InsideLegal

ILTACON 2021: Legal Tech's Lollapalooza Back in Full Swing

We are excited to reconnect with our legal tech brethren this week as we head to Vegas for ILTACON 2021. It's hard to believe that my last travel to conference was TECHSHOW in February 2020 when baskets of ABA branded hand sanitizers sat untouched in the exhibit hall. 

I know the hype, anticipation as well as apprehension surrounding ILTACON this year is high so not having major expectations might be the best M.O. Regardless, one thing is certain, the conference content, delivered via nearly 90 in-person and virtual sessions, will be high caliber and provide many opportunities to learn, share ideas and trade war stories. A brief look at the session 'areas of focus' provides a preview of what ILTA members are looking for: 8 sessions are focused on Corporate; 7 on Litigation Support; 6 on Security; 6 on KM; 5 on Marketing as well as numerous sessions on AI, O365, Legal Process Improvement, Leadership and Data Science. You can also check out InsideLegal's word cloud from the ILTACON 2021 session grid here.

While there are too many intriguing sessions to list, here's a handful that caught my eye:

Disrupt the DMS - How We Made SharePoint Work, 8/25, 11AM 

Who Watches the Watchers? Vetting and Securing Cloud Services, 8/25, 2:30PM (onsite only)

One Size Does Not Fit All: Leveraging Client Feedback to Co-Create Innovative Technology Solutions That Strengthen Relationships, Create Value, and Drive Revenue, 8/25 4:00PM 

Looking Beyond the New Normal: Maximizing Productivity in a Permanently Hybrid World, 8/25, 2:30PM 

All Together Now: Co-Authoring With or Without Your Document Management System, 8/24, 4:00PM – Michelle S.

I'll be roaming the Mandalay Bay exhibit hall and conference space this week so look forward to seeing many familiar faces. #myILTACON

ILTACON 2021 Educational Sessions in Word Cloud View

For the last decade, InsideLegal has created word clouds from legal industry event agendas to give an overview of session content and areas of interest. To view the entire educational content grid, click here. Here's the word cloud from ILTACON 21's educational agenda and you can also view it at https://bit.ly/ILTA21_Cloud.

(Click image to view in greater detail)

 

Thinking Out Cloud: Has Legal Reached the Point of No Cloud Return?

InsideLegal first started asking law firms and legal IT professionals about the cloud and if/when/how their firms would consider cloud computing well over 15 years ago as part of our annual ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Surveys. Thanks to new cloud innovations and legal cloud-specific applications, law firms with a well-defined 'cloud first' strategy, and oh yeah, a pandemic that has accelerated remote working and reliance on cloud architecture, and we can finally exhale and confidently say that cloud computing in legal has arrived ... for good.

InsideLegal's Jobst Elster, who originated Legal Management Magazine's "Thinking Out Cloud" recurring column on all things legal cloud, once again has his head in the cloud's with his recent feature in Legal I(nnovation)&T(echnology) Today. Legal I(nnovation)&T(echnology) Today is a must-read publication covering legaltech and legal innovation and is available for free online here. You can also access past issues here.

Thinking Out Cloud-Has Legal Reached the Point of No Cloud Return? takes us on a cloud journey, examines what a ‘why not cloud vs why cloud’ reality looks like and pulls in legal tech luminaries and experts to get their take on the state of the cloud in legal.

Enjoy the read and remember to subscribe to Legal I(nnovation)&T(echnology) Today online.

Replacing Legal Market Trends with Real World Realities

Welcome to the 'new (ab)normal'! When is the last time you were glued to the TV, social ... pick your media to figure out what's next, not only in your own life but with the economy, your own businesses and anything and everything you care about? Oh yeah and there's the working from home 'thing', 24/7, with or without a proper place or space to call your office.

While we are all looking to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and somehow come out stronger on the other side, the reality of what the legal community is going through is as many commentators like to say "fluid", at best. In other words, we have no idea what's next or what we are supposed to do, how we are supposed to act, and how aggressive we should be about business as usual without coming off as annoyingly tone deaf.

I was recently invited by Qorus Software (producers of sales enablement/proposal/RFP automation technology) to address the "how the hell should we market right now, what's our reality and how does this match up with 2020 marketing trends and developments." We decided to host a "10 Marketing Trends and Realities" webinar to drill-down further and provide law firm marketers with some guidance (and a sanity check) as to what they could/should be doing during this crisis.

