a particular type of case or transaction they handle. Use this information to identify the highest- value precedents worth the effort of sanitizing and maintaining. Then develop checklists that incorporate best practices and traps for the unwary to guide aorneys through the steps needed to complete that case or transaction. Legal project managers can also use checklists to enhance predictability in various phases of maers. If your aorneys routinely use checklists, updating them need not be onerous. If checklists become part of a legal project management process, continuous improvement of the process and checklists becomes part of the aer- action review. Artificial Intelligence: Everyone loves to speculate whether artificial intelligence (AI), like IBM's Watson, will ever replace aorneys. Although AI might never replace humans, it can enhance KM programs by streamlining the comparison and analysis of document sets. AI should not eliminate aorney judgment in reviewing contracts, but it can identify provisions that are outliers as compared with a sample set of firm-favored documents or industry standards. AI is also increasingly used for data mining and analysis; legal research vendors are making significant strides in this regard. KM professionals can play a key role in determining how their firms use AI –– from the types of analysis best suited for their firm to identifying sample sets and use cases. To help aorneys get the most out of AI, KM professionals should work with them to understand how AI tools might enhance their practice and what these tools will not do well. As AI technologies develop, keep current with your peers and vendors to learn about new applications for KM. A Done Deal The writing is on the wall. Even if your firm faces no current pressure to move to a closed DMS, planning your response or strategy is prudent. Start the conversation with your general counsel, risk management and information security teams early so your firm will be well-positioned to balance security and KM when the time comes. KM professionals will have no shortage of projects to focus on, even in the absence of a DMS as the main source for KM content to connect people, teams and information to enhance aorney productivity. As you work through the challenges of this change, be sure to share your lessons learned with your ILTA peers. ILTA GWYN MCALPINE Gwyn McAlpine oversees knowledge management and library functions at Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based firm with approximately 1,000 attorneys in 19 offices. Perkins Coie has been named to Fortune magazine's Best Places to Work for 13 consecutive years. Gwyn is based in the Portland office and previously practiced law as a transactional attorney. She is a member of ILTA's Information Management Content Coordinating Team. Contact Gwyn at gmcalpine@perkinscoie.com.

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