KM Strategy

What Does the Future Hold? Do Distributed Law Firms Offer the Law Firm Model of the Future?

Distributed firms may have been under the radar for a few years, but now they are breaking the Amlaw 200. Distributed firms operate without a physical space. They rely heavily on technology for communication and to deliver services. Join us to learn about the players, their structure and whether they are the future model for law firms.Questions Mike will ask the speakers:1. TJ, Dan, tell us a bit about yourselves and how you got involved in the distributed law space.2. Dan , can you give us some history regarding distributed law firms-what they are, their structure, how did they come to be and how they have evolved?3. What sorts of law do distributed firms commonly practice? Who are their typical clients and their needs?4. TJ, How would you describe the sort of lawyer who would be interested and thrive in this environment?5. TJ, what sort of technology infrastructure does Fischer Broyles firms use? How do you license technology? (Dan can add)6. Dan, do distributed firms employ legal technologists, operations specialists or knowledge professionals or are these all outsourced? (TJ can add)7. TJ, you have said that process and culture are keys to the success of Fisher Broyles. Can you tell us about that. (Dan add what he knows about other distributed firms here)8. TJ, Fisher Broyles was the first distributed firm to enter the AmLaw 200. I understand 2021 financials are very impressive. Is this an indicator that this is a viable model for others long term? (Dan can add regarding the rest of the industry)9. What do you both think is on the horizon for distributed firms?
 
Moderator:@Michael Ertel - KM Attorney, Paul Hastings LLP
Speakers:Dan Packel - Business of Law Reporter, ALM Media, LLCTJ Dovale - Managing Partner, IP, FisherBroyles, LLP

What Can We Learn from the US Army’s KM and Innovation Programs?

For all the differences between operating the military and working in private sector, there is one constant both realms share – innovating to remain relevant and foremost in their respective fields.In this podcast session, we will discuss how leaders across the U.S. Army are establishing knowledge management programs to enhance shared understanding, learning and decision-making. In addition, we will further explore how to apply the military’s approach to innovation to law firm KM processes.Moderator:@Amy Monaghan - Senior Practice Innovations Manager, Perkins CoieSpeaker:Andrew Bragg - Chief of Knowledge Management, U.S. European Command
Recorded on 02-11-2022

The Art and Craft of Building an Effective Business Case - Getting Started

Extensive and unexpected technology expenditures in the past year have motivated C-Level and Director level executives to reexamine and refine justifications for new products and projects. This podcast session will highlight practical tips for the effective creation of a business case.
Questions Glenn will ask Kate:
· Kate, you were pretty excited when we first spoke about this potential topic. Tell us a bit about yourself and your experience and how it relates to the art and craft of building effective business cases.
· “Business Case” is a term of art that can mean different things to different people and in different contexts so let’s start there. What is a “business case”… or more specifically, what is “an effective business case?”
· Based on your experience, where do you recommend people start? What topic or element should they focus on first?
· Once the business goals and objectives are clearly defined, what comes next? What are the other elements that we should think about including?
· This seems like a LOT of information to wade through. How do you balance that against the probability that the C-Level or senior decision maker may not have the time and energy to comb through all these details?
· You described the business case as an “investment in the future success of the project”. What did you mean by that? How does the business case come into play after you get the green light to move the project/purchase forward?
Moderator:@Glenn Hoxie - Senior Project Manager, Practice Innovation and Legal Solutions, Paul Hastings LLP
Speaker:@Kate Cain - Senior Director of Knowledge & Innovation Delivery, Fenwick & West LLP​Recorded on 12-20-2021
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What are Firms Doing for Retraining/Upskilling to Accelerate Digital Transformation?

As firms have adjusted to our new normal, and some necessary changes had to be made in the delivery of legal services, new possibilities that were once far off aspirations are now available. These new opportunities require new knowledge and skills to enable the workforce to do new or changing jobs to meet digital transformation opportunities. In this podcast session, we will discuss how firms have transformed their legal service models and how they have addressed upskilling and re-skilling to support these new models.
Questions Asked Today:
Tell us about yourself and what you do at CliffordChance (00:36)
What impact does digital transformation have on the roles traditionally seen in law firms? (1:16)
How does your role serves as dot connector for your firm? (3:11)
How has Amy seen the roles change and how she is creating change at Perkins (6:06)
How do you meet everyone along the spectrum? (13:01)
Provide an example of where you have seen success in upskilling or reskilling what was a traditional legal role into this new digital transformation world? (14:45) 
Moderator:@Amy Monaghan - Senior Practice Innovations Manager, Perkins Coie Speaker:@Conan Hines - Senior Legal Technology Advisor, Clifford Chance US LLP
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​Recorded on 11-22-2021