In addition to the webinar (which in exchange for some contact info you are free to access here), Qorus also produced an easy to follow and practical to use eBook: Adapting to Change: Definitive Guide to Law Firm Marketing in 2020. The eBook includes 8 practical tips on how legal marketers can seize the moment and put their best marketing foot forward. If you don't have time to download the webinar or the eBook, check out the 14-slide PDF (with all ten trends and realities) from the program.

Here are a few of the trends (and realities) that legal marketers should not only acknowledge but consider acting on now:

Client-centric marketing: This might be a no-brainer ... "all marketing should focus on clients", but you'd be surprised how many campaigns miss the mark. Check out any corporate legal survey and you'll quickly realize how much outside counsel DO NOT listen to client challenges and demands. The current crisis gives you a 'do-over' of sorts when it comes to revealing your authentic marketing self. Your clients are swimming with you in the deep end so why not work together to your collective advantage

Strategic content marketing is king: Content marketing is nothing new. Devising a clever strategy of how to leverage and amplify hard earned content is still novel and not the norm in legal marketing circles. Spend some energy on "marketing your marketing" with a 1-4-7 approach. Focus on one concept; develop four related content pieces such as newsletters, webinars, eBooks, and whitepapers; and chose seven distribution channels for your content including online, social, communal and direct. 

Community building ... the new black: Acquiring new customers is 6-7 times more expensive than marketing to an existing community base. These days, word-of-mouth means engaging through social platforms, sharing educational resources while introducing clients to your network of subject matter experts and influencers. Legal communities are out there and waiting with open arms. Check out ILTA, LMA, ALA, and ABA Law Practice for starters.

We will be sharing more legal marketing trends and realities in future posts gleaned from legal marketing and business development experts.

Inside Legalweek 2019: Battle Tested Tips for Conference Survival

If you are looking for basic tradeshow tips such as "wear comfortable shoes", "plot out who you want to meet ahead of time" and "bring business cards", etc. this isn't the post for you. This is a post based on 19 years of attending Legaltech New York and most all other legal events and conferences. We make the joke annually that it's no coincidence that Legaltech is always within a few days of Groundhog Day. Legaltech's timing is unique in that it allows you to kick off the new year with a bang, however it can also make for a brutal week. With the morphing of Legaltech into Legalweek, this is even more so the case. Here are some Legalweek 2019 'coping' tips which will hopefully have you looking back at the week ahead with enthusiasm not vitriol.

1. There is no ‘cone of silence’!

You wouldn’t believe the things we’ve heard in the common areas of the Hilton over our 19 years attending Legaltech. Realize that the property is a ‘hot’ spot and that you never know who is at the table beside you in the restaurant or sharing the elevator with you, so be discreet!  Update: I'm going to extend this tip out two blocks in all directions. If you are at the Warwick or the Starbucks or the corner pub, it can still be full of Legalweek attendees or your competitors!

2. Multi-task

There is a lot to take advantage of at Legalweek, so often plans for the event begin and end with working your booth. To maximize your investment, take advantage of all the opportunities available to network and/or promote your brand including connecting with partners, media, bloggers but also take time to meet with legal associations on-site such as ILTA , ARMA, AALL or AECDS.

3. "Social" networking

The first word in social networking is SOCIAL. In an industry with the staying power of legal - no one ever leaves, they just change companies/firms - it is just as valuable to make social connections with peers and contacts. During social events, stay social! Don’t start listing the bullet points for your product or bust out a laptop/tablet for a ‘quick demo’. Seriously… it happens all the time! Also bring your manners to the Twitter-verse and don't hog the hashtag. There are many people that participate in the Legalweek social media world so be respectful and don't hog the hashtag! If you are including the #Legalweek19 hashtag (which you should), don't send tweets from multiple company/employee accounts multiple times in a row. There are always a few people/companies that decide that social media success is based on the number of tweets they post. In fact, often those people are ridiculed and avoided, so don't be one of them! 

4. Meeting space hell

Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges at Legalweek is finding a space to meet on-site, so prepare accordingly. All major events should provide ample space for their attendees to sit and network, but unfortunately, the main common area for meetings during the day is now rented out by ALM to vendors for their meetings during the day, so it's been closed off. We suggest you book a separate meeting space, locate a few off-site meeting options  beforehand or just direct all meeting traffic to your booth to collectively find appropriate space. We have managed to find a few choice places to meet, but then again, you don't expect us to publish those, do you? :-)  

However, we've found a couple of creative ideas from the suspended glass box meeting room above to the "portable chair" to the right (try at your own risk!). Next year, someone should give them away in the exhibit hall!  

