Innovation In Law Firms

"Educational needs of practicing lawyers are explored with a practical guide provided. Details the legal ecosystem and how its complex, varied and often overlapping parts can and should be handled by practicing attorneys, alternative legal service providers and "non-legal" professionals"--

With barely a week going by without news that yet another chief innovation officer has taken up residence in a global law firm, it's clear innovation is still a hot topic, continuing to grow and expand in terms of its reach within law firms. However, despite rapid advancement in recent years, it's generally acknowledged that legal is behind the curve in terms of innovation compared to the rest of the corporate world. It's also generally assumed that innovation relates purely to technology - meaning none but the largest companies with the deepest pockets can benefit from it. This insightful book features contributions from legal firms doing innovative things in all aspects of the fi eld, going beyond the enabling technology - from partnering with clients to productizing services, developing external alliances, transforming the talent management function, to encouraging lawyers to invest billable time in new innovative approaches to the business and practice of law - as well as approaches to dealing with market disruption itself.

Inside the Minds: The Innovative Lawyer is the most authoritative book ever written on the essentials behind the practice of law and management of a law firm. This title features Chairman, Presidents and Managing Partners from some of the nations top law firms, who have each contributed chapters akin to objective, experience-related white papers or essays on the ins and outs of successful firm leadership and the place of innovation in the legal practice. In an over-arching as well as in-depth presentation of the fundamentals, authors articulate the unspoken rules and the important issues facing any attorney or firm leader, and what will hold true into the future. From examining the fundamental role of the lawyer and the lawyer-client relationship, to evaluating changes in legislation and industry-wide and addressing the need for innovation, this book pulls readers through all facets of the successful practice of law, from beginning to end. The different niches represented and the various perspectives presented enable readers to get inside the great legal minds and gain valuable insights into the industry, as the experts go back to basics in a must-read for anyone interested in legal management, the law and the intersection of the two.

This book concerns the impact of recent changes in technology (including the internet and artificial intelligence), as well as innovations (such as the changing ways of billing, new law firm structures and requirements and new employment practices) on the wellbeing of lawyers. There is evidence that the wellbeing of lawyers can be enhanced or diminished by these new practices and developments.

The legal sector is being hit by profound economic and technological changes (digitalization, open data, blockchain, artificial intelligence ...) forcing law firms and legal departments to become ever more creative in order to demonstrate their added value. To help lawyers meet this challenge, this book draws on the perspectives of lawyers and creative specialists to analyze the concept and life cycle of legal innovations, techniques and services, whether related to legislation, legal engineering, legal services, or legal strategies, as well as the role of law as a source of creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Innovation in legal services remains a hot topic, yet technology adoption does not always keep up with the hype. While there is a plethora of academic and professional research about the area, there is a lack of guidance on the practicalities of helping professionals actually get innovation right.This book focuses on implementing innovation and the innovation process in a law firm, from pilot to adoption and everything in between (whether that be within the law firm itself or undertaken by the law firm's clients). Divided into four parts to reflect the innovation lifecycle of examine, explore, develop and reflect, this book is a practical guide for those starting or doing innovation in law firms. Students keen to know how innovation is implemented in practice will also find it useful.Innovation in Law Firms is packed with insight from the authors who lead the award-winning innovation team at Weightmans, and who have experience of starting innovation from scratch, as well as viewpoints ranging from the strategic, board-level perspective to the on-the-ground experience of actually doing innovation projects. It is practical rather than theoretical in style and aims to fill some of the adoption gap by exploring the highs and lows of innovating in law firms, and outlining practical steps that can be taken to mitigate some of the potential pitfalls. Whether at the start or part way through an innovation journey, this book allows readers to dip in and out providing guidance on specific issues as they arise as part of the innovation lifecycle.

What does innovation look like for a traditional industry such as law? How will innovation create margins that law firms can capitalise on? Law Firm Innovation: Insights and Practice by multiple expert contributors answers these questions and provides an overview of innovation options and practices in a changing legal marketplace.