law firm and tech experts grapple with the numbers and discuss: how to harness data for added value

How can law firms leverage data for actionable insights? How do legal businesses structure their data-gathering and cleansing processes? Who should own and drive the collection of data and how can departments work together for firm-wide benefit?

These are some of the questions Briefing asked our panel of data gurus in our latest webcast, held on 29 June 2021, and available for viewing now. Our speakers included:

• Sadie Baron, chief marketing officer, Reed Smith
• Bob Hetherington, partner and head of management information, Weightmans
• Vincent Perrin, regional vice president for professional services, Salesforce
• Chaired by Richard Brent, editor-in-chief, Briefing

Back to basics

With data-rich repositories of knowledge considered by many to be the ‘new oil’, waiting to be tapped, processed and refined, how can this valuable commodity be used to generate value for clients – and, if they’re not careful, might firms end up drowning in data?

The first step is getting data centralised, said Hetherington – at Weightmans, that has meant developing a single source of truth and having practice management, case management, finance, HR and client relationship management systems feeding into a single data warehouse. 

But it’s not all about technology. Sadie Baron added that partners particularly could be prickly when it came to sharing contact and client information – but said adopting a data-sharing mindset is essential to a modern law firm’s functioning and its power to develop clients: “Everybody in the firm needs to understand we’re actually in the business of data these days – every email sent, phone call made, RFP received – they’re all data points. But there’s still a feeling that data collection sits ‘on top of’ the day job – so how do we embed data extraction as part of everyone’s day and demonstrate the value in doing so?”

Pinpoint value

At the same time, she added that firms should prioritise which data is the highest priority to collect and cleanse. “You can obsess too much about data hygiene. Pick your battles – only cleanse and enhance data that really matters to you.”

So, where is the demand for all this data coming form? “Clients aren’t just interested in basic reports any more – we’ve seen a lot of demand for benchmarking. They also want us to help drive their strategies and integrate their data into our systems,” Hetherington explained.

Sharing does create value, added Perrin, saying a reluctance from lawyers to ‘give up’ ‘their’ data is a common obstacle. “There’s a lot of effort needed in legal to deliver what’s basically table stakes in other industries – but that means the potential for gains in legal is huge.”

Hear more data-based insights in the full webcast recording

Want to watch the video on YouTube? Click here.

deliver: virtual roundtable WITH NETDOCUMENTS

DELIVER is the last in our series of webcasts with our friends at NetDocuments, under the banner of Work Inspired. Briefing’s deputy editor Kayli Olson and Guy Phillips, VP international business at NetDocuments, talked to leaders across professional services firms to discuss about how they can improve productivity and deliver better value to their clients. We’ve looked at key areas each session to see how firms can ‘Protect, Organise Deliver, Plan and Learn’ from work. 

For this session, we looked at how firms can harness the power of collaboration, innovation and technology to better coordinate teams and improve service delivery. Big thank you to those who joined us for this discussion: Elizabeth Benegas, general counsel, NetDocuments; Kate Stanfield, director of knowledge management, Collas Crill; Kelly Clay, global eDiscovery counsel and director of legal technology strategy, GSK; Lucy Dillon, chief knowledge officer, Reed Smith; Mabel Harvey, IT director, Fieldfisher; and Richard Robinson, director, legal operations and litigation support, Toyota. 

Overall the series uncovered, challenges and solutions around key business areas:  

• Collaboration – Collaboration tools and technology has changed working habits and is connecting dispersed teams – however it’s human connection that’s the key here. 
• Experimentation – Firms have really started to lean in to trying new things and are understanding that the new normal isn’t set in stone; we’ll most likely have to stay agile in more ways than one.  

• Joining up experiences across platforms – The pandemic has shown just how important it is to create a unified and clear experience across the firm both internally and externally.  
• Security and risk – Risk and compliance and IT teams are closer more now than ever as well. And cybersecurity remains a high priority as teams learn to work from home, stay compliant and keep client data safe.  
• Culture – Ultimately it comes down to people and culture. No successful technology or strategy roll out can be made possible without the full engagement and support of staff.  

Watch the discussion now to see how our guests’ firms compare to yours.  

Webinar time: 55 minutes. Take a look at the YouTube page for specific timestamps, so you can find content more easily.