5. Beware of the 'convenience' of the coat check

In the past, recovering from hypothermia because I walked to the Hilton without my coat was less annoying than standing in the coat check line. Seriously. (OK, obviously the photo is an exaggeration but you get the idea!)

6. Measure up the competition

If you are a technology vendor/Legaltech exhibitor in town for the week, this is the perfect time to 'compare and contrast'. What are companies in your application area promoting this week? How visible are they? How is their exhibit floor/booth traffic? What are they doing that you might be able to pull off better? Did you know there is a full schedule of demos and product pitches happening throughout the week? And, there's a new Legaltech Product Innovation showcase and award to check out and vote on via the app. Don't come to town solely focused on booth duty and the 'wine and dine'. Be aware, take notes, and share it when you get home. 

A variation from a post originally published January 20, 2015

Inside Legalweek 2019: Rewarding Legal Technology Innovation

In July, 2015, ALM’s Legaltech News last unveiled the winners of the LTN Innovation Awards, an annual recognition of the best legal technology leaders, products and projects in the legal community. Three and a half years have passed and now it's time to once again recognize industry leaders in legal technology innovation. The 2019 Legaltech Product Innovation Competition is underway with 7 finalists having been named in early January. 

Erin Hichman, Senior Analyst with ALM Intelligence, is charged with organizing the 2019 innovation competition. We wanted to learn more ... how did this come about? how will the judging work? who applied? and who made the final cut. Let's find out.

IL: What is the genesis of the award? Why launch this now?
EH: Over the past year we’ve really witnessed the continued “explosion” of legal technology, but, more importantly, and interestingly, we are starting to see a new level of sophistication and innovation in product development. The legal technology market and landscape is changing so quickly - and is becoming crowded. We decided to launch the Product Innovation Competition this year at Legaltech to provide a platform for those that are using technology to improve the legal industry and approach traditional challenges and goals in a new way. It’s also a great way to help the consumer and user of legal technology understand what is available to them.

In most firms and legal departments, there are multiple stakeholders who must review and evaluate new technology, and many of those are in NYC the last week of January attending Legalweek. Given the depth and breadth of attendees, including many in-house legal professionals, we wanted to provide a platform for companies to launch new products with maximum exposure.

IL: Please walk us through the judging and evaluation process?
EH: There will be two awards given out - one from the panel of judges we have, and one from the conference attendees (“People’s Choice Awards”). We have a fantastic panel of judges including Catherine Krow of Digitory Legal; Haley Altman of Doxly; Silvia Hodges Silverstein of Buying Legal; Richard Tromans of Tromans Consulting, and Ryan McClead of Sente Advisors. They will all speak with the finalists at their booths, and also take part in the demos or “pitches” each finalist makes. All of the conference attendees are encouraged to check out the finalists and interact with them as well. The judges will evaluate on six criteria, using a scale of one to five:
1. Is the solution distinctive or fundamentally different from existing products?
2. Does the solution enhance efficiency and/or productivity?
3. If there a clear market need?
4. Design
5. Functionality
6. Applicability

Conference attendees will be able to vote via the event mobile app (for iOS devices), on the following criteria:
1. Does the product enhance efficiency and/or productivity?
2. Design
3. Overall Functionality
4. Applicability

IL: What are the judges looking for in a finalist/winner?
EH: Ultimately the judges are looking for products that are unique and differentiated from existing products in the legal industry that solve a particular challenge, and/or take a new approach to something that has been fairly static historically.

IL: Can you touch on the application field, the recently announced finalists and the award ceremony?
EH: There was a broad range of products, 25 in total, who entered the competition, from smaller newer entrants to the legal field to large and well-known names. Some key themes we saw reflected across many entrants was using AI and creating a more integrated, seamless and collaborative experience for the end-user.

