Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/7694
www.iltanet.org The Business of Law 33 lean six sigMa: Mastering the art of service delivery high quality work for the firm. Likewise, a Corporate Counsel article from December 2009 reported that United Technologies had engaged Seyfarth Shaw to handle almost all of the company's single-plaintiff employment litigation after the firm introduced associate general counsel Chester Paul Beach to the SeyfarthLean methodology. As assigning work on the basis of efficiency becomes more commonplace, law firms will need to discover more accurate means of bidding for work to remain competitive. Over the last decade, the number of law firms deploying Lean Six Sigma has also grown, although few firms are talking about their projects. An early case study from Morgan Lewis demonstrated how the application of Six Sigma reduced the cost of mortgage loan services by 25 percent. Prior to its acquisition by Bryan Cave, iSixSigma Magazine reported that Powell Goldstein utilized Six Sigma first internally to improve processes like associate retention and recruitment, and then externally as its client relationship management program evolved with its Six Sigma clients. A recent "Legal Project Management" blog post by Paul Easton also discussed how Morris James has begun to apply Six Sigma to its e-discovery process. Finally, in a number of recent interviews, Seyfarth reported that it has completed over 30 internal projects, from supply purchasing to financial management to reducing the time-to-close conflicts from two weeks to 24 hours. In addition, some of their more recent projects have included M&A transactions, trademark prosecution, non-compete litigation, real estate leasing, e-discovery, and collective actions. Seyfarth claims that its approach works across all areas of law and that it can consistently reduce the cost of legal services by 15 to 50 percent. gaining The uPPer hanD Law firms serious about understanding their costs of production and finding alternatives to their value proposition should investigate how Lean Six Sigma can help them gain a competitive advantage in an industry defined by the billable hour. As more law departments pursue the management of value through a greater use of Six Sigma and technology, it will become more difficult for firms to maintain the presumptions that process improvement doesn't apply and that the expectation of cost savings is fleeting. However, executive leadership should complete the proper due diligence and weigh the cost of investment over the long term before jumping into a large scale process improvement initiative. Many firms will undoubtedly "walk before they run" by implementing Lean Six Sigma on a project basis to streamline their internal operations before approaching clients directly. While each organization's leadership ultimately overcomes resistance to new initiatives in its own way, there is now ample evidence to suggest that law firms can deploy Lean Six Sigma strategies effectively to reduce costs and engage clients in a dialogue about value and growth. iLTa