In February, Toby and I are going to participate in a Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section (PLL-SIS) of AALL discussing how law librarians’ skill sets can be used to support strategic Knowledge Management. Of course, Toby will be doing all the heavy lifting, and I’ll be sitting back asking him some off-the-wall questions.

The series of webinars that PLL-SIS has set up, will lead to PLL Change as Action Summit at the AALL Annual Conference on July 23, 2011 (in Philadelphia). If you’re a private law librarian, it will be worthwhile to attend the PLL Summit (and bring along your boss, Library Partner or Administrative Leader.) You’ll enjoy it, and they’ll thank you for enlightening them on the topic of how the private law librarians are adapting to the infamous “new normal” we’re all dealing with.

Here’s the press release on the February 17th Webinar:

“Moving Beyond Library Walls to Support Strategic Knowledge Management”

Join us on February 17 for a webinar that will examine ideas to support strategic knowledge management in your library and law firm.
The current economic downturn is challenging law firms in unprecedented ways.  Knowledge management is being implemented at firms to provide a competitive advantage.  Join knowledge management experts Julie Bozzell and Toby Brown to learn —

  • how knowledge management is being applied to support the practice and business of law, and 
  • the role law librarians can play to move beyond the reference desk to support strategic knowledge management by applying their expertise to support a new, leaner and more strategic model of law firm practice. 

This webinar is the second in a series of five programs moderated by PLL members to provide a primer in law firm management from the viewpoint of firm managers and administrators.  It is part of a two-year program undertaken by the Private Law Libraries Special Interest Section (PLL-SIS) of AALL to identify significant changes taking place in the legal world, to understand how these changes provide opportunities for assuming leadership roles, and to develop concrete plans for librarians to become leaders within their organizations.  The culmination of these efforts, the PLL Change as Action Summit, will take place in Philadelphia on Saturday, July 23, 2011.
To register, please visit this link:  http://www.regonline.com/moving_beyond

I was thinking about this very question today.

Why couldn’t a law firm offer a Groupon for their services? Why not indeed?

It is not so disimilar from offering alternative fees.

I had recently read about a women-owned firm who were offering flat-fee services for divorces, custody battles and the like.

Why not a Groupon?

I can see it now: 50% off Legal Services: $100 for $200 worth of Family Law Services.

I challenge someone to do this and report on the results.

What’s the worst thing that could happen?

I’ve been holding out on the 3D televisions and movies craze for the simple reason that I thought it just looks dorky putting on those bulky glasses. That is, until I saw what one visual artist did to see 3D without the glasses. Take a look at this “eye-blinking” video of François Vogel and his 120 hertz refreshing eyelids. As Toby told me after watching this “eye can see the lawsuits that will follow.”

I guess those glasses aren’t the dorkiest thing you can do to watch 3D movies…

The Lamb has been skewered by law librarians in the legal webosphere.

When reading the posts and comments of Patrick Lamb’s recent blog, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the hierarchical structure of law firms–or of any professional services environment.

Lawyers (and partners at other professional services industries) fail to appreciate or understand the measures, lengths and methods that their legal professionals employ to execute the business of a law firm. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule, but they are not the norm.

Because of this, it results in, dare I say, a discriminatory attitude towards legal professionals.

And these lawyers’ prejudice manifests itself in a number of ways:

  1. failing to seek staff input on best business management practices,
  2. failing to acknowledge staff’s expertise in areas of legal research, knowledge management, IT and marketing,
  3. failing to recognize the influence staff have inside and outside of the firm,
  4. not leveraging staff relationships, expertise and methodology to secure new business,
  5. not rewarding staff for securing business, and
  6. not empowering staff to challenge the status quo to help the law firm grow.

I’ve worked at a number of large law firms but always as a support person. And this occurred after I got my law degree.Why? Because I like the business of law firm management. I recognized that there was a huge opportunity for someone who has a law degree and strong business administrative skills.But what I have witnessed time and time again at my previous firms was how rarely lawyers included legal professionals in their business decisions. Many lawyers failed to recognize that their staff are, at times, far more educated than they–heck, law librarians not only have to have JDs but also Master Degrees in Library Science.Some of my best colleagues have MBAs, leadership training and PhDs.So in this week of celebrating Martin Luther King and his call for equality, I ask lawyers everywhere to take off their blinders and take a look at the people working with you every day.Who knows–that helpdesk guy who just fixed your computer may very well have a daughter who is a GC at a Fortun 500 company.It’s happened to me before. Really.

