After years of operating as a distinct and, some would say, archaic profession, law firms are now recognising the value of adopting the type of business principles and processes that are regularly used in the corporate sector. Having developed legal profession-specific technologies and systems over the years, firms have identified there should not be such a yawning gulf between the legal and corporate world. For the technology director or chief information officer (CIO), this potentially represents a monumental challenge.

Consumerisation

Over the past decade, law firms have gradually recognised that they have unwittingly dug themselves into a murky hole, out of which they are now struggling to climb. In-house technologies and systems have become increasingly complex as firms have built bespoke solutions and templates that direct the lawyer or secretary down the correct working path. This continual tweaking has made software upgrades horrific, as firms attempt to weave in their own often obsolete and antiquated systems.
With the arrival on the scene of commoditisation, ‘consumerisation’ – as typified in England by the advent of alternative business structures – many firms have recognised that it is now time for an approach that is more closely aligned to the corporate world. In addition, the legal sector must deal with the fact that many lawyers wish to choose their own technologies rather than accept the highsecurity devices that have historically been handed out.
Consumerisation itself is a trend that simply cannot be ignored. One only has to look at the gradual decline of the BlackBerry in the workplace and the rapidly increasing prevalence of iPhones and other smart phones. The use of iPads and tablets has also gained popularity in some firms, while the role of social media is another development that has to be addressed.
After years, even decades, of developing industry-specific technologies, many firms have realised they are now sitting on incredibly restrictive systems. To upgrade to something as simple as Windows 7 now requires a large amount of initiative.
With the growing realisation that law firms are not that dissimilar to other organisations, there is a burgeoning ambition to pare down the complexities of in-house technologies and work more flexibly in a simpler environment. Clifford Chance’s use of SharePoint as the platform for its new document management system is an example of this.
The magic circle firm is something of a trailblazer in this regard. Its adoption of Lean Six Sigma to augment its processes and deliver services quicker and at a better value is something that would not have been contemplated 10 years ago.
The use of the business management strategy Six Sigma in the legal profession is far from prevalent. US firm Seyfarth Shaw and Clifford Chance are the only two large law firms publicly to embrace these tools. Even so, it is yet another illustration of how firms are looking outside the legal sector to develop greater efficiencies and performance.

Enhanced role

The CIO’s role is another example. Last year, Londonbased global firm Norton Rose hired Sheila Doyle as its group CIO from the Royal Mail. She is one of the latest in a long line of CIOs to have been recruited from outside the legal profession.
Clifford Chance’s CIO Paul Greenwood was poached from McKinsey & Company back in 2000, while many of its rivals have followed suit. The CIO at Anglo-German firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Paul Domnick, was recruited from Zurich Financial Services, and Daniel Pollick, the former CIO and now the practice’s director of business infrastructure, was hired from National Power.
With the advent of ABSs – including the potential for external capital and ownership – firms have to alter radically their long-term plans. The assumption that the legal profession is so unique that it requires bespoke and inimitable systems is quickly becoming out-dated.
As law firms gradually become more identified as businesses instead of antiquated partnerships, their reliance on expertise that comes from outside the sector will also increase. The IT director or CIO who continues to prop-up outdated technologies and systems will inevitably come unstuck.
Firms must learn from other sectors and install straightforward processes and systems that promote agility and flexibility. Offering clients better value does not come from intellectual capital alone, but also the machinery that allows firms to deliver quicker and for less. This is where the role of the modern IT director or CIO can really develop some value.

Daniel Brown is the chief executive of London-based legal sector technology consultancy TheKnowList