Image [cc] lowjumpingfrog

#1 and I were chatting (not quite at 3 Beers) and he made a statement that really made me think.

Damn him.

We were talking about whether lawyers will embrace internal messaging apps or any other type of social media apps as KM or just communications tools. I commented that IT clings to some false hope that the next application they install will be a killer, one that gets used by everyone just because it’s there – just like email was. It’s my opinion that email has been the only true killer application for lawyers. It was the only one lawyers embraced simply because it was there. Since then firms hold out hope that the next application they install will be so useful and cool that their lawyers will jump on it.

This never happens.

We were talking about why that is the case, when Greg said, “I think they embraced email since it allowed them to avoid using their phones.”

Oh sweet epiphany.

We all know lawyers prefer to avoid change. But the epiphany tells us they are even more willing to avoid talking to clients (or maybe anyone else). One of my Golden Rules: Lawyers will doing anything to avoid talking to clients about fees. Likely this ‘avoidance rule’ extends well beyond that of fees and in to client conversations in general.

The lesson here is that those in search of the next Killer App for legal should build tools that focus on delivering a level of ‘Client Conversation Avoidance’ above useful features.

Commence with development.