Ok. The last time the Legal Directories Publishing Co. sent me a fax just a few months ago, I threatened to blog about it but didn’t do it.
Unbelievably, they did it again.
Hello! It is 2011, people.
Let’s see a show of hands–how many of you have a fax machine?
Exactly.
The only thing I can think is that their target audience is over the age of 60.

Many of us have already seen a few projections of what will happen in the legal industry this year. Most of those predictions are “yawners” (such as Richard Susskind’s prediction of firms adopting more social media, adopting cloud-based apps, and using tablets… which Toby labeled as Susskind “jumping the shark” on his predictions.) So, we thought we’d twist this annual tradition and seek out predictions for 2011 that you may not have thought about. Here are a few “under the radar” predictions for 2011 from a number of different perspectives.

As is another tradition… scroll down to the end of this post to see how you can contribute to next week’s Elephant Post question. It’s super easy to do, and we love having participants sharing their perspective on a question and seeing how it blends in with other perspectives.

Records Management Perspective
Someone’s gonna get busted…
Greg Lambert

There’s a perfect storm brewing in the area of Records Management (RM) within the legal industry. Although the Enron debacle raised the profile of RM in the first decade of the century, it seems that old habits of law firm management are creeping back into the fray, and are going to end up biting someone in the rear this year. Here are the factors that many firms face:

  1. No one really wants to implement a true RM policy.
  2. Even if a RM policy exists, there is little incentive for anyone to follow it.
  3. Law firms are reluctant to invest in supporting RM policies.
  4. RM outsourcing companies arrange contracts where it is cheaper to keep something for 20+ years in storage than it is to destroy or bring back those materials.
  5. IT infrastructure (storage) is so cheap that not following a RM policy has minimal effect on the overall performance of the infrastructure.
  6. There is no desire on the part of the attorneys to follow up on RM policies because it is a non-billable process.
  7. For an industry that is built upon the principles of being “risk adverse,” when it comes to RM policies, it seems that no one is willing to really move upon them until someone else gets sanctioned.

So my “other” prediction for 2011 is that someone at a major law firm gets sanctioned this year for maintaining client records beyond the recognized legal time period, and those documents end up costing a client a major court case. Everyone knows it is going to happen eventually… I’m just projecting that it will happen this year.
AFA Perspective
TR Opens the LPO Barn Door … Wide
Toby Brown

The Thomson Reuters’ (TR) purchase of Pangea3 has kicked the LPO barn door wide-open.  This is much more than a prediction of more out-sourcing of legal services.  Instead, I am predicting clients start diverting their relationships away from law firms to LPO providers.  There has been this stand-off on whether it would be clients or law firms that embrace LPOs first, each one waiting to see who would trust the model first.  With TR’s purchase, the wait is over. A recent conversation with an industry consultant confirmed that client inquiries about Pangea3 and LPOS has jumped considerably since the acquisition.

This “other” prediction means that law firm relationships with clients will continue to weaken as “New Normal” providers move in and displace them.
Knowledge Management Perspective
It’s Not Just for Recreational Use Anymore: Legalizing Project Management
Ayelette Robinson

The concept of LPM (Legal Project Management) is hardly a new one, and the prediction that more firms will pay attention to it in 2011 is hardly a bold one. My prediction, however, is slightly different: I predict that those trying to sell project management to law firms and law firm management will finally legalize it — that is, they will find a way to weave it into how attorneys practice, rather than focusing on the new and different processes that attorneys need to go through in order to reap its benefits.

For those attorneys who understand what project management is (which in itself is a minority of attorneys overall), project management is seen as recreational, something that might be nice to do and might add value in theory, but whose burden of time and effort to implement far outweighs any potential benefit or WIIFM (what’s in it for me) factor. So I predict that this year, LPM will be legalized. Someone or something will turn the tide across the legal industry so that more firms than not, and more attorneys than not, will not just appreciate the value in theory, but will get that there is a way to incorporate it into the business without undercutting everything they’ve ever learned and practiced. Actual implementation across the industry may take another year (or two, or five…), but I predict that this year perceptions will change. And PM will be legalized.
Legal Technology (Reality TV) Perspective
The Kardashians
Danny Johnson

The three geeks are kind of like the Kardashians, you know? Flawed, no doubt, but, late at night (or in the office), they can be useful. I’m speaking about late-night learning, of course. And about looking past your biases. Like Kim, Toby’s the big name, but you have to forget that he’s “Toby Brown.” He’s no longer working at the Utah bar.

As his bio states, Greg is all over Twitter and wins awards, even if they’re geeky ones at that. Kind of like how Kourtney has come back even more of a star after her pregnancy.

