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A-2: Delivering Documents to Mumbai (Part II)

A-2: Delivering Documents to Mumbai (Part II). AALL Annual Meeting July 11, 2004 By Steve Anderson. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II). In this section, we’ll finish looking at KM initiatives currently in place at law firms by examining:. 1. Document Management Systems in general, and.

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A-2: Delivering Documents to Mumbai (Part II)

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  1. A-2: Delivering Documents to Mumbai (Part II) AALL Annual Meeting July 11, 2004 By Steve Anderson

  2. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II) • In this section, we’ll finish looking at KM initiatives currently in place at law firms by examining: • 1. Document Management Systems in general, and • 2. Brief Banks and Memo Files

  3. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 1. DM Systems • Document Management Systems (DMS) In General • Often considered by law firms to be a (“the”?) key ingredient in the KM mix • Vendors include Interwoven (iManage); Hummingbird (PCDocs); Worldox; Microsoft SharePoint • DM Systems CAN be effective KM tools if the knowledge is IN the docs and can be accessed by users

  4. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 1. DM Systems • DMS have several ADVANTAGES • All docs SHOULD be in one place • Docs CAN be searchable • Docs CAN be “cataloged” by field: • Folder (Client/Matter) • Document type • Author • Easy to find “related” docs • Works in word processing app AND in web

  5. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 1. DM Systems • So, what’s not to like? How do you FIND the “knowledge?” • 1. “Authority” issues • What is the “final” version? • What is a “quality” document? • Who is the author? • 1. SOLUTION: vetting, recommending or approving in order to make a “published” copy

  6. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 1. DM Systems • 2. “Searching” issues • Can a DMS search like Westlaw or Lexis? • Can a DMS search like Google? • Can IT department maintain current index? • 2. SOLUTIONS: train on searching techniques; use field restrictions effectively; make sure IT makes indexing a priority

  7. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 1. DM Systems • 3. “Cataloging” issues • There’s usually no taxonomy/ controlled vocabulary (such as Key Numbers) • Are there “too many” document types? • What about the lunch meeting memo announcing a CLE program--try cataloging THAT? • 3. SOLUTIONS: add taxonomy/ controlled vocabulary ($); improve doc types

  8. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 1. DM Systems • DMS recap: • “Detailed catalog of a junkyard” • Matthew Parsons, Law Technology News • Contains both valuable and irrelevant information • “Publication” (authority), searching & categorization are problematic in DM systems

  9. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 2. Brief Banks • Narrowing the scope of knowledge: Brief Banks and Memo Files • What they are: independent systems for finding fully vetted “precedent” • Solves some DMS issues, but raises other problems

  10. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 2. Brief Banks • ADVANTAGES of Brief Banks • Attorneys know where the “good” documents are • Easier to apply taxonomies/controlled vocabularies because scale is smaller • Searching also may be easier because scale is smaller

  11. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 2. Brief Banks • So, what’s not to like? How do you FIND the “knowledge?” • 1. Brief Banks miss many docs • Letters (i.e. “other” doc types) • Docs in progress • Related docs • 1. SOLUTION: don’t make Brief Banks the ONLY source of info; include “other” doc types

  12. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 2. Brief Banks • 2. How do you “feed” the system? • Voluntary contribution? • Incentives? • 2. SOLUTIONS: Invest in a routinized vetting process handled by KM manager; reward contributors

  13. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 2. Brief Banks • 3. How do you overcome a Brief Bank’s implicit limitation of NOT having access to other firm-based “knowledge?” • Related docs • Billing info one click away • 3. SOLUTIONS: Don’t make the Brief Bank the ONLY place for “knowledge”

  14. KM Initiatives in Law Firms (Part II): 2. Brief Banks • Brief Bank recap: • Helpful because search is narrowed to “best” documents • Problematic because contributions and document types may vary widely • Some knowledge may be missed • Probably should not be the entire KM initiative

  15. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • In this section, we’ll examine several KM-related problems: • “Tacit knowledge” • Culture issues • Incentives • Project Priorities • Cost • Remember: The devil’s in the details!

  16. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 1. “Tacit Knowledge” • How is “hidden” knowledge transmitted to other attorneys? • Writing has limits • SOLUTIONS: personal communications, mentoring (upwards & downwards), storytelling, CLE programs

  17. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 2. How do you create a general pro-KM environment? Do you need a culture shift? • Attorneys like to re-create documents (billable hour) • Attorneys view documents as their own, rather than as shared assets • Law firms are sometimes managed as “law firms,” rather than as rational, market-driven businesses

  18. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 2. How do you create a general pro-KM environment? • SOLUTION #1: Other information sharing demonstrates that KM is both easy and a core value (use newsletters, department meetings & CLE’s, collaborative discussion boards, MS Outlook “Tasks”); tread slowly when changing culture

  19. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 2. How do you create a general pro-KM environment? • SOLUTION #2: Make attorneys understand that billing for re-created work is not always a competitive advantage--as other firms begin re-using more work product they will have a competitive advantage

  20. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 2. How do you create a general pro-KM environment? • SOLUTION #3: Take lessons from “Information Ecology”(Nardi & O’Day)--distribute key knowledge advocates by department; find allies who share passion for promoting information--paralegals, legal secretaries, “techie” attorneys

  21. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 3. How do law firms “incentivize” attorneys to contribute to KM endeavors? • Why don’t attorneys contribute to systems even when they might have enough time to do so?

  22. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 3. How do law firms “incentivize” attorneys to contribute to KM endeavors? • SOLUTION #1: Use the “Lockdown” approach (commandment from the top down) • SOLUTION # 2: Use the “Pessimistic” approach (knowledge manager culls, vets and categorizes all; attorneys do nothing)

  23. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 3. How do law firms “incentivize” attorneys to contribute to KM endeavors? • SOLUTION #3: “Organic” approach (let the departmental information advocates formalize an advisory committee structure) • SOLUTION #4: Combine elements of all three

  24. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 4. How do you prioritize KM initiatives? • Do you focus on research documents or “enterprise-wide” issues? • Do you stick with current search tools, explore “intelligent” search engines (such as Recommind), or wait for better taxonomy tools? • How much do you train?

  25. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 4. How do you prioritize KM initiatives? • SOLUTION #1: Listen to what attorneys (and clients) want to do • SOLUTION #2: Use a “change management” approach--the ONLY certainty is that software, hardware and business processes will change quickly over time; plan for the near term, but with long-term principles

  26. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 5. How do you pay for KM? • Most KM software tends to be fairly expensive • KM initiatives require non- billable attorney time • Law firms need to hire KM support staff (knowledge managers, practice support lawyers (PSL’s) and IT professional)

  27. General Law Firm Knowledge Management Issues • 5. How do you pay for KM? • SOLUTION #1: Approach KM incrementally and subtly with cost-effective, “easy” successes • SOLUTION #2: Purchase tools and hire staff because of business needs (competitive advantage, client demands), NOT because vendor will tell you the ROI is incredible (too many hidden costs?)

  28. CONCLUSION • I. There is no “killer app”--current processes and software are partial solutions at best • II. View software and processes as TOOLS used to access “knowledge”--some tools are better than others (especially because law firms differ) • III. Software isn’t the only tool--look at firm culture and establish subtle information sharing

  29. CONCLUSION • IV. Be prepared to make a significant investment in “physical” tools AND in YOUR TIME as a knowledge manager • V. Remember that even partial solutions are better than no solutions at all • VI. Enjoy Boston!

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