How to Deal With ROI Conversations When Vetting Legal Technology

In this podcast, the speakers will discuss how to best quantify the ROI of legal technology has on the bottom line of matters, tips in vetting legal technology, etc.Moderator:@Holly Hanna - KM Firm Solutions Manager, Perkins CoieSpeakers:@Ginevra Saylor - National Director, Innovation and Knowledge Programs, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP@Giles Thompson - Head of Growth, Avvoka​Recorded on 10-22-2021

Session 301 - The Study Case #2: Use of Artificial Intelligence to Optimize the Lawyers Work (Human + Machine)

***Please note this podcast is in Spanish!
In this third part of the series, the idea is that the speaker talks about the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence to optimize the work of the lawyers in generating the first draft of any legal document that they have to create. *** Please know the podcast is in Spanish only. Moderator:@Rodolfo Christophersen -Sr. Manager, Head of Legal Operations, Mercado LibreSpeakers:Nicolas Vilela - Co-Founder & CEO, ZTZ TechPablo Balancini - CEO, LegalHub
Recorded on 07-26-2021​

The Modern Ethical Minefield - Leveraging Technology to Manage Conflicts at the International Law Firm

The continued growth of law firms, and the increasing transience of their attorneys, have created many new risks for firms to account for regarding conflicts of interest management.   Increasingly, large international Firms have transitioned to a centralized approach for conflicts clearance, utilizing non fee-earning professionals for this function. 
Despite this, challenges remain - particularly stemming from increasingly restrictive conflicts language within Outside Counsel Guidelines as well as recent US case law.  In this podcast session, the speaker will focus on discussing the unique conflicts challenges faced by US firms with international presence and various approaches to these challenges; how technology and centralization are the key to meeting these challenges; and whether changes to the conflicts rules are needed in order to "modernize" and account for the breadth of today's international law firm and technological advances.Moderator:@Tracey Pardo - IS Process Improvement Analyst, Cooley LLP
​Speaker:@Mark Agin - Senior Manager of Global New Business Intake and Information Management, Shearman & Sterling LLPRecorded on 07-23-2021

Taking Collaboration to the Next Step With Hackathons

Hackathons are a great way to gather folks from different departments to formulate new ideas that the entire firm can take advantage of. We recently held a very successful one at McGuireWoods which resulted in items added to the project pipeline for 2021.Moderator:Natalie Baumgardner - Business Development Coordinator, McGuireWoods LLP
Speakers:@Rachel Cohee - Manager, Business Intelligence & Analytics, McGuireWoods LLP@Eric Jenvey - Data Science Manager, McGuireWoods LLP
Recorded on 07-16-2021​​​​​
 

Fresh Voices of LegalTech - Interview #13

There are a lot of different roles within legal technology. KM, content management, marketing, applications development, etc. How do we get young employees excited about their potential paths and make sure they have a path towards a long-term career in legal tech?Moderator:@Holly Hanna - KM Firm Solutions Manager, Perkins Coie
Speaker:@Allison Duncan - KM Practice Innovation Manager, Reed Smith
​Recorded on 07-15-2021

Fresh Voices of LegalTech - Interview #12

There are a lot of different roles within legal technology. KM, content management, marketing, applications development, etc. How do we get young employees excited about their potential paths and make sure they have a path towards a long-term career in legal tech?Moderator:@Holly Hanna - KM Firm Solutions Manager, Perkins Coie
Speaker:@Melanie Segraves - Knowledge Management Solutions Analyst, Womble Bond Dickinson U.S.
Recorded on 07-15-2021

Fresh Voices of LegalTech - Interview #11

There are a lot of different roles within legal technology. KM, content management, marketing, applications development, etc. How do we get young employees excited about their potential paths and make sure they have a path towards a long-term career in legal tech?Moderator:@Holly Hanna - KM Firm Solutions Manager, Perkins Coie
Speaker:@Erin Welsh - Practice Innovations Analyst, Perkins Coie
​Recorded on 07-16-2021