And Lisa is Khloe, the least-known, but after appearances on “Celebrity Apprentice,” a marriage to a Laker and a natural affinity of design, they have the most upside.

Trust me, I know potential when I see it. I just spent almost 200 words comparing three geeks to reality TV/sex tape stars. It didn’t totally work, but it was enough to get us to my prediction.

The global hegemony of legal server document management will come to end as cloud takes over.

“Ummh, what was the question?”
Internet Marketing Perspective
Lisa Salazar

Lawyers will be stumped, stymied and flummoxed by Quora.

The rest of the world will ramp up and get on board to the latest social media craze while lawyers are looking for the dark cloud (rather than the silver lining).

While new start-ups begin to burgeon around Quora and Fortune 500 companies figure out how to leverage it, law firms will take one look and turn their back.

What can  I say?

Can I call ’em, or what?

Next Week’s Elephant Post Question:

What Do You Absolutely Love About Your Profession?

I know as a librarian, I hate it when someone thinks that I went into this profession because I love books. That’s the equivalent to saying that you became an IT professional because you like playing Tetris. There is just so much more going on that is interesting, enjoyable and fulfilling (although, I still like to read books and play Tetris as well.)

This is a super-slow softball of a question. If you can’t think of an answer for this one, then perhaps you should ponder changing career paths. Between such an easy question, and such an easy process to add your perspective, you have no excuses on why you can’t contribute to the next Elephant Post.

Instructions:

See you next week!!

I was flipping through my RSS feeds earlier this week when I came across an article that discussed some of the Historical Google Maps Mashups. It was intriguing to see how something as modern as Google Maps could benefit from images of the past by using historical mashups like HistoryPin. It created a new layer of importance not only for Google Maps, but also brought relevance of an artifact to light in a way that compares the past to the present. As I sat there reading the review, and scanning through some of the images, I got to thinking about another way that mashing up two loosely related pieces of data could make for a new way of looking at each piece. Of course, being a legal researcher, I immediate started wondering if it would be possible to combine case law references to specific locations and Google Maps. Could we create a ‘legal history pin’?

As with the historical pictures, imagine being able to link out from a case you are researching directly to a map showing that location, and the surrounding area. Or, imagine doing this in reverse… looking at a map and seeing links to cases that discuss the location. I’m not sure if there is a significant legal usage for such a linking of two pieces of distinct information, but it sure sounds like it would be fun trying.

I brought this idea up with Ed Walters of Fastcase and we had an interesting discussion (or as Ed called it, “a geeky discussion”) of this type of Legal “Goggles” version of location, cases and history. How cool would it be to see references to case law as you are walking along the avenue? Ed specifically mentioned a Washington DC building with a significant legal history, so I thought I’d just randomly pick a location and see how a mashup might work.

Let’s say you’re looking at a map of N. Western Ave. in Chicago, or even better, let’s say you’ve pulled up your Google Maps app on your mobile device while walking along the 300 block of N. Western Ave. You see a building that’s boarded up, but when you mash it up with legal history, you can see some of the history that lives in that building. A pin would show up on the map and you now see that it was the old Jewel Paint and Varnish Company, and you get a link to read about the case involving this building.

It’s probably a stretch to show how this would have any significant legal usage, but who says that cases should be limited to the courthouse? Just as the pictures of a bygone era help bring old data and new data together, so could the ability to link physical locations to the legal information available about that location. As an architect, historian or genealogist, it would seem that adding legal details to a location might connect them with pieces of information they may not have otherwise uncovered. Such as the obituary of the owner of Jewel Paint and Varnish Company in 1997.

At a minimum, it would be cool to be able to stand in a location and pull up legal references related to that spot. Who knows… perhaps viewing this type of information in a whole new way might bring out new legal arguments on present legal matters.

I’ve been playing with the free iPad App called Curator HD over the past couple of weeks, and have really enjoyed using it as my Google Reader interface for the iPad. I’ve used the generic Google Reader iPad web page in the past, or even used apps like Flipboard to look at my feeds (via some fancy Twitter forwarding), but the Curator HD app is so much better for viewing the feeds, and sharing items with others. The sharing covers the usual suspects (Twitter, Facebook, email, etc), but the sharing via a Newsletter option is something that I think is a great feature of this app.

The Newsletter option allows you to build newsletters, on the fly, and distribute that newsletter to others via email. In addition to forwarding the newsletter, Curator HD allows you to add comments, add your personal branding image to the header logo of the newsletter, plus add images to the individual stories within the newsletter. Here’s a video that covers many of the features that are available simply through the free app and your Google Reader feed.

