♫ The spheres’re in commotion
The elements in harmony
She blinded me with science
“She blinded me with science!”
And hit me with technology…♫

Lyrics and Music by Thomas Dolby and Jonathan Kerr, recorded by Thomas Dolby.

This is a guest post by my friend and colleague, Christy Burke, written today for the blog Legal IT Professionals.  With her permission I have reproduced it here.

Web-Based Dispute Resolution Systems Gain Traction as Court Delays and Low Value Disputes Surge

Courtroom showdowns make for great movie scenes, but To Kill a Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch would be shocked to hear that the courts are only resolving a fraction of today’s legal disputes. A growing number of cases are being resolved by online tools, and sometimes lawyers and judges are not even involved. Impartial web-based systems apply computation, algorithms and cryptographic technology to bring about resolution quickly and inexpensively.

A growing stable of private sector companies are beginning to compete with the judicial system for “customers” and are also changing the face of traditional Alternate Dispute Resolution or ADR, which has typically included mediation, arbitration and other alternatives to the courts.

Not only are approaches to justice and negotiation changing, but some of these new systems like those provided by Fair Outcomes, are actually prompting lawyers and their customers to be more honest about the value of a case and their realistic objectives from the outset, providing disincentives to lie, bully and posture. Utopian though it may sound, this is actually becoming a reality. Atticus would be happy to hear that, at least!

A potential paradigm shift is in the making here, but what is motivating parties to look outside traditional courts, mediation and arbitration and flock to the web for resolving their disputes? In short, overburdened courts, lean economic times, cost, and convenience all figure into the mix.

Pared Down Courts Cannot Keep Up

Many courts in the US and abroad are sagging under the weight of overflowing caseloads while budget cuts slash their resources – a double negative. Take California for example. (more…)

♫  Cos when I look at my life
How the pieces fall into place…♫ 

Lyrics and music by Jarl, Stenmarck, Andreas Carlsson, recorded by Westlife.

Gentle readers of this blog are aware of my interest in the intersection of business strategy, finance, leadership and technology within a law firm setting.  One of the emerging areas that lies within the  intersection of these disciplines is knowledge management.  I believe it has particular importance within a large firm setting as there is the tendency for lawyers in larger organizations to become ‘silo-ized’ – not for any other reason other than your ability to interact with people on a 1-1 basis diminishes as the size of an organization grows.  For example, if you work in a larger organization, ask yourself how often you speak to someone who works on another floor in your firm?  If you have multiple offices in multiple cities, the situation is compounded even further.  Since 1-1 interaction is at the heart of person-to-person knowledge sharing and transfer, the sheer size of an organization works against 1-1 knowledge transfer.

So to begin: What are we speaking about when we use the phrase “knowledge management”? (more…)

♫ Oh, put me in, Coach – I’m ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach – I’m ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield…♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by John Fogerty.

This is a guest post from Beth Flynn at the Ohio Leadership Center.  Increasingly today, younger lawyers are looking for mentorship and support from the more experienced members of the bar.  However, not everyone is familiar with how to be a good coach.  Accordingly I thought Beth’s post on the personal attributes and qualities of a winning coach would be a great management topic for lawyers.  So without further ado, here are the 14.5 attributes:

1. You have valuable information that people can use.
2. You combine your experience with the real world.
3. You have a sense of humor.
4. You know the game better than they do.
5. You encourage.
6. You are a great presenter.
7. You have standards and ethics that you follow, not just preach.
8. You are enthusiastic.
9. You have great communication skills.
10. Your players like you.
11. Your players believe in you.
12. You inspire others.
13. You tell the truth all the time.
14. Your players respect you.

14.5 You can play (Gitomer, 2011, p. 108-109).

These tips are from: Gitomer, J (2011), “Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Book of Leadership: The 12.5 Strengths of Responsible, Reliable, Remarkable Leaders that Create Results, Rewards and Resilience”. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons

Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Book of Leadaership is available from the OSU Leadership Center. Click here to borrow this resource or any other resource. Once you are on the OSU website, click on the Spectrum icon.