Seven finalists were identified after an initial round of scoring by the judges:

• Fastcase Analytics Workbench enables lawyers and librarians to create their own reports using user-defined analytics, rather than pre-defined analytics.
• FRONTEO Patent Explorer 19 uses the company’s AI engine, KIBIT, to perform patent search and analysis.
• H5 PII Identification Solution helps legal and compliance professionals quickly and accurately identify likely PII content within Relativity.
• LexisNexis Context provides AI-powered insight to attorneys on judges and expert witnesses to better prepare for, present and argue cases.
• LexMachina Legal Analytics for Insurance Litigation includes more than 93,000 cases pending in federal court since 2009 to provide insight and trends in insurance case timing, resolutions, damages, remedies and findings.
• OneTrust Privacy Management and Marketing Compliance Software helps law firms better demonstrate regulatory compliance through its privacy management and marketing compliance platform.
• Tikit Carpe Diem Intelligent Time allows attorneys to write or dictate time sheets by using Natural Language Processing and turns them into time records. This tech analyzes and converts unstructured into structured data; attorney’s thoughts are transformed into fully formed time narratives.

The Award Ceremony will be held at 10:40 on January 31 on the Legaltech LITE Stage, which is accessible to everyone at the entire Legalweek event. We encourage everyone to attend!

IL: What does the future hold for the Legalweek Product Innovation competition?
EH: We are very excited about this new addition to Legaltech. The response to the competition has been really good. We had 25 very interesting products enter, and after some close scoring, ended up with seven finalists. We think that this type of competition is the perfect fit for Legaltech and the overall Legalweek event, and are already making plans to include it next year.

Inside Legalweek 2019: Q&A with Mark Fried, ALM Events President

Legalweek 2019 is less than two weeks away. This will be our 20th year heading to the big apple for a legal tech, legal business, legal operations submersion. This will be Mark Fried's first as President at ALM Events (he's also company CFO), a position he assumed last February. With 11 months to learn the ropes and get a lay of the legal land, what's Mark's vision for not only Legalweek but all ALM events? What's in store for Legalweek 2019? and what are some of the 'must attend' sessions? Let's find out!

IL: Mark, what have been your priorities for ALM Legal Events since taking charge?

Mark Fried, ALM

MF: Firstly thank you for the opportunity to discuss our events and solutions at ALM. My priorities at ALM regarding Events have been to grow registrations on every event. At the core of this growth is the premise that we will offer best in class programming and speaker line ups for every conference while we build in enough time and rigor to adequately launch, market and sell each event. This requires a full 12-18 month outlook on every event with an eye on developing target markets and audience. Integrating and aligning our program development with editorial focus and priorities has been at the heart of commitment to quality and integrity within our conference programs. As a leader in the legal media, I want to ensure our audience knows we are equally a leader in live events.

IL: What overall program updates/changes have you initiated and why?

MF: In 2019, our attendees will continue to benefit from Legalweek as a week in time, where all disciplines of the business of law gather to exchange ideas and address the future of the legal industry. In addition to Legaltech, Legalweek’s largest and most established conference, Legalweek features 4 other conferences focusing on the various areas within the business of law: LegalCIO, LegalMarketing, Business of Law Forum, and Legal Diversity & Talent Management Forum.

We are reinventing the 2019 exhibit hall. The exhibit space has been purposely designed to let exhibitors showcase their products and services for maximum exposure, with new features on every floor ranging from the Emerging Technology Sessions Theater on the Americas Hall I, to CLE Sessions held on Rhinelander to Product Innovation Finalists conducting demonstrations on the Grand Ballroom exhibit floor. Additionally we have added lunch on the exhibit floor for master pass attendees & conference attendees to LegalCIO, Legal Marketing, Legal Diversity & Talent and Business of Law.

IL: What are your expectations for Legalweek 2019?

MF: We will continue to provide an event format where attendees will find relevant communities to make new connections, and glean new and pertinent information and tools that enable them to do their job more efficiently. Our expectation is that Legalweek will continue to build its reputation as THE place where the business of law happens and grows. I am excited to integrate the content offers with the exhibit hall and look forward to further innovations where technology and the business of law meld throughout every attendees entire experience.

IL: Please provide us with the Legalweek highlights from your perspective and what's new in 2019.

MF: The highlights of Legalweek 2019 include a Product Innovation Competition and the Emerging Technology Sessions that will take place right on the exhibit floor. We will also feature new program formats, with a mix of workshops, panels and traditional presentations – all designed to encourage a higher level of attendee engagement. We are introducing Alexa Navigation Pods and attendees will enjoy an updated registration area as well as expanded Keynote seating.

IL: What should a Legalweek 'first timer' not leave NY without? 

