Innovation is a Four Letter Word (but not really)
Having gone through the peak of the hype cycle, innovation currently seems to be considered by some a dirty word. The reason for this is not, of course, that legal is actually over the concept of doing things differently and better, or – for heaven’s sake – that we’ve reached the pinnacle of genuine law firm innovation. It’s that the word innovation has been overused. Say any word enough times and it loses its meaning. Go on – right now, I dare you, repeat the word “innovation” out loud for a full 30 seconds and you tell me whether it doesn’t sound like utter nonsense by the end. That’s what we’ve done to it. We’ve removed it from its context and thereby emptied it of meaning. The absurdity of a word without meaning, that is still used widely as though it had meaning – that’s what we’re all railing against.
And really, did it ever have any meaning? Innovation has as many different meanings as there are eras, as there are industries. It means both everything and nothing. That which was once innovative is now dull and tired. The very essence of the word lies in the necessity to redefine it over and over, as the previous meaning continuously gives way to the status quo. Its meaning is organic, therefore transient, therefore impossible to pin down - and another reason the legaltech community is irritated by the word’s continued use in contexts that assume it has inherent meaning.
And yet I’m going to tell you that one of the values that makes a firm worth ongoing consideration for client panels is an innovative spirit. What do I mean by that?
Firms that have exhibited no interest in the changes that are happening in the market, those that make no genuine attempt to show that their lawyers are adapting to the new processes and technologies that are now available to assist their practice, that are not initiating discussions around new fee arrangements and new types of timekeepers, who are comfortably resting on their laurels because they have made a crazy amount of money every year for years on end and they don’t want to consider it will ever stop – they are not the firms that clients will want to partner with into the future. Unless of course, we’re all wrong and change isn’t coming and lawyers a century ago had it right all along. Toss out those laptops, get rid of the cell phone, pick up a biro and practice your cursive.
Assuming that change IS on the horizon, here are some qualities that will reveal a firm is innovative enough to keep up, even if the word they use for this may not be “innovation”.
• Timekeepers with all kinds of titles – because not all billable matter-related work requires a legal education, and not all of it should be billed out as though it did.
• New roles across the firm that are no longer so likely to include the word “innovation” but now might sound quite specific and rather foreign to the traditional legal environment. Here are some examples of real jobs posted recently for law firms:
o Design Lead
o Legal Technologist, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Automation
o Knowledge Engineer
o Legal Engineer
o Product Manager
o Data Scientist
o KM Technology Solutions Manager
o Process Improvement Specialist
• Hiring consistently from out-of-industry for roles such as the above.
• The outsourcing or insourcing to low-cost centers of repetitive work processes such as due diligence, eDiscovery, lease review work, standard low-value negotiation, concierge functions (gaining in ubiquity).
• Business teams that are client-facing, offering bundled services beyond legal, having face-to-face conversations with clients about more than legal work, collaborating with client teams and offering holistic strategic solutions and advice.
• Client service delivery modes that are in keeping with the way that we communicate as humans on earth today: mobile, immediate, continuously available and responsive across platforms.
• Matters staffed in new ways, with inherently diverse teams working globally and often remotely (perhaps even on contract) to service international clients.
• Use of legaltech that has become so ingrained in so many elements of practice that it is no longer considered special and is no longer submitted for innovation awards – instead it quietly works to really and effectively streamline practice.
• Development of subscription products that are sold at worth rather than given away for free as “value-adds”.
• Flat fee pricing as a matter of course rather than a unicorn – the identification of standard work and packaging of such services performed routinely as part of the overall budgeting for new work.
There are many other characteristics that go towards revealing that a firm is moving with the times and will continue to do so (if you are reading this on LinkedIn or Twitter, I encourage you to chime in and list others). It is worth taking a moment to consider those characteristics because the firms that shout about innovation are not necessarily the ones doing it, and as a client, I’m sure that can be confusing. After all, it’s easy to spot the firms that win awards (and paid for the pleasure). It’s hard to recognize the firms that are heads-down, conscientiously getting the work done that is necessary to transform legal practice in line with – even ahead of - change in the market. Adaptability has long been associated with survival, and that’s what we are really talking about here: survival. How will law firms survive, what will the firms look like that do survive? Continuous effort to move with the times reveals adaptability, and it is the firms who successfully adapt who will make it. Last week someone told me that the UK law firm he works for considers itself to offer professional services first, legal services second. There is no innovation award you could possibly win for that, and yet it represents a complete reimagining of the traditional large law model.
Of course, there are many firms doing both - quietly working away and also promoting that work in the industry. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as the achievements for which awards are won are not performed once and then forgotten - as long as they actually represent a new way of doing things. Because the future will lie with those who understand that in order to re-infuse the word “innovation” with meaning, they have to work diligently and consistently to turn what is currently regarded by the mainstream as “innovative”, into the new status quo.
It’s not a game show…
It’s hard work