Beyond knowledge management to better management
If you've read Alternative Billing Alternatives and Update on Alternative Billing, you now know that the panelists on ILTA's Using Technology to Manage Costs, Increase Profitability and Support Billable Hour Alternatives session believe that bare discounts are going to have a negative effect on a law firm's profitability unless that firm significantly trims its costs... Continue Reading →
Yesterday's post, Are Law Firms Ready for Transparency, was retweeted on Twitter quite heavily and generated a fair amount of discussion there and via e-mail. Some of that discussion is now reflected in an update I published this morning clarifying a few of the features of Mallesons Connect. (If you're interested in Mallesons' terrific project,... Continue Reading →
If you blinked at ILTA09 last week, you might have missed it. And, even if you saw it, did you understand its implications? One law firm has found a way to create real transparency in its dealings with its clients. Are other firms ready to do the same? During the session on Technologies That Will... Continue Reading →
Shift happens -- even in law firms. Are you ready? That's the question that kept surfacing at the ILTA09 conference last week. You'd have to be living under a rock not to have noticed the impact of the economy on law firms and their clients alike. Thankfully, ILTA09 didn't just remind us of the bad... Continue Reading →
In Rousseau's social contract, people surrendered part of their autonomy to a central authority in order to gain the benefits of civil society, not least among which were social order and personal security. In the Internet's social contract, we seem to have given up our bargaining power. All too often we surrender our privacy because... Continue Reading →
Have you ever been to the Burger Joint in New York City? If you do go there you won't find a large menu. You won't find expensive decor. You won't find a fancy staff with attitude. Rather, it's what you might call a "well-edited" offering: Hamburger or cheeseburger. Soft drinks or beer (but only one... Continue Reading →
To be honest, I never used to pay much attention to the quality of a vendor's representative. As long as they weren't offensive, I was willing to ignore them and focus on the product. And then, we had a very interesting experience when a vendor's rep showed up to present a product that colleagues at... Continue Reading →
Our firm has several great Canadian partners, counsel and associates. However, our firm's favorite Canadian is more popular than all those wonderful folks combined. What's the name of our favorite Canadian? Blackberry. In a few short years, the Blackberry has become a critical business tool for most law firms as well as businesses in other... Continue Reading →
If you ask users, they might well tell you that in their experience of KM and IT implementations, the old saying sadly holds true: "There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip." That saying captures what often happens when law firm knowledge management and IT personnel start building systems to "meet user requirements." ... Continue Reading →
When will tech conferences master technology? If recent experience is any guide, it appears that providing adequate WiFi access at tech conferences is as challenging as finding a cure for cancer. Is it just me, or does this strike the rest of you as strange and supremely ironic? At February's LegalTech 2009 NY conference, there... Continue Reading →
Above and Beyond KM 