MF: 32% of Legalweek attendees are “first timers”. With that number in mind, in 2019 we’ve developed a Newcomer Orientation, which will take place on Monday, January 28th. This program will guide new attendees through the best way to navigate the various conferences and not be overwhelmed, tell them what they need to know about visiting the exhibit hall, and explain how to take advantage of everything they will encounter over the course of the coming days. First timers should leave feeling invigorated and motivated with the most current knowledge and best practices regarding legal technology, innovations and the business of law ... including new peers, contacts, vendors and solutions that will positively impact their law practice in 2019 and beyond.

IL: Our InsideLegal audience is primarily legal technology executives and law firm leaders. Can you recommend a Legalweek session or two you view as 'must attend' for this audience?

MF: Starting off the State of the Industry and Opening Keynote featuring both Alberto Gonzales and Loretta Lynch is definitely a must see event. Other top 2019 picks to check out include:
• Why Lawyers Are Adopting AI Faster Than You: Law Firm Leaders Share Technology Strategies 
• Leveraging Data Analytics: Getting More Done, without Doing More
• Innovation, Client Collaboration, and Business Development Through Document Automation
• The International Legal Cloud 2019: Discovery, Security, and Business Considerations
• Innovative Law Departments: New Roles Highlight the Importance of Innovation in Law Departments

Click here for a list of all Legaltech conference sessions; here for the LegalCIO agenda; here for LegalMarketing sessions; here for the Business of Law Forum agenda; and here for Legal Diversity & Talent Management content details.

Law Firm Innovation: Many Roads to Take, Many Rivers to Cross

Happy 2019. I don't know about you but I was so ready to usher in the winter holiday and kick-off the new year that I missed some good legal content/news/gossip that's probably still sitting in my feeds and Inbox. With that said, I wanted to share a feature I wrote on the behest of fellow Legal-ite and really good guy Rob Ameerun for his Legal IT Today magazine published in December.

The topic is on law firm innovation, a subject matter that was red hot in 2018. If you are interested in what firms like Greenberg Traurig and Chapman Cutler are doing and how this latest firm tech development and commercialization trend actually dates back a few decades, please read on. 

So, what’s ahead for law firm funded and fueled technology innovation and entrepreneurship? Will the many flavors of innovation continue to expand, or will we see a consolidation of efforts across specific firms, application areas and incubators? Only law firm client demand and competition for superior client delivery will tell.

You can also download the entire December issue here. 

Legal IT Today - December 2018 Issue

Legal Influencers Weigh In On Legal Document Management

The hype and buzz surrounding artificial intelligence, lawyer robots, machine learning and predictive analytics in Legal is often times unbearable. Especially, when compared to the legal reality that this type of early adopter, nouveau tech is still in its infancy. Contrast this to document management systems (DMS), one of the most traditional, standard, yet mission critical applications within any law firm.

In this edition of "Legal Influencers Weigh In" we go under the hood with DMS. Specifically, we will drill down and deep on a recently completed DMS implementation survey and share commentary from some of legal's sharpest DMS minds. Also, anyone reading our corresponding feature ["Making Your DMS Migration (Relatively) Painless"] in the July/August issue of Legal Management will hopefully be able to connect the dots when it comes to DMS success and failure.

On premise, client-server DM systems have been around legal for 30 years and even native cloud-based solutions date back to 1999. Yet, still, after all this time one of the biggest challenges law firms as well as their legal technology business partners face is successfully navigating the DMS implementation, be it a new purchase, swap out or existing system upgrade.

Problems arise and DMS implementation survival is at stake, whether implemented internally by the firm; in collaboration with a business partner; fully outsourced to a DMS implementation partner or left up to the DMS vendor and their full service (from sale to implementation, training and firm ‘go live’) delivery. Why is that? What forces are in play that makes the DMS upgrade/DMS implementation the perpetual pain in legal IT’s, and especially firm users’, you know what?

Who better to ask then the experts? For the purposes of this post and my Legal Management DMS feature, I reached out to the leading minds (and hands) when it comes to legal DMS implementations, migrations, upgrades and the like. Our panel consisted of 21 experts, with a total of 2,848 law firm DMS projects under their belts, representing 16 of the leading DMS implementation, support, training, design, configuration and software solution providers. We asked the panel to complete a short survey focused on DMS deployment types; DMS implementation provider selection; tips for successfully navigating a DMS upgrade; and top reasons why DMS implementations (still) fail.