Learn how the Ohio State University Leadership Center is inspiring others to take a leadership role that empowers the world at: http;//leadershipcenter.osu.edu.  To begin receiving Beth’s Leadership Moments newsletter, please click on Join Our Mailing List.

Thanks Beth for another great leadership post on how all of us can become winning coaches and mentors.

♬ I want a new drug 
One that does what it should…♬ 

Lyrics, music and recorded by Huey Lewis.

On Monday April 2, 2012, Dr. Frank Fowlie, the Internet Ombudsman, Kari Boyle of MediateBC and your humble scribe did a presentation for the University of British Columbia law school.  It was entitled: ODR Around the World and was meant to be an introduction into the emerging field of Online Dispute Resolution and how it is changing the way that people could resolve their disputes using internet technology.

During the presentation, I asked the students to reflect on the inherent structure of the justice system.  Being bright law students, they perceived that it is:

• Synchronous: All parties must attend the court house at the same time.
• Serial:  Each case follows the one before it on the docket in order to be heard or processed by the presiding judge or court official.
• Expensive:  Each bricks and mortar courthouse has to be built and staffed.
• Geographically Tied: All parties must attend the court that is hearing the case.
• Jurisdictionally Tied: For the most part, each case is heard according to the laws of the jurisdiction where it is filed.
• Involves Transactional Costs:  Not only are there hard costs involved in filing the claim or action, the parties involved suffer a loss of opportunity cost – the time that they put into the claim or action represents time that they could have used otherwise.  The longer the resolution time, the greater the transactional costs.
• Involves Delays:  A case takes time to weave its way through the court system. In some cases that delay is relatively short – in other cases it is quite long.  We are seeing headlines today on the increasing delays in the justice system. We all know that justice delayed is justice denied.
• Limited Availability:  It used to be that courts and bankers kept the same hours.  However, today, courtesy of the internet, banks are open 24/7.  Courts, however, are not.
• Involves a Judge:  For the most part, a case must be heard and determined by a judge (yes you can go before Masters and the like but they can’t make final orders). This means that the judge represents a bottleneck in the system.

I then posed a challenge to the students: How can you structure a dispute resolution system that tries to break down one or more of these constraints?  What would that system look like?  Moreover, what would be the advantages to those involved in the dispute that don’t currently exist in the present justice system?  What about disadvantages? (more…)

♫ Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace I’m going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock ‘n rollers…♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by David Bowie.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION: Addressing Challenges and Making Changes Requires a Thoughtful Approach

This is a guest post from our friend Bob Denney on a topic near and dear to my heart: Change Management in the context of lawyers and law firms.  I have to admit that I have a strange fascination with managing change.  Accordingly, here is Bob’s take on addressing change:

Now that the economy continues to recover, forward-thinking law firms are trying to shift from survival tactics to the “New Normal” by addressing, not only the challenges they face, but also the changes they may have to make. However, as discussed in our February and April, 2010 Communiques, the list can be long and there are few precedents for addressing many of the issues.

The issues will vary to some degree for each firm but the first challenge for every firm is to identify those issues it must address and where it should start: Growth? Alternate fee arrangements? Leverage? Firm structure? Management structure? Revise marketing and business development strategies? Client service? Or what? (more…)

♬ I’ve got the magic in me…♬

Lyrics and music by: Rivers Cuomo; Lukasz Gottwald; Bobby Ray Jr Simmons, recorded by B.O.B.

Magical Lawyer

This is a guest post by Pam Woldow  of Edge International on legal project management, posted originally on her blog, At the Intersection:

On the eve of LegalTech, I have been encountering a lot of magical thinking recently when talking with law firm partners about Legal Project Management.  One partner, hoping that the IT and KM folks can simply buy a tech solution so that he could avoid making any real changes to the way he manages matters, engaged in extreme magical thinking when he asked, “isn’t there just some software where I can click one button and it manages everything?”   He just wants to keep doing what he’s always done and have technology somehow make the result different.

