Originally published by Zena Applebaum.
Over the past month I have given about a dozen talks in large conference settings with hundred of people, or at smaller intimate partner/ counsel lunches, or for people spanning the globe via webinar. The discussions have ranged in content and theme but all were legal industry favourites including:
- the state of the legal industry 10 years out from the great recession of 2018;
- the seat change from Baby Boomers to Millennials in firms, and what that means for the way work is done, how people are motivated and what success looks like;
- competitive intelligence – what is means in and for the legal industry right now;
- personal branding for lawyers and non lawyers and why it matters; and
- emerging legal technology tools, adoption techniques, use cases and efficiency plays;
In each room and with each discussion, there have been those who have heard it all before, who are frustrated by the inertia of the industry and who bristle at hearing it all again. But the majority of the market whether in house or outside counsel, senior partner or fresh faced associate, law clerk or technologist are very much grappling with what to do and how to make sense of all of the changes happening in the industry. The proverbial “they” suggest that the only constant is change. And the legal industry is very much in the middle of it. There are changes to the way the law is practised, with more and ever changing legally focused technology, reduced hourly billing in face of less demand and more alternatives to traditional firms, predictive analytics around litigation, artificial intelligence supporting contract review and the list goes on. These are changes unique and special to the legal industry, whereas the need to define a personal brand, to provide the right kind of feedback to engage millennial employees and stay one step ahead of the market, are universal business concerns not unique to the legal industry at all.
When taken together, it is not just the pace of change that seems overwhelming but also the various types of change that are making moving ahead a daunting task. Should the focus of industry training be on soft skills like communications or harder more disciplined skills like the rule of law? Should we teach coding to lawyers or law to coders? These are tough questions, questions with no definitive answers for the moment. We need the legal industry to adapt to the ways of the post internet/AI world with new business models, new compensation and reward models and much more client focus. This we know. How each firm or department gets there – will be entirely culturally specific and one organization’s first move may be another’s crowning jewel. Just as every firm was created to fill a specific void and found its own niche, so too will each firm find its way to adapt. Or it won’t, and some firms will go the way of the dinosaurs….but maybe there is another way. A differed approach to thinking about the industry change.
Along with all my own speaking opportunities and sharing of thought leadership, I also had the honour of being a guest at the Toronto Agile Community Conference. The conference was fascinating and what I thought would be a purely tech show turned out to be so much more. Most of the sessions I chose to attend were on Leadership or Culture related to Agile Methodology. One of the insights I gained was around the notion that to be truly agile, one needs to embrace learning, be open to and know how to learn, for true agility comes from the ability to morph and change as needed to meet the demands of a particular moment in time. While it relates primarily to programming and the building of technology, the methodology underscores the notion that in today’s tech driven world, we should think in terms of job security over role security or place over task. To learn how to learn is where the magic that happens between function, being and makes for a genuinely agile and fulfilling experience. Wow.
When I think about the legal industry (who are we kidding, I think about the legal industry more than the average person), there is much happening at the intersection of technology, process and people and yet it feels sometimes like we are standing still and not agile at all. What would happen if we took some of the typical industry discussions and applied an Agile lens. How might it all look different, for example might we really be making iterative progress – a key principle of Agile. For example:
- the state of the legal industry 10 years out from the great recession of 2018;
- In the last 10 years, law firms have become lean, iterative in their approach to pricing ranging from flat fees to AFAs and even hiring pricing people, law firms and alternative providers are flexible in the way they approach clients with bundled services, new offerings and expert advice…that’s pretty agile for an industry that spent the last several hundred years billing exclusively hourly, rarely ever bidding on work and maintaining large staffs of people at all levels of the organization.
- the seat change from Baby Boomers to Millennials in firms, and what that means for the way work is done, how people are motivated and what success looks like;
- Firms have embraced VPN technology, many lawyers work from home, their cottages or their client’s offices. Non-partnership track streams are popping up at many firms, as are insourcing offices, diversity and inclusion initiatives all with a healthy dose of pro bono work all in an effort to make a new generation of lawyers feel happy and fulfilled;
- competitive intelligence – what is means in and for the legal industry right now;
- Firms and lawyers have acknowledged that the legal industry is a competitive business. Investing heavily in business development and client account management is driving priorities in firms. A recent BTI report even suggested this will be an area of continued investment in 2019 and beyond. The last decade has solidified the shift from focusing only on the practice of law to a focus on the business of law.
- personal branding for lawyers and non lawyers and why it matters; and
- If job security rather than role security are part of the new Agile world, then you need to be able to sell your capabilities not your function. Know who you are and be able to adapt, think about your genuine self as you would role models like Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah, even Snoop Dogg who have reinvented themselves time and time again in a effort to stay relevant and be successful. Lawyers and non lawyers in the industry now need to do the same.
- legal technology tools, techniques adoption, use cases and efficiency plays.
- With all the talk of lawyer robots taking over the world, I feel like this bullet is already Agile. Firms and departments are starting to embrace design thinking and agile methodology into their processes and ways of thinking about technology adoption, they are hiring Chief Innovation Officers and building out think tanks and tech incubators. That’s meta. That’s agile in action.
The industry is a buzz with change, new tools, new techniques and new ideas, of that there is no doubt. There is some sense that we have seen it all before, and we know how this movie ends, but I don’t think we do. I also think that we are moving things along at a pretty rapid pace when you consider where the legal industry was just 10 years ago and where we are today. Sure, there is SO much more we can and should be doing, and if you are unsure what I am referencing here, just read all of the 3 Geek Posts prior today or listen to The Geek in Review podcast. Instead of continuing to lament the rate of change, we need to embrace the new status quo – and help our firms and departments make the most sense of what is happening in a way that aligns best with strategic goals, organizational culture, appetite for technology and general market savvy. Technology is here to stay, and we need to continue to learn how to use it best for the sake our clients and our industries. I know there are many 3 Geeks readers and contributors that are willing to help too if you need it (just ask!). Part of being Agile, is knowing what you don’t know, failing fast and finding new answers. So while you may feel like the record is skipping, I promise its just making a new agile sound. So sit back and enjoy the record.
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
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