Looking toward the cloud
In order to provide an adequate technology baseline, we asked our experts, who collectively serve a broad range of small, medium, large, mega and global firms, to state the type of DMS projects they had been involved with over the past 12 months. 95% had worked on cloud-based DMS implementations followed by 71% involved with on-premise DMS to cloud DMS upgrades versus 57% busy with on-premise implementations. The bottom-line ...  law firms of all shapes and sizes are embracing the cloud, especially when it comes to DMS.

DMS selection survival
Selecting the right DMS service provider is nothing to scoff at. Its critical firms do their due diligence and ask the important, sometimes uncomfortable questions before it’s too late. According to our expert panel, the top five attributes and qualities to look for in a DMS implementation partner included: reputation (86%); peer feedback/what are other firms saying (76%); track record (71%): overall value (67%) and cloud experience (57%). In addition, several respondents cited the importance of finding a technology and business partner that is knowledgeable in the areas of Information Governance; change management; system design; user experience; cloud-based security, and possess the technology certifications and credentials to back this all up.

DMS implementation success
When asked to provide vital tips for navigating a successful DMS implementation, some of our experts focused on the importance of project planning, overall communication between firm and business partner teams, and achieving executive project buy-in. Kraft Kennedy’s Brian Podolsky, it's NY office Practice Leader, takes the notion of buy-in a step further: “Be sure to involve your attorneys and staff in some of the user interface and workspace designs, to ensure their workflows are considered and their ideas are heard.”

Others stressed the importance of user adoption, DMS usability and designing DM systems with adoption at the forefront. “With cloud services, the focus is now on designing for adoption and getting full value from the platform,” stated Joshua Fireman, Fireman & Company’s founder/president, and a recognized thought leader in areas such as knowledge management, change management and system design. “System design should involve IT and KM and include input directly from lawyers.”

Related to user adoption is user training. Most survey responses mentioned the need for training, pre, go live, and post, and the necessity to increasingly plan and budget for additional training to support the firm’s DMS ‘go live’.

Jason Scott, Senior Business Consultant with Tikit, and a track record of 200+ DMS firm implementations across the globe says it best: “Plan it, design it, build it, test it, communicate to the business what 'it' is, learn it and then roll it out.” He also emphasis the importance of having clear objectives going into any migration project ... "there should be a structured process in place to manage the implementation with clear objectives. and at the end, ensuring these objectives have been met. This might sound trite but you’d be surprised how often objectives don’t match up." 

Matthew Marcinek, DMS Team Manager & Solutions Architect at All Covered, feels strongly about leveraging data found in existing systems and analyzing the data at hand in order to make informed decisions. “Above all, perform a pilot migration with the firm's data. This will allow the firm to see the results of their design and the migration process to confirm it is what they expect.” Marcinek agrees with Fireman regarding the importance of design: "The most important step in any DMS Implementation is the Design."

Mike Sanders, Senior Solutions Expert with NetDocuments, has 200+ DMS implementations under his belt. His advice ... "become familiar with best practices of the new system and how that may change some of your current processes." Beyond that, test, test, test before going Live." According to Sanders’ colleague JB Trexler, NetDocuments' Senior Director of Professional Services, DMS implementation success is typically based on … “1. Project support and communication from the top-down; 2.Know your data and clean it up/plan accordingly; and 3. Spend the correct amount of time on workflow and security.”

Failure to communicate

As evidenced by our expert conversations and survey feedback, communication breakdowns are more times than not the source of DMS projects gone badly. According to Jeff Alluri, Principal, VP Consulting with Element Technologies, DMS needs and the overall business case are not always clearly spelled out. “The message as to "why" we are choosing a DMS needs to be clearly understood by everyone within the law firm. With that being said, communication both internally at the law firm and externally with the selected DMS vendor is vital, and many times one or both of these are dropped or there is simply not enough of it.”

Jennifer McComb, a consultant with Software Analysis Corporation, also doubles down on the importance of communication. “Lack of communication is reason #1, #2 and #3 why DMS implementations often fail. Remember, your implementation person can't work in a vacuum. Make sure the people who will be actually using the product have a say in its setup. And, remember, implementation doesn't end at go-live. Be available for follow up.”

Another “why DMS implementations fail’ argument made by several of the surveyed DMS experts focused on the lack of change management and the overall perception that “we are dealing with a technology not a business issue.” 

