Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/9825
BLOGS AND WIKIS ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY E-MAIL Internal or intranet blogs are a great way to push out relevant knowledge, tackle important issues or share opinions with the firm without having to rely on e-mail. The law firm Reed Smith has done an excellent job posting blog entries through SharePoint. The managing partners at Reed Smith use SharePoint to update a weekly internal blog post that is shared with other partners at the firm. Now the firm has blogs for almost everyone on the senior management team, many practice group leaders, several office managing partners and leaders of various firm initiatives. Using SharePoint to share blog posts eliminates the need to e-mail entries to the firm’s 1,600 lawyers. Wikis are another valuable tool firms can incorporate as part of their overall intranet and knowledge management strategies to promote sharing and reuse of information. Basically, a wiki is a collection of editable Web pages with features that make it possible for multiple authors to contribute. Goodwin Procter LLP is an example of a law firm that has successfully used wikis to support its knowledge management needs. Goodwin currently has more than 65 wikis within its SharePoint 2007 intranet, and these are used by practice teams, administrative departments and the knowledge management professionals. The firm began experimenting with wikis in 2008 in a variety of knowledge management projects. After realizing the potential for wiki usage in the firm, Goodwin started using SharePoint’s wiki tools internally embedded within its intranet and encouraged adoption among a broader audience. David Hobbie, litigation knowledge manager at Goodwin Procter, comments: “We’ve seen successful use of wikis for both administrative and client/matter teams. One of the client/matter wikis has been consistently in use for a year and has more than 200 pages, with 25 of them having more than 20 edits from attorneys and paralegals. It has become a reference not just for where certain resources are, like deposition transcripts or acronyms, but also who is responsible for various areas of factual investigation.” Today, wikis continue to increase in popularity as the firm discovers new ways to leverage them. OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND Beginning with My Site, updating profiles and activities, and incorporating easy-to-use tools such as blogs and wikis, law firms can improve information sharing among teams, and they can operate intelligently as one firm regardless of size. This should be viewed as an important step not only to improve internal efficiencies, but also to improve client service and the potential for new business opportunities. ILTA www.iltanet.org Microsoft 41