Repackaging knowledge: Using KM to win new business

Some law firms now have KM professionals who focus on the legal knowledge requirements of their firms’ clients. This can have a direct impact on the relationship that firms have with their clients, particularly as the legal services marketplace has changed and clients are now dominant.

In knowledge-centred service sectors, such as professional services, technology is central to the further development of knowledge and the instrument that is ?used to better manage knowledge. However, for professional services to thrive, the users of technology have to ?look beyond the current constraints caused by commercial conservatism to ensure that law firms continue to meet ?the demands of their clients.

Despite a clear upward trend in investment in technology by law firms, up until recently the investment has been focused almost entirely upon processes within the firm (i.e. document management, matter management and financial systems), and has had no quantifiable effect on clients. However, some firms have at least recognised that they need to get their ?own houses in order before focusing on how technology can improve ?their relationships with clients.

In order to make a real difference for their clients, law firms have to continue to examine how they can change their approaches to knowledge sharing and how it can be used to enhance business development (which should be the end product of their knowledge and information management initiatives).By using current technological developments like cloud computing and virtualisation, law firms can streamline their businesses to ?focus on the end product they supply to clients.

Most companies, in one way or another, have embraced the notion that, to operate effectively in today’s economy, it is necessary to become a knowledge-based organisation. Law firms are clearly knowledge-based organisations – they sell their lawyers’ knowledge about law and the business environment to their clients. This is often wrapped up as a piece of advice and a lawyer’s time is sold by the hour. The focus here is on how law firms can improve how they share knowledge and advice with ?their clients.

Sharing knowledge with clients

Law firms, through their content management systems (such as document management, practice management, email systems and intranets) hold vast amounts of high-quality information, some of which can be of direct use to their clients.

Of course, these systems are within law firms’ internal networks and therefore inaccessible to clients. One of the challenges faced by law firms relates to the duplication of information held internally and externally and, importantly, how to reduce the overheads related ?to the management and publication of this content.

Law firms often produce separate content on a single issue for internal audiences and external clients. Clearly, content that is made available to clients has to be of a high quality and sanitised. An obvious challenge is to produce material for two different audiences, or at least be able to do this seamlessly in order to re-focus internal updates, turning them into commercially-valuable material that is relevant to their clients and is easy to read.

Many law firms recognise the value of legal knowledge and of the knowledge support teams who are employed to manage it. More often than not, the (legal) knowledge team is recognised as a valuable asset which helps to develop the firm’s professional expertise and efficiency.

However, while knowledge management is often seen as an internal function, it can be used to much greater effect as a business development and marketing tool. In fact, if KM is used in a client-facing role, it can improve the firm’s relationship with clients.

The traditional knowledge role (i.e. professional support lawyer, knowledge lawyer or knowledge manager/specialist) has usually been considered a back-office function. The knowledge practitioners (KP) share their knowledge with partners and fee earners in the firm who, in turn, use the information to advise clients.

But, is this traditional role too restrictive? This resource is a valuable one and increasingly recognised as such. As the legal market becomes more competitive and as law firms experience a radical shift in client demands, can law firms derive more commercial benefits from their KM team?

The skills required of a knowledge practitioner are varied and include thinking and learning, KM awareness, strategic and business thinking, information management and IT literacy (see Figure 1). Although not all KM practitioners will have these skills, those who do should be valued and highly prized, especially if they also have good communication and interpersonal skills, which are ideal for client-facing roles.

It is now common practice to provide clients with some material from the KM team as a business development tool. This generally includes ad hoc or regular written legal updates (for example, briefings, ?alerts and newsletters), legal update seminars and tailored training sessions.

Many firms now make it clear that this is part of their offering to clients, although most firms require their KM staff to take a back seat in this. However, those that do provide greater access to know-how and precedents/templates, tailored updates and training often find that they can retain a higher percentage of clients.

Firms that deliver on these fronts in a cost-effective way will be better placed to retain existing clients and attract new ones. This is where a firm’s investment in KM can pay off.

KPs and the work that they do can often lead to business opportunities, as many of the tasks that a KP performs for internal clients can often be repackaged and marketed to external clients. Obviously, if this ?can be done in a seamless way, it can ?reduce overheads.

The KP who is endowed with these skills can use them to enable the firm to understand the client’s ?legal needs, showcase the firm’s legal expertise and knowledge, and strengthen the client relationship.

The same is true for client training and seminars. Whenever a KP or fee earner delivers an internal training session (for example, on a recent legal development), he ought to consider whether the session could be of value to external clients. If this is the case, that training material can form the basis of a seminar which the relevant lawyer or KP might be able to provide. The client is then able to obtain up-to-date information on legal developments as a starting point. If actual legal advice is required, the KP can then refer this to the relevant fee earner.

My organisation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, works on investment projects throughout the whole of Eastern Europe and Central Asia and has projects commencing in four countries in North Africa and the Middle East. Despite our depth of knowledge in transition countries, we rely on the legal expertise and know-how of the law firms that work in these countries; it is a close and mutually-beneficial relationship.

At the EBRD ?(a client of many ?law firms), I have found that knowledge lawyers often attend training sessions at our bank with the fee-earners assigned to deliver those training sessions. As a client of those firms, we are therefore given direct access and can establish a closer relationship with the KP, therefore enabling us to get access to their knowledge products.

A client-facing approach

There is obvious value in making the KM function more client facing. A client who does not know the KP will probably be less likely to see him as a credible resource. However, once a KP is established in the client relationship, this can evolve into a productive and commercially-viable ?resource for the law firm.

Knowledge management can be ?both an enabler and an end product. ?The value of this is vital to law firms when developing an ongoing relationship with clients. Achieving this combination is a difficult process, but attaining it should ultimately prove to be hugely worthwhile for law firms.

Paul Byfield is the legal knowledge manager in the office of the general counsel at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ?(www.ebrd.com)

?Endnote

1. For further information, see Information Management for Law Firms, Paul Byfield, 2012