Adds Michael Georgopoulos, eSentio’s Director of Document and Information Management Systems: "IT-led projects focus only on the technical conversion issues” making the point that a myopic, IT only view might make it more difficult to affect broader change. Viewing it only as a technology project fails to see the larger picture of how the system impacts business for the entire firm. It can also make another critical factor for success that much more difficult — leadership and staff buy-in.

Finally, lack of planning, regardless of where it starts, can bring down even the savviest and brightest technologists and product experts, and, most cutting-edge technology. 

The future is now

As I wrote in Legal Management, so much of what is wrong with DMS projects is most definitely also what’s right. Don't cut corners, plan accordingly, create a 'buy-in' culture, test until  the cows come home, (over) communicate, and when you think everyone's 'up to speed' on the DMS, offer up more user training. and more hands-on DMS KM transfer.

Hey Legal, What's the State of our Industry? ALM Intelligence Speaks

‘Pre’ Legalweek New York began today with various premium boot camp-style intensives but Tuesday’s ‘State of the Industry’ general session at 9AM (Grand Ballroom West) marks the official kick-off for Legalweek 2018. I had a chance to touch base with Steve Kovalan and Nicholas Bruch, both senior analysts with ALM Intelligence and tomorrow’s ‘state of the union’ session leaders.

Steve Kovalan
Senior Analyst, ALM Intelligence

Nicholas Bruch
Senior Analyst, ALM Intelligence

Check out this insightful Q&A before you head into the session tomorrow and you might be one of the smartest (but definitely most informed) folks in the room. I attended the 2017 session, really a useful, perhaps sobering way to kick-off the conference, and was constantly reminded that law firms are (still) lousy listeners when it comes to acting on as Kovalan and Bruch put it, the ‘changing field of play’, especially in terms of new competitors and evolving client demands. So as we head into this year’s session, the elephant in the room if you will is whether law firms have made any strides in terms of recognizing change and taking proactive measures to address increasing client as well as market demands?

IL: Before we dive into some of your findings, can you tell us a bit more about your research scope and focus for this project?

ALM: When we prepare for this presentation each year we try to do two things. Firstly, we reflect on what we are hearing from law firm leaders, law department leaders, and other leaders in the legal industry. We spend a lot of time talking to people in leading roles in the industry. It is important to us that this presentation reflects on those conversations and connects to the trends they are seeing in their own businesses and the narratives that we see forming out in the legal market which try to help explain why things are moving in the way they are. The second thing we do is take a deep dive into the data to help explain some of the trends and, when needed, debunk some commonly held beliefs that aren’t supported by the data.

IL: Last year, your state of the industry session was focused on three central themes: disruption, innovation, and revolution. How does 2018 compare in terms of focus areas? SK & NB: This year’s presentation certainly touches on the themes we discussed last year. Disruption is still a major conversation in the legal industry and you will see that trend continued in this year’s presentation. Our focus this year, however, is slightly different. We want to show people what the data says about the future of the legal market and provide a coherent view of where the legal market is heading over the next decade. IL: What are the top 3 significant data points, perhaps even ‘wow moments’ you will be sharing during your session?

ALM: Different parts of the audience will find different data points more compelling so we try to put something in the presentation for everyone. We suspect individuals from law departments and ASPs will find some of the insourcing data particularly compelling; the law firm audience will find the data on billing rates and GDP growth of interest and our analysis on the future of the legal market should be compelling and thought-provoking to all.

IL: You mention that based on your data analysis, the legal industry is undergoing a significant, if subtle, shift. What are you seeing?

ALM:  People tend to see things in extremes – either everything is changing or nothing is. That tendency is as true in the legal market as it is anywhere and you see it all the time. We're constantly hearing predictions about the “death of the hourly rate” or the “death of Big Law”. Our analysis suggests there is a shift happening in the legal market, but it’s not quite that dramatic. If we look at the legal market 20 years ago it was fairly straightforward – law departments managed the work and law firms did the work. This is obviously a generalization, but it is also broadly true. Law department’s primary task was deciding which law firms got what work and on what terms, while law firms did the vast majority of high and medium value work (and a fair amount of low value work). Today’s market is a bit more complex. Law departments still play the role of manager but law firms now share their market with in-house teams, alternative service providers, and increasingly, with the legal arms of The Big 4. The looming question for the future of the legal market is how all of this new competition is going to impact the space that law firms once owned. Many people seem to believe that the answer to that question is fairly straightforward – that law firms will lose market share at the expense of these new competitors. We believe the data suggests a slightly more nuanced outcome is more likely. We think some law firms will be highly successful. But we also believe that many will, indeed, loose share to new rivals. We think success in the future legal market will be based on a firm’s ability to provide a unique value proposition. Some firms will success because they have the scale to deliver services more cheaply. Others will succeed because they are profitable enough to buy the best talent. Regardless of the specific value proposition we strongly believe the market is moving to a world in which firms – whether they be law firms or ASPs – must be highly focused.

