Business Intelligence for Law Firms - Ark Group

16 Pages·2012·1.53 MB·English

Business Intelligence for Law Firms
Zena applebaum
p ublIshed by I n assocIatIon wIth
Business Intelligence for Law Firms
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Business Intelligence for Law Firms
Zena applebaum
publIshed by In assocIatIon wIth
CCoonntteennttss
Executive summary ............................................................................................................VII
About the author................................................................................................................IX
About the contributors ........................................................................................................XI
Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................XIII
Glossary of terms ..............................................................................................................XV
Part One: The theory of business intelligence
Chapter 1: Setting the stage for intelligence .......................................................................3
Business intelligence ..............................................................................................................4
Competitive intelligence ........................................................................................................5
Market intelligence ................................................................................................................6
Intelligence in any form .........................................................................................................6
Back up and security .............................................................................................................7
Intelligence in law firms .........................................................................................................7
Business intelligence – at the heart of knowing what one knows ...............................................8
Chapter 2: The law firm difference ...................................................................................11
Law firm business challenges ...............................................................................................11
Organizational structure ......................................................................................................11
Hourly billing ......................................................................................................................13
Working silos ......................................................................................................................13
Meeting law firm challenges with business intelligence ...........................................................14
Big data .............................................................................................................................15
Chapter 3: Business intelligence inputs .............................................................................17
Accounting .........................................................................................................................19
Administration ....................................................................................................................19
Marketing...........................................................................................................................20
Knowledge management .....................................................................................................21
Precedent systems ...............................................................................................................21
III
Contents
Legal process management .................................................................................................21
In a perfect world................................................................................................................24
Chapter 4: The road-map to successful business intelligence ............................................25
The six-step road map for business intelligence success .........................................................25
New roles and responsibilities ..............................................................................................27
Business intelligence analyst .................................................................................................28
Speed bumps .....................................................................................................................29
Innovative competition ........................................................................................................29
No clear strategy ................................................................................................................29
Bogged down in technology ................................................................................................30
Chapter 5: The numbers game.........................................................................................31
What is an alternative fee arrangement? ...............................................................................31
Billing systems ....................................................................................................................32
Paradigm shift .....................................................................................................................33
The math ...........................................................................................................................35
What this means .................................................................................................................36
Success factors for alternative fee arrangements ....................................................................36
Accounting data – The other stories .....................................................................................37
New client openings ............................................................................................................37
Matter openings for existing clients .......................................................................................37
Cross-selling opportunities ...................................................................................................38
Chapter 6: Knowledge management is business in intelligence ........................................39
What is knowledge management? ........................................................................................39
Taxonomy/categorizations ....................................................................................................41
Knowledge management data sets for business intelligence ...................................................43
Opportunities in knowledge management .............................................................................44
Chapter 7: Business intelligence for marketing and marketing
business intelligence ........................................................................................................45
The marketing experience database .....................................................................................45
Metrics: finding meaning in experience .................................................................................46
Client relationship management: an obvious but underused data center .................................47
Setting strategy with marketing business intelligence ..............................................................47
Social media and news feeds ...............................................................................................48
Tools for supporting marketing business intelligence: brand intelligence ..................................49
Marketing intelligence monitoring strategy ............................................................................49
Marketing business intelligence ............................................................................................49
Chapter 8: E-discovery and legal project management .....................................................51
E-discovery/document management .....................................................................................51
The e-discovery toolbox .......................................................................................................53
IV
Business Intelligence for Law Firms
E-discovery inputs for business intelligence ............................................................................53
Legal project management ..................................................................................................55
Communication ..................................................................................................................56
Firms applying legal practice management ...........................................................................57
E-discovery and legal practice management as data .............................................................57
Chapter 9: Secure intelligence – protecting what one knows ............................................59
Why security needs institutional intelligence ...........................................................................59
How much security is required? ............................................................................................60
Shared challenges, shared toolsets .......................................................................................62
Breaking more silos.............................................................................................................63
Actionable intelligence ........................................................................................................63
Unrealized opportunities ......................................................................................................64
Chapter 10: Putting what one knows together ..................................................................65
Data warehouses ................................................................................................................65
Whether or not to centralize business intelligence ..................................................................66
Collaboration .....................................................................................................................67
Putting business intelligence to work .....................................................................................67
Knowing what one knows ....................................................................................................68
Part Two: Further discussion and case studies
Chapter 11: Even lawyers gotta have … personality .........................................................71
Personality rules ..................................................................................................................71
Drivers, emotions, personality, basic and complex motives .....................................................72
The five factor model ..........................................................................................................73
Motivations and values ........................................................................................................74
Defenses ............................................................................................................................75
Putting it all together ...........................................................................................................75
Chapter 12: Legal project management – Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s use of
process mapping ..............................................................................................................81
The mechanics of the process ..............................................................................................82
Process maps as training tools .............................................................................................83
Process mapping sessions with clients ...................................................................................83
Legal project management conception .................................................................................83
Process data .......................................................................................................................83
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................84
Chapter 13: Market research as business intelligence input ..............................................85
The rise of legal market research data ..................................................................................85
Firm 1: Competitive intelligence and brand development .......................................................87
Firm 2: Globalization and revenue growth ............................................................................88
V
Contents
Firm 3: Merger intelligence ..................................................................................................89
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................90
Chapter 14: The future of big data in law firms ................................................................91
Democratization including self-service business intelligence ....................................................91
The practice of law .............................................................................................................92
Confidentiality ....................................................................................................................92
Data warehouse architecture as a primary focus ...................................................................93
Master data management/data governance ..........................................................................93
Index ...............................................................................................................................95
VI
Executive summary
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE, or BI as it is possible, the report provides examples from
known, is the art and science of capturing legal or other industries, as well as providing
and assessing or analyzing data collected a series of charts, tables and graphs to
in the backend of technology applications illustrate the key concepts. It is the intention
within an organization for the purposes of the report to provide a didactic approach
of innovation, process improvement or to understanding BI in the law firm context.
