What sets your law firm apart from its competitors? Your technology? Doubtful.
In an interesting conversation today with Gil Yehuda and Livio Hughes on Enterprise 2.0, we discussed the rate at which companies are jumping on the Enterprise 2.0 bandwagon. Gil mentioned that recent figures indicated that anywhere from 25-40% of companies were either in the midst of or about to begin a deployment of social media tools behind the firewall. As for the rest, they probably had a significant number of employees using these tools outside the firewall and under the radar.
All of this prompted me to ask what the comparable figures for law firms were. As we heard, anecdotal evidence suggests that many law firms are lagging behind their clients. When asked why, Gil pointed out that relatively few law firms claim that their use of technology sets them apart from their competitors. Further, that law firms behaved in a “tribal manner” and tended not to adopt technology until their peers did.
So, if it isn’t technology that sets your firm apart from its competitors, what does? The people you hire and retain. If we take that as a given, I just have to ask: What are you doing to support the people you hire? Do you have technology and KM systems that simplify and rationalize work flow? Do you provide tools that permit easy communication and effective collaboration? Does your approach to knowledge management, technology and the practice of law have a net effect of making everything easier or harder for the user?
If you’re serious about the competitive advantage your people represent, you have to be serious about how you deploy KM systems and technology to support those people. And, you have to seriously consider how social media tools can provide that support in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
[Photo Credit: David Cavan]
Above and Beyond KM 
It's wonderful to read about a female poet coming of age in this era, especially with Anne Sexton as a mentor for a short while, but so many other poetic luminaries as well. I'm also finding it encouraging to know, being 38 myself, that one can jumpstart her career at this age. Thank you for this inspiring interview, Julie Kane. http://Like-Acer.com write's unique point.It is useful and benefit to your daily life.You can go thosehttp://www.chaneloutletstores.com
It is important to set yourself apart in any business, especially in the highly competitive legal space. If you don’t have an angle that sets you apart from the competition, you give new prospects no reason to do business with you and existing clients no reason to continue using your firm. Internet marketing and social media are probably the most cost effective ways to develop and build a brand.
David –
One of the challenges is that firms are still at the beginning stages of exploring internet marketing and social media branding. Are you aware of any firms that really do this well?
– Mary