The company behind Curator HD is Infongen. Infongen produces a high-end news feed and search service that is marketed to businesses, and more recently they have entered the law firm market as a competitive intelligence / business development resource. If your company or firm subscribes to Infongen, then you can also add in all those wonderful searches or feeds set up in Infongen. However, even without the professional Infongen tool, the Curator HD app is definitely worth a look if you want an easy way to view your Google Reader feeds on the iPad, and like to share what you read with others.

I just read a nifty little post by Amanda Neville, founder of Thinkso Marketing Agency, called “Quiz: Is It Time to Update Your Website?”.

I don’t know about you, but I love online quizzes. Maybe because they are a) short, or b) they make me feel smart, or c) I’m just a geek. (I think that the right answer is “c”, but I’m not sure. Maybe I should add “d) all of the above”?).

Anyways, I digress.

So here is my Law Firm version:

  • Is posting an item to your web site call for an act from Congress?: Do you have a web content management system or are you relying on your web developer to hand-code your news for you? If you don’t understand a word I just wrote in that last sentence, the answer is probably Yes.
  • Can people register online for your events and/or downloads? Or are your web site visitors having to hand copy an e-mail address and open a new window to send, then you have a problem and the answer is Yes.
  • Once people are registered for your events, does your secretary have then generate a word document of the attendees? Shame on you. At the least, she should be putting them in an Excel spreadsheet. You are Signori Negatori.
  • Is the first piece of navigation on your web site point to the Law Firm’s About Us page? Add five points to your total score. The site visitor does not want to read your 100-year history; he probably just wants your tax attorney’s phone number–after all, it is tax season. You are going down, buster.
  • Does your site have a flash introduction page? You need to pull it down now. It bugs everyone and no one is watching it anymore. Besides that, iPads can’t read it. Add another tic mark next to Yes.
  • Is your web site home page made up of one big fat image? This is the reason that your site isn’t making it on any search results. For the sake of search engine optimization, get rid of the bulky images. Another big, fat Yes.

If you answer Yes to more than 2 questions, you really do need to update your law firm web site.

As a corollary to the profitability series, this post tackles the need for KM to be tied to profitability in a law firm. Otherwise it becomes KM for the sake of KM. Ron Friedmann’s recent post on KM Reincarnated combined with some recent evaluations of Legal Project Management (LPM) software got me thinking about this idea. It took me back to the introduction of CRM software to law firms. As firms embraced marketing, CRM software was pitched as an answer to the challenge of growing the business. Demos showed how lawyers could easily see “who knows whom” when pitching new work and making new relationships. This would tell them all of the connections they already have with a new contact, including schools attended and common acquaintances. The expected result would be more business in the door. Thus a supposed connection to profitability. The problem CRM systems faced in practice was the dependence on three critical things: 1) The right data was capture, 2) The data was of sufficient quality, and most importantly, 3) That lawyers would change their behavior to suit the system, both in sharing this data and then utilizing it for business development. CRM has generally failed in this promise. The data for most firms’ CRM systems is very incomplete and typically not current. As well, lawyers don’t look to the CRM system for business development opportunities. Instead, these systems are used as marketing databases. They have value, but not the value initially assumed by firms. I think LPM and related KM systems are in danger of falling into the same trap. Legal KM appears to be desperate to find meaning in a fast changing environment and as a consequence may be hooking its wagon up to LPM (and AFAs). So when LPM software is pitched as a way for firms to differentiate, get and retain clients and be more profitable, it’s time to put on your reality glasses and ask if the same or similar three CRM questions apply. To illustrate this point, many LPM systems are seen as a way to improve profit margins via efficiencies gained. In prior posts I have discussed how LPM will only be as successful as the plans it uses. But where will these plans come from? Past billings do not have the type and quality of data necessary to generate reasonable plans (i.e. good L codes), which fails CRM questions #1 and #2. So instead, LPM will be dependent on lawyers taking the time to develop detailed plans for each of their matters. These plans will take significant non-billable time to develop and will require partner level experience to build (CRM #3). And what is the reward for the partners that do this? The presumption is it will bring more business in the door by differentiating your firm. But I would suggest software doesn’t get business – partners do. Just as our expectations that an actual business development system would bring in business were misguided, so are expectations that project management software will somehow do the same. LPM systems may well have value, but it’s not getting more business and they won’t impact profitability unless they solve the same three challenges CRM faced. So when you look at these and other next generation KM systems, make sure you are using them to solve the right problems. Otherwise you will be back to buying a marketing database, expecting it to be a CRM system.