IL: Based on your analysis and insights, what major trends will be impacting the legal industry this year and further down the road?

ALM: 1. The Big 4: The Big 4 are coming for the legal market. The legal arms of the Big 4 are still largely underappreciated. We strongly believe that there is growing evidence that the Big 4 are targeting a position in the legal market which threatens law firms and traditional ASPs.

2. Consolidation: The consolidation we have seen in the legal market over the past several years is likely to continue and, probably, accelerate. We will see more law firm mergers and more ASP mergers. We believe it is highly likely that the Big 4 will go on a buying spree in the ASP market for example.

3.  Divergence: The data clearly shows that there is an ever-widening gulf growing in the law firm market. Law firms are growing more and more different from each other – in terms of profitability, size and operational models. We think we will see this trend continue and probably accelerate. In 10 years full-service law firms will look dramatically different from bet the company firms.

4.  Litigation Finance: The litigation finance trend has just begun and it is arguably one of the biggest and most exciting trends in the legal industry right now. It has the power to be a major force for change in the legal industry. It could, for example, spur new demand for litigation services (via an uptick in lawsuits). It could also spur changes in the way litigation is priced and managed.

5.  Law Firm Failures: We have seen quite a few law firm failures in the past years. Dramatic failures – with law firms going into bankruptcy – and less dramatic ones – with failing law firms “merging” into “white knight” firms. The data suggests this trend will continue and potentially accelerate. There is significant volatility in law firm financials. Many firms can withstand a single bad year – but few are in a position to withstand two or three bad years.

6.  CLOC Movement: We think the CLOC Movement – a term that we use to describe the changes going on in-house – will continue to evolve. Currently, it appears to be focused on in-sourcing. We suspect that will change in the coming years to a greater focus on vendor management and more sophisticated sourcing strategies.

IL: In 2017, you commented on the ‘changing field of play’ with various graphs and visuals. What are you seeing this year?

ALM: The trends we have seen on the client side – that we highlighted in the ‘changing field of play’ slide last year – have continued. Clients continue to report that they are in-sourcing more and that they are using ASPs more. We provide new data, particularly on the in-sourcing trend, in this year’s presentation. We're very optimistic about the future of the ASP market. In the short term, we think they have a lot of scope to grow in areas like litigation support, contracts, and due diligence. In the longer term, we think there are even more opportunities. We are less convinced about the future of the in-sourcing trend. The largest law departments may be able to effectively manage large portions of their legal work themselves. But we're not certain most departments will have the scale to compete with ASPs and law firms. We think in-sourcing is a transitionary step. As stronger alternatives grow, we suspect law departments will follow the direction of other support functions in large corporations. Most marketing departments, IT departments, and finance departments outsource large portions of their work. It is tempting to think law departments are an outlier – but we suspect they are not.

IL: Lastly, for anyone on the fence about attending your ‘state of the industry’ session on Tuesday at 9Am, what’s the one compelling reason you can give them to make this a ‘must see’?

ALM: The legal industry has gotten so large and complex over the past several years that it is easy to miss the forest for the trees. Many people live in their own bubble within the legal industry. Law firm partners are surrounded by other law firm partners. They might be highly aware of the trends within the law firm market and they probably know quite a bit about the law department trends as well. But, we suspect, most partners know very little about the happenings in the ASP world or the LegalTech world. The same can be said about individuals who work in ASPs, law departments, or LegalTech. This presentation is a chance to see the forest and the trees at once. To be able to see how the corner of the legal industry fits into the broader picture. We think that is incredibly valuable for most people, particularly business leaders. We are focused on what the data can tell us. We base our findings on imperial evidence, on analysis of large longitudinal data sets. Presentations like this one are meant to bring together some of our best research from the past year to provide business leaders with a set of facts to help them better understand the marketplace.

Get your Legal Week Tuesday started right by attending this state of the legal industry session at 9AM in Grand Ballroom West.