Information Superheroes

FINANCE | HR | IT | MARKETING | KM | MANAGEMENT | RISK KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ISSUE 13 | JULY 2011 Information superheroes Interview: Tom Baldwin, Reed Smith’s CKO The US/UK giant’s head of KM on how knowledge is at the heart of tomorrow’s firm Feature: How KM is boosting competitiveness How top 100 law firms are boosting their corporate brainpower to compete Plus: Phoenix Business Solutions on SJ Berwin’s killer KM 2 briefing on KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT www.legalsupportnetwork.co.uk It’s not what you know... go by, it is now a key route subject. Plus, we have a It’s the way that you know to productivity and client great feature on how firms it. Knowledge management value. Why? Because the are using KM systems and (KM) is no longer just about most forward-thinking firms people programmes to documents, precedents are now leveraging internal deliver more value internally and IT – it’s built itself a knowledge in innovative and externally. And we have vital role in making your ways to win business and a supplier’s view of how SJ firm more competitive and get closer to clients – and Berwin combined internal more efficient. stay there. and external knowledge KM has been coming In this issue we have sources to boost its out of the basement, so to a cracking interview with corporate brainpower. Enjoy. speak, for a few years, but the friendliest man in KM, if the evidence in this issue Rupert White, head of Tom Baldwin, who gives of Briefing is anything to content and community us a high-level view on the 03 07 11 Interview: Tom Baldwin Information superheroes Best of both worlds Rupert White talks to Reed Smith’s chief Joanna Goodman looks under the Ray Burch, technical director for Phoenix knowledge officer about why KM is now bonnet at some of the UK’s top firms to Business Solutions, on why connecting central to delivering a more see how KM is coping with a fundamental internal and external information is the key efficient, more profitable law firm shift in the structure of legal business to competitiveness How Briefing works Briefing features editorially independent interviews and feature Clients want to see articles as well as sponsored editorial. what engagement All sponsored editorial is marked as such. We re-interview supplier case we have with project studies and edit sponsored articles to make sure we deliver valuable, management and useful content for readers. process improvement, because they have it in Become a Briefing sponsor Want to get involved in Briefing? Call one of the their own business – and legalsupportnetwork team on 0870 112 5058, or click to email us at [email protected] they’re expecting their law firms to do it. Our interview with Tom Baldwin was Tom Baldwin, CKO, Reed Smith transcribed by: ISSUE 13 | JULY 2011 3 briefing on KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT www.legalsupportnetwork.co.uk INTERVIEW Power in knowledge Tom Baldwin, chief knowledge officer at US/UK giant Reed Smith, talks to Rupert White about why KM is now central to delivering a more efficient, more profitable law firm Knowledge management, on efficiency that we’ve never you’re working for fixed fees or KM, used to be one of experienced before. It’s given or a more sophisticated those areas in law firms to KM practitioners an opportu- arrangement, Baldwin says, which partners sent lawyers nity to demonstrate what we the pressure is on to deliver who didn’t want to do the can bring to the table.” on-budget. Price predictability long hours, or geeks who Knowledge management is now the watchword, but liked computers more than hasn’t been seen, traditionally, clients don’t want to sacrifice litigation. No more. as a department that can help quality – “and that’s really KM has spent the last create competitive advantage. where knowledge manage- few years coming out of the But this is changing, Baldwin ment comes into play”. cupboard, and now it’s playing says – it’s now dealing Can KM really play a part a key role in forward-thinking increasingly directly with in this that’s equal to finance firms, both in delivering and clients, partly because clients or BD? Sure, Baldwin says winning work. Tom Baldwin are involving purchasing – in fact, KM plays a vital is chief knowledge officer at departments and procurement prerequisite role, because, he Reed Smith, a firm that would, in their legal buying. “We’re says: “How do you know what if it were a UK-headquartered having to have a much more something costs?” business, be in financial terms business-focused conversa- Delivering on AFAs is in number five in the Lawyer’s tion,” he says. many ways about working out top 100. He says KM is at a “Simply going into a pitch how much work costs to do. pivotal point – it has the power with your CV and your league The way firms do this is to go to deliver on some of firms’ tables really doesn’t impress back over similar work and key needs, both in terms of somebody who has no calculate what that work has delivering on the new world of context towards those things.” cost you to do. Simple, right? alternative fee arrangements The downside is the Not if your data is wrong. (AFAs), and in terms of making pressure clients are putting on “In a perfect world you’ve them more efficient, more firms to become much more already got all of your matters transparent to clients – funda- precise on pricing – “and not properly coded and tagged so mentally, better businesses. only do we have to be precise that it’s easy to go into your “We’re going through sort on pricing, but our clients are financial system and look that of a renaissance in KM, and now holding us accountable to up and bing, bang, boom, I think it’s largely due to the hit those numbers”. you’re up and running. But in downturn in the economy Worse, clients are expecting reality… crazy as it sounds, – and it’s probably been the – demanding – that firms meet many firms struggle with the best the thing that ever hap- those promised numbers, right data points on a broad pened to KM, because there’s often regardless of however enough spectrum of matters a focus and premium placed many hours it takes. Whether to be able to have good ISSUE 13 | JULY 2011 4 briefing on KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT www.legalsupportnetwork.co.uk INTERVIEW TOM BALDWIN business intelligence across Baldwin’s team built a system Baldwin’s home turf, and it has own business – and they’re the board.” called ouRSite, a web-based numerous significant knock-on expecting their law firms to This puts KM in a central extranet through which clients effects, including a movement do it.” position in delivering ‘the new can see how matters are away from practice divisions At Reed Smith, this is also pricing’ (see Briefing on AFAs being staffed and how the firm with firms and towards client partly being delivered by for more on that) – but it’s is progressing against budget. and sector teams – partly embedding into teams lawyers also becoming indispensible This is especially valuable if because clients like law firms who have “substantive experi- when it comes to delivering on the firm has create a bespoke to talk their language. ence in certain areas but also the hard promises that AFAs workflow for the client. “Our major clients are in have process improvement create, because, Baldwin It also addresses a very pharmaceutical, life sciences, backgrounds, who have done says, it must now manage the modern client concern – that manufacturing, financial process mapping and process work to deliver with a margin when firms propose AFAs, services and energy, and we improvement engagements”. within the AFA. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re in the UK, Carmel US or Australia – no matter where you are, these pricing pres- sures are real, and lawyers are “Clients want to see what having a hard time adjusting engagement we have with to them because it’s requiring them to do things differently.” project management and process improvement Process power because they have it in So, it’s down to KM to provide their own business – and new tools to help ‘process map’ what lawyers do, “find they’re expecting their law areas of deficiency and help firms to do it.” create better processes, so that they’re more streamlined”. Tom Baldwin, chief knowledge officer, Reed Smith This also means identifying better staffing models to ensure work is done in a more cost-effective way while still delivering quality, and “inject- clients worry that they’re going have dedicated client teams This isn’t just a recession- ing technology where we can, to unduly staff the work with in those areas. In most cases, driven fad. “The reality is our to help automate the creation lower-level resources. Deliver- those industries are very clients are never going to go of forms or automate other ing more matter transparency process-oriented, even in the back to the old norm. They’re processes that used to be through ouRSite means Reed legal departments – I’ve been going to demand accountabil- done in a manual fashion”. Smith can allay those fears. on-site with clients where [cli- ity, they’re going to demand “When you package all that Delivering these solutions ent] lawyers are talking [project certainty, and when you get to together, you get a process falls to KM, he says, and it management language] Six that level of rigour, you have to that’s [correctly] staffed, it’s drags the firm into a newer Sigma.

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