forecasting change. BI as a discipline was The report starts at the very beginning
long ago adopted into mainstream business of the BI process, explaining the differences
practices, particularly and not surprisingly in between BI, competitive intelligence and
large data-driven organizations such as the market intelligence, and ending with an
consumer goods and hospitality industries, industry insider’s futuristic view of where
but it has only recently begun to be BI is headed in the context of law firms. In
incorporated into the law firm environment. between there are 10 chapters followed
Taking its cues from process improvement by five case studies or thought pieces
strategies such as Six Sigma, law firms have from industry specialists on topics ranging
started to look at the data they collect and/ from data security to how marketing and
or to actively start to collect data using the BI dovetail. Specific examples are given
technologies they currently have in an effort throughout. Since BI in law firms is a
to improve client relationships, maximize relatively new concept and those practicing
costs, and essentially harness the data BI maintain a strong competitive advantage,
flowing through the firm for a variety of several of the firms the author spoke with
purposes. Data of this sort can be actively or were unable to share best practices or case
passively collected, allowing for a range in studies. Therefore, to provide illustrative
the level of commitment required in starting examples, the report includes case studies
a BI function. from several non-competing service
This report is aimed at a broad law firm providers in the industry, whose clients have
audience and is based on the premise that consented to share how the two worked
all administrative groups within a firm should together to achieve BI success. There is also
be working together to provide collaborative a terrific and illuminating case study on the
intelligence inputs for BI. The report takes uses of BI in the legal project management
a practical view of BI and breaks down the process by Seyfarth Shaw.
data sets available to many of the non-legal In Chapter 1, the stage for intelligence
parts of law firms and explains how is set. The basic concepts of intelligence and
understanding the underlying data in these the central theme of the report – that knowing
areas of law firm management can improve what one knows is a competitive advantage
competitive advantage through BI. Wherever when underscored by BI – are discussed.
VII
Executive summary
Chapter 2 looks at law firms and what marketing intelligence and using BI as a
makes them different from other industries. key marketing differentiator.
Here differences in lawyers’ personalities Chapter 8 brings many of the lessons
compared to the general public are learned in earlier chapters together by
explored, along with some explanations introducing the concept of legal project
around how law firms function as a business management, which feeds off of the BI
and as a professional practice. inputs from accounting and knowledge
In Chapter 3 the various BI inputs, management data and provides a terrific
from time keeper entries to customer outlet for marketing. This chapter provides
relationship management system records, some examples of what firms in Canada,
are addressed across the various the U.S. and internationally are doing with
administrative and management functions respect to legal project management.
of law firms. Several of these functions The remaining chapters are written by
are revisited later in the report in chapters industry insiders, including legal project
containing specific examples. management experts at Seyfarth’s in
Chapter 4 is a roadmap for BI success in Chicago, who discuss various issues raised
law firms. This chapter is a highlight of the throughout the report from their distinctive
report and focuses on the six fundamental perspective. These chapters provide firsthand
steps to creating and nurturing a successful experience and case studies of firms or
BI program in a law firm. It also includes service providers as they grapple with and
some challenges or ‘speed bumps’ to be implement many of the strategies presented
aware of with regards to BI. in the report in relation to law firm BI.
Chapter 5 starts by looking into what
each management area of law firms has to Contributors to this report include: Mark
offer in terms of BI. This chapter considers Sirkin, Heather Eskra and Kim Craig, Mark
accounting data and how it can be used to Gediman, Lisa Hart Shepherd, Adam
help increase a firm’s profitability – including Carlson, and Norm Mullock.
changing the way a firm thinks about
revenue and profitability.
Knowledge management is covered in
Chapter 6. This is the discipline concerned
with model precedents, clauses and research
memos. How the sharing of this data set
enables a firm to determine what it knows
from a substantive point of view and how
capturing this information can transform a
firm’s efficiency and increase its bottom line
are discussed.
Chapter 7 takes a look at the
marketing a firm does and encourages
firms to understand how much intelligible
and useful data is available within the
marketing produced by the firm. There is
a two-pronged approach here, in terms of
VIII
About the author
ZENA APPLEBAUM is the manager of intelligence and intranet at Bennett Jones LLP, a leading
national and international law firm based in Canada. Zena’s primary responsibilities include
conducting analyses of market and competitor performance to inform the firm’s growth, practice
development, business development, client relationship management, counter-intelligence and
marketing. Tying it all together, she enables the collaboration and sharing of information and
intelligence throughout the firm via its award-winning intranet.
She brings a unique perspective to intelligence and the dynamics of market and industry issues
as a result of broad business development, marketing, and corporate research experience across a
variety of sectors including technology, hospitality, government, healthcare and professional services.
A frequent writer and speaker, Zena imparts information on competitive, market and business
intelligence topics in Canada and abroad, with a particular emphasis on the legal sector. She is
a regular guest contributor to the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog. Her articles and chapters have been
published in PM Forum Marketing Magazine, the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Foundation’s
Starting a Competitive Intelligence Function (2008), and by The Ark Group.
Zena is a Toronto steering committee member of the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence
Professionals organization, an advisory board member of the Special Libraries Association
competitive intelligence division, and a member at large of the Professional Marketing Forum. Zena
has a joint academic and applied Masters degree in communication and culture from York and
Ryerson Universities.
Zena Applebaum lives in Toronto, Canada and can be reached at [email protected],
on LinkedIn at ca.linkedin.com/pub/zena-applebaum/0/305/b70, or on Twitter at ZAppleCI.
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