Reinventing Professionals

I spoke with Vincent Bell, the former Director of Administration for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s New York office, who recently founded the Upstream Consulting Group to provide financial and operational support for law firms nationwide. We discussed the genesis and mission of Upstream Consulting, how the legal field has changed over the past three decades, and the evolving role of legal administrators, among other topics. Bell offers ideas for optimizing billing and collection, strategies for implementing operational modifications, and key advice for managing partners.

I spoke with Jordan Furlong, an Ottawa-based lawyer, writer, and legal industry analyst, who is a partner with Edge International Consulting. Jordan is also the author of Evolutionary Road: A Strategic Guide to Your Law Firm’s Future, an e-book published by Attorney at Work. We discussed his background and the focus of his work at Edge, as well as what inspired him to write Evolutionary Road. He shared his thoughts on the distinction between sustaining innovation vs. disruptive technology, and the impact of each on the legal market. “Disruptive technology will open new doors for us,” he predicts. Furlong cautions that “This is not a period of incremental adjustment; it is a period of significant change.” He suggests that law firm leaders engage in two exercises to help their management teams consider key steps to take to accelerate their progress: Imagine that you are starting a law firm from scratch – how would you design it knowing that you have none of the constraints of the traditional paradigm? If your largest competitor or rival hired you away from your firm with the mission of destroying your former employer, what steps would you take? He concludes that “Firms must recognize that the way in which they have done business in the past is not the way they will do business n the future.”

I spoke with Warren Kruse, the vice president of data forensics for Altep, a nationwide provider of electronic discovery consulting and services. We discussed what lessons legal professionals and learn during the remainder of 2012, including those associated with internal investigations and regulatory inquiries, as well as key long-term changes on the horizon. Ultimately, Kruse echoed the boy scout motto: “Be Prepared,” with respect to migration to the cloud and proactively addressing legal technology shifts as they arise.

I spoke with James Mendelssohn, the Chairman of MSI Global Alliance, a worldwide association of mid-sized independent law and accounting firms and the founder of Firm Management Associates, a U.K.-based consultancy focusing on the professional services sector. We discussed the release of his new book Life After Boris (SRA Books, 2013), which he describes as “an enchanting, quick-to-read fable about succession issues in a rabbit warren following the death of the leader.” Mendelssohn explained why succession planning is such a key issue in professional firms and why so many firms fail to address it. He also offered some best practices for firms of all sizes, including: (1) strip out the pride and emotion from the succession planning process; (2) start planning early since you cannot successfully navigate it under time pressure; (3) create a five-year plan; (4) incorporate a broad range of feedback; and, (5) engage a third party to help navigate the details.

I spoke with Mike Maslanka, an employment law partner and head of the Dallas office for Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP, who recently published a great article in the Texas Lawyer called: Seven Mindsets of Effective General Counsel. In it, he highlights that “How lawyers think determines how we act. So, to be truly effective, the wise general counsel does not seek answers but rather seeks useful mindsets.” Those mindsets include: (1) All news is good news (“Because then you know where you stand.”); (2) Pick the hill you want to die on (“Make a stand where it matters, not on a useless cul-de-sac.”); (3) ABR: Always be re-framing (“Lawyers can’t change the facts, but we can change the story.”); (4) Fight the fight, not the plan. (“Never get stuck on the original plan, and always deal with what is occurring now, in real time.”); (5) A GC is not a conscience for hire (“A general counsel is not a mouthpiece but a voice of reason.”); (6) Generate options, lots of them (“General counsel can’t direct C-level executives to take actions. They only can guide them by producing options; and, (7) Ask: “Am I adding value?” (“Adding value is not a ‘No, you can’t do XYZ.’ It’s not even a ‘Yes, but’ mindset. It’s one of ‘Yes, and.'”) Ultimately, Maslanka, the creator of the Mike Maslanka @ Your Desk YouTube video series for the Texas Bar (which you can watch here), concludes: “Mindsets progress from aspiration to belief to action. Develop yours, and enjoy the journey.”

I spoke with Tim Corcoran, the principal of Corcoran Consulting Group, which is focused on helping law firms, law departments and legal service providers profit in a time of great change. He is the author of Corcoran’s Law Biz blog and is the president-elect of the international board of directors of the Legal Marketing Association. As chairman of the 2013 InnovAction Awards, which recognize the innovative efforts of members of the legal community through the College of Law Practice Management, we discussed the background of the accolade and criteria for selection, among other topics. Corcoran noted that “the definition of innovation is changing,” and as a result, he expects to see a variety of entries this year. He highlighted certain changes to this year’s evaluation process, cited the qualities of past winners, and offered helpful advice for prospective nominees.

I spoke with Garth Landers, the Director of Product Marketing at EMC, a global information management provider, who is responsible for the company’s pervasive governance portfolio. We discussed the evolution of information governance, its trajectory, and key trends that are impacting that direction. He noted that organizations are increasingly focused on litigation readiness, realizing a measurable return on their e-discovery investments, and drafting practical data policies. The key challenges are aligning the various custodians of the organization’s most important information and bridging the disconnect between legal and IT. He highlighted that many companies lack the ecosystem for optimal information governance because ownership and accountability are often muddled.

I spoke with Michael do Rozario and Brian Borskjaer, Special Counsel and Director of the firm’s Legal Technology Solutions team, respectively, at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, a prominent Australian law firm with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. We discussed Casefolio, the firm’s new award-winning document review app, its development, and the user experience, among many other topics. When it received the Lawtech Award For Innovation in Legal IT at the 7th Annual Chilli IQ Lawtech Summit & Awards in 2012, one judge noted: “This iPad app is simply clever, innovative and delivers a truly ingenious and effective solution to the vexed litigation practitioner.” Casefolio is available for free trial download in the US, UK, Canadian, and Australian iTunes stores. Corrshas also developed a converter that allows documents and metadata to be exported and imported from a range of litigation support databases, including Ringtail, Relativity, and Summation.

I spoke with Dr. Jim Hassett, the founder of LegalBizDev, which helps law firms increase client satisfaction and profitability by improving project management and business development. Dr. Hassett is the author of 11 books, including his most recent: Legal Project Management, Pricing, and Alternative Fee Arrangements(Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2013). He highlighted that large and mid-sized law firms are dealing with three key pricing concerns: How to price high enough to make an acceptable profit, but low enough to get the work [aka Suicide Pricing]. When are alternative fees the best arrangement for the client and the firm? How to manage the profit once the work commences. Dr. Hassett suggested that although robust legal project management is helping professionals address these concerns, few firms are making meaningful progress. “There is a gap between what people are saying for PR and what is really going on,” he advises, predicting a drop in overall pricing, a rise in alternative fees, and improved project management. His advice for lawyers interested in gaining a competitive advantage in a changing marketplace: Don’t over-analyze; just do it. Take chances and be more like an entrepreneur.