Efficiency has become the Holy Grail in today’s hypercompetitive legal environment. If a law firm can get their individual lawyers to practice more efficient work habits, clients will be happier, more business will be generated and increased profitability will surely follow.
However, it is in finding that elusive combination of motivation, innovation and skill that leads to greater efficiency that the search for this particular Grail becomes more complex.
If lawyers can become more efficient they are not only spending less time working on a matter, which immediately reduces write-offs and write-downs, they are also then able to use that saved time working on another matter or looking for more work, he explained. “But that’s the buy-in, persuading lawyers that there is a business case for this.”
It’s People & Process, Not Technology
Too many law firm leaders think technology is the primary solution, and that the latest gadget or software is going to fix this problem or make a firm more efficient, he noted. “But you can’t lead with technology, because it you do, then you’re trying to adapt the way people work to the new technology, and that’s backwards. Lawyers especially will resist. It’s in our nature.”