Sorry, we live in the real world.

Here’s the bottom line:  Siri can’t analyze what tasks need to be done (or not done) for a client, and iPads don’t independently tailor project plans.  Software sits inert until some lawyer lights it up, infuses legal judgment and knowledge into matters and uses the software to reflect back the enhanced management skills being applied.

If your firm has invested (or is about to invest) in magnificent new software – that elegant integrated dashboard will sit on your computer screen and tie together project scope, phases, tasks, team members, timeframes and the all-important budget-to-actual comparison – but it can’t overcome inefficient or non-existent management of legal matters.  Only the lawyers can do that.  And, that requires extreme practical acceptance that clients today want excellent lawyers who also are accomplished managers that drive efficient work product.

Software tools support efficient lawyering, but it is extreme magical thinking to suppose that some push-button silver bullet can convert inefficient work into efficient work.

One of the most widely read blog post I’ve ever written deals with this very subject: Legal Project Management Tools:  Let Rube Goldberg Rest in Peace.

But, it is worth a reminder that LPM and its technological support tools are about how legal projects are planned and managed.  What is practiced and delivered will always remain up to the lawyer.  The core functions of being a lawyer and exercising professional acumen can’t be delegated to technology, and that won’t be changed by even the most sophisticated tools, templates and software.  As always, those decisions will be up to you.

Thanks Pam for a great article on how magical technology won’t replace the lawyer-manager who leads his or her team into action – you have to have the magic in you!

© 2012, Edge International US, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be copied or reproduced without advance written approval.

♬ we never say no
satisfaction guaranteed
superior quality
we innovate, never imitate
unrivalled, unparalleled
at your service
we aim to please
we never miss a trick…♬

Lyrics, music and recorded by CLIEИT.

This is another great guest post by Bob Denney.  In this post he is focusing on the importance of client service.  Years ago, Milton Zwicker, a good friend and colleague in Ontario wrote about ‘the client-centered law firm’. It is great to see Bob pick up on this idea and run with it. Accordingly, here is Bob’s post:

In today’s extremely competitive legal market, many firms talk about the importance of cross-selling – or cross-marketing if you prefer – their clients. The problem is that you must serve the client before you can cross-market the client. Too many firms fail to realize this. As a result, their cross-marketing efforts often fail. The first step in developing additional business with clients is client service. Here’s a brief list of some of the more important points to keep in mind in developing and implementing a successful client service program.

• The goal should be outstanding client service. “Satisfactory” or “good” isn’t good enough. Many clients can’t evaluate the quality of legal work. Therefore, the level and quality of service is often the only factor that distinguishes one firm from another. (more…)

♬ If you wish to be the first you must seek
To be a servant, to be a servant of all…♬

Lyrics, music and recorded by David Haas.

This is a guest post from Beth Flynn’s Leadership Moments newsletter at the OSU Leadership Center.  It deals with a concept that I personally see offering a great deal of personal growth and possibility for real change:  servant leadership.

Wikipedia defines servant leadership as follows:

Servant leadership is a philosophy and practice of leadership, coined and defined by Robert K. Greenleaf (Born 1904 in Terre Haute, Indiana; died in 1990) and supported by many leadership and management writers such as James Autry, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Peter Block, Peter Senge, Max DePree, Scott Greenberg, Larry Spears, Margaret Wheatley, James C. Hunter, Kent Keith, Ken Jennings, Don Frick and others. Servant-leaders achieve results for their organizations by giving priority attention to the needs of their colleagues and those they serve. Servant-leaders are often seen as humble stewards of their organization’s resources: human, financial and physical.

Accordingly, here is Beth’s post on servant leadership:

• All growth and most good things come from paying attention.
• Use every experience.
• Never think of employees as “labor,” as a commodity.
• Avoid the tyranny of technocracy.
• Abandon the career planning traps.
• Avoid “building” a resume.
• Expect the unexpected and be ready to embrace change.
• Take the work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.
• Do not use long-term solutions to short-term problems.
• Never run away from anything (Ray Ferch & Spears, 2011, p. 133-134).

