by Brian Focht | Dec 16, 2014
This post is the second in my continuing series “Knowledge Management for Lawyers” Part 1: 7 Expensive Ways Lawyers Fail at Knowledge Management Part 2: Track Your Results! Part 3: Establish a Routine My first attempts to create what I now know as a Knowledge Management database of my practice of law were a failure. Not because I didn’t have some idea what I wanted to analyze. In fact, I knew exactly what I wanted to analyze – mediations. I had been in practice for about two years, working at firm in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, practicing primarily insurance defense. I knew what metrics I wanted. I wanted to find out the tendencies of attorneys, mediators, and adjusters. I even knew how to do it. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty good with Microsoft Excel, and what I didn’t know could usually be found online. Or by calling my friend Neal Robbins, a man smarter than I am when it comes to Excel (among other things). What I didn’t have was data. And it wasn’t because I hadn’t had enough mediations, it was because I hadn’t gotten in the habit of writing the information down.One of the first objections I heard when I started discussing knowledge management was that I was asking attorneys to add another non-revenue task to their day. It was an objection that I expected, and fully understand. Why do something that you can’t get paid for? But while I understand the objection, I fundamentally disagree. One of the biggest problems that lawyers who own their own business have is that their role includes two fundamentally different... read more
by Brian Focht | Nov 3, 2014
ThiThis post is the second in my continuing series “Knowledge Management for Lawyers” Part 1: 7 Expensive Ways Lawyers Fail at Knowledge Management Part 2: Track Your Results! Part 3: Establish a Routine Knowledge management means a lot of different things, but at its most basic level, it means being able to combine the collective experience and wisdom of your team into actionable data. Effective knowledge management takes that data and uses it to improve the quality or efficiency of your practice. Better results for your clients, at lower cost, and you’ve just solved the puzzle of how to beat your competition! But as a profession, we’re incredibly bad at collecting and utilizing this information. Not everyone, however, is bad at it. The plaintiff’s firm Crumley Roberts, based in North Carolina, has a fantastic system in place to improve efficiency. Way back in 2005, they had systems tracking the effectiveness of their local television ads, giving them insight on the best time of day to advertise on which channels, in which neighborhoods. This system allowed Crumley Roberts to become the largest plaintiff’s personal injury firm in the southeast. You’re not going to emulate Crumley Roberts’ success overnight, but you need to start somewhere… … and that somewhere is tracking your results. #493397129 / gettyimages.com NOT the best method! Where does your Knowledge Management journey begin? Most law firm knowledge management discussions begin with automation of information and documents currently available in your firm. Even though they might not be in the ideal format (paper, filed away and unsorted), this information exists in hard copy somewhere in your firm. I... read more
