LEGAL
Corporate law departments face increasing pressure to expand the scope and volume of their services, while operating with flat or shrinking budgets. This pressure is compounded by an evolving global economy that brings with it stricter regulatory regimes, greater compliance risk and more avenues to redress claims. Chief legal officers (CLOs) feel the impact of these forces acutely in the litigation context and continually grapple with how to do more with less. In turn, law firms are seeking new ways to improve efficiency, reduce costs and deliver added value to their corporate clients.
As law departments and their law firm counterparts explore strategic alternatives to traditional cost control approaches, the use of Lean Six Sigma and similar methodologies have emerged as leading contenders. These methodologies aim to reduce waste by systematically identifying errors, variations and inefficiencies in how lawyers perform legal tasks. CLOs have implemented these practice improvements to leverage law department capabilities and better position the legal team as a strategic partner within the organization.
Some law firms have taken note and are applying or customizing these principles in varying degrees. Firms that adopted these strategies early provide an innovative edge in how they serve as outside counsel, because they can more easily function as partners in process and project management. For example, Seyfarth Shaw LLP has developed the fundamental principles of Lean Six Sigma into a highly refined client service model called SeyfarthLean. By combining key aspects of Lean thinking and Six Sigma with project management and technology innovations, the firm has demonstrated how such an approach can provide a foundation for achieving both short-term efficiencies and a CLO's longer-term business objectives.
Understanding these concepts is critical for law firms to appreciate their clients' priorities and plan accordingly. Most law firms can use these methodologies to more accurately develop work plans and establish pricing levels for alternative fee arrangements (AFAs). And all CLOs welcome a legal team that actively seeks ways to cut waste out of the legal process.
Against this background, this article explores continuous improvement methodologies that can be applied to litigation practice, including:
It also considers how these methodologies can all fit together and be implemented in a law firm or law department setting.
Legal process improvement offers the greatest opportunities to increase efficiencies and reduce costs in a litigation process. Techniques from traditional Lean thinking and Six Sigma principles can be combined and tailored for legal matters. The Lean Six Sigma framework uses the following five key steps, known as DMAIC:
Read much more on this subject in Lisa's full article from Practical Law The Journal now.
Lisa serves on the firm's Executive Committee and leads the firm's SeyfarthLean initiative. She also serves as the National Chair of the firm's Labor & Employment Department. She has gained national recognition as a leader in value and innovation in the legal profession. In addition to her legal practice in employment law and litigation, Lisa is a certified Six Sigma GreenBelt.
Practical Law The Journal covers the latest litigation, transactional and compliance topics that impact your practice. To gain access to more related know-how resources, please visit us.practicallaw.com
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