From:  Ray Ferch, S. & Spears, L.C. eds. (2011).  The Spirit of Servant-Leadership.  Mahwah, NJ:  Paulist Press.

The Spirit of Servant-Leadership is available from the OSU Leadership Center.  Click here to borrow this resource or any other resource.  Once you are on the OSU website, click on the Spectrum icon. Learn how the Ohio State University Leadership Center is inspiring others to take a leadership role that empowers the world.

To begin receiving Leadership Moments newsletter, please click on Join Our Mailing List.

Thanks Beth for another great leadership post on how we can be a leader by exercising servant stewardship of our organization’s resources.

♬  Now, you got it, you’re wow, wow, wow, wow
You got it; you’re wow, wow, wow, wow…♬

Lyrics and music by: Kylie Minogue, Greg Kurstin and Karen Poole, recorded by Kylie Minogue.

This is another great guest post from Drago Adams from his Adams Ad Group Monday Morning Motivator email newsletter.  I loved the message in this post and thought of sharing it with all.  It is contagious.  I hope you enjoy it.

This week we share a message from Tomas Lydalh. Tomas’s message will not only help you in business, but will also make you the kind of person that people will just naturally gravitate to.

We’ve all heard about how important attitude is and how it affects us. I am sure you’ve heard of how much better you will feel when you look at the positive side of things… when you think positive thoughts, you will become a positive person. It is not always easy, however, to just change your attitude by trying to think positive thoughts. What if you did certain things, instead, that created positive feelings inside you?

Here is a short story that shows how certain actions will ensure a YES! Attitude - even if your day doesn’t start with a WOW! (more…)

♬  Hey, look around it’s all so clear
Hey, wherever we were going, well we’re here
Hey, so many things I never thought I’d see
Happening right in front of me..♬

Lyrics and music by Chris DuBois and Brad Paisley, recorded by Brad Paisley, “Welcome to the Future”.

2012 Happy New Year

In this third and final collection of tips and predictions for 2012, we turn first to my good friend and colleague, Steve Gallagher. Steve has been one of those rare individuals who has kept a perspective on where the legal profession is and is going.  Accordingly, I though it was appropriate that we start with his views in this final post of 2011 on what will be happening in 2012:

Stephen P Gallagher: “Coping with Change”:

(a)  A Law Practice Management Perspective:

My primary business these days is coaching Lawyers in Transition, so from my vantage point,  I see large geographic areas throughout Canada and the United States that will have no practicing lawyers within hundreds of miles. At the same time, law school graduates will cluster around metropolitan areas looking for entry-level positions primarily to pay off law school debt. I would like to think that our talented young professionals will start looking for opportunities with baby boomers, particularly in more rural areas of the country to continue the tradition of serving the public.

(b)  Legal Technology:

I’ve follow the writing of Sherryl Turkle, a psychologist and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Initiative on Technology and Self.  Professor Turkel is concerned about how we may be losing things that Thoreau thought were essential to discovering an identity. Professor Turkle claims to be teaching the most brilliant students in the world (at MIT). She claims that they have done themselves a disservice by drinking the Kool-Aid and believing that a multitasking learning environment will serve their best purposes.

I too am concerned about this “multitasking learning environment” for lawyers.

For a Frontline interview, Digital Nation, Professor Turkle was quoted as saying, “She thinks that we’re living in a culture where we’re really not sure what kind of attention we owe each other. People put their cell phones on the table now. They don’t turn them off.” She goes on to say that, “One of my students talked about the first time he was walking with friends, and they received a cell phone call, and they took the call. And he said: “What was I, on pause?” I felt I was being put on pause.” Sheryl Turkle thinks that we’re socially negotiating what kind of attention we feel we owe each other.”

This flat out scares me. We owe each other more. (more…)