legal industry – Page 42 – Reinventing Professional Services by Ari Kaplan

January 12, 2012

Applying the Alternative Fee Model to Law School Tuition

In my column for the National Law Journal online today, I note that the time has come to talk more openly about the cost of a legal education and I don’t mean cheaper, I mean different.

I have been studying the industry for years. I released my report: The Evolution of the Legal Profession: A Conversation with the Legal Community’s Thought Leaders on the Front Lines of an Industry in Transition (underwritten by DiscoverReady) in 2010 and have addressed law students at almost 50 law schools worldwide since the release of my first book, The Opportunity Maker in 2008.

My conclusion: 2012 can be the year to implement a positive shift in the logistics of legal education. The legal academic community has jump-started this discussion by beginning to implement changes to the curriculum, practical training initiatives, and greater transparency in reporting employment statistics.

Read the column here.

January 3, 2012

Law Firm Challenges in 2012: Sophisticated Buyers, Globalization, and Profitability

I had the good fortune of interviewing Tony Williams, the founder of Jomati Consultants and the former managing partner for Clifford Chance, for Reinventing Professional Services and during my visit to London late last year. We discussed trends in the legal profession for 2012 and Williams noted that “Law firms are going through a massive transformation … and it is really just beginning.” He highlighted that law firms are coming to terms with a more sophisticated buyer, globalization, and relatively flat profitability. These factors, among others, are causing firms to think about how they operate, the clients they target, and the markets in which they provide services. In 2012, Jomati will be releasing a report addressing the shape of the new law firm and offering ideas for increasing profitability and competing in new markets, including those throughout Asia and Africa. Watch our interview below:

December 22, 2011

Getting Business By Getting Published

During my visit to London over Thanksgiving to speak at the 2011 BigHand User Conference, I met with Andrew Partridge, co-founder of Mondaq about the evolution of content distribution and the value of metrics in marketing. He noted that since the market has changed, professionals are much more focused on who reads their work, why and for how long. Metrics that can profile those readers and permit organic follow-up are increasingly important. Ultimately, content generation is about showcasing your expertise, he notes. “The key is getting to the detailed analytics behind the readership.” Watch our interview below:

December 20, 2011

The Convergence of Philanthropy and Technology

I read about a recent initiative by Australian software firm, Nuix, to combine its e-discovery technology with a worthy philanthropic initiative and had the opportunity to interview Eddie Sheehy, the company’s CEO. He explained that following the Nuix Exchange in October for clients, judges (from both the U.S. and the U.K.), and prominent thought leaders, including keynote speaker Craig Ball, his team created an initiative to offer the legal community a 10GB version of Nuix Desktop called Proof Finder for $100/copy and donate 100% of the proceeds to Room to Read, an organization that partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish libraries, create local language children’s literature, and construct schools, among other projects. Nuix was able to generate $17,000 in the first 10 days of its campaign. Watch our interview below:

December 16, 2011

How Metrics are Reinventing Operations in Legal Departments

I am in the process of finalizing a research report that will be released at LegalTech NY (click here for last year’s study) for which I spent most of the fall interviewing corporate counsel from across the country. With those conversations in mind, I recently had the chance to speak with David Samia, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Bridgeway Software, a provider of legal management tools for the Fortune 1000. We discussed how metrics are reinventing the way legal departments delivering their services. He shared his insights on changes that metrics are helping chief legal officers make and key best practices. Specifically, he noted that metrics provide a way for law departments to demonstrate the value that they provide to the broader business and recommended that in-house counsel identify their key performance indicators so that the law department can agree with the business unit on how it will be measured. Watch our interview below:

December 14, 2011

Reinventing Legal Services in India

A few years ago, I met Arihant Patni, the CEO of Bodhi Global, at a legal technology event. We discussed the transformation of the legal market in India and he introduced me to a few prominent lawyers in Mumbai, including Saurabh Misra. I reconnected with Saurabh during his recent visit to New York City and he shared some ideas about how the legal market has changed in India and where it is headed. Watch our interview below:

December 12, 2011

An Example of How Business Models are Adapting

During a visit to Toronto this fall, I had the chance to speak with Ron Collins, founder and president of Gavel & Gown Software, Inc., makers of Amicus Attorney and Credenza, among other products, about the evolving nature of business models in the software industry. From Freemium to traditional subscriptions, as an award-winning developer of practice management software for lawyers, Collins shares his insight on the state of the market and its future trajectory. Watch our interview below:

December 9, 2011

Fixed Fees and Efficiency Trends in Document Creation for 2012

Following my presentation over Thanksgiving at the 2011 BigHand User Conference, I spoke with Richard Newton of Business Integrity, makers of ContractExpress.com, about content creation and related document trends for 2012. He noted that fixed fee arrangements have been prompting firms to streamline manual processes and focus on automation in document generation, particularly in the legal, banking, real estate, finance and employment fields. Watch our interview below:

December 7, 2011

Legal Cheek Takes a Look at the Lighter Side of the Law

While in London for the 2011 BigHand User Conference, I met with UK journalist Alex Aldridge in London to talk about his new venture, Legal Cheek, which takes a look at the lighter side of the law for a target audience of law students and junior lawyers. In addition to operating Legal Cheek, Aldridge is a columnist for The Guardian and the UK correspondent for Above the Law. Watch our interview below:

December 5, 2011

An Alternative to E-mail – Reinventing Concurrent Confidential Communication

Following my recent presentation at the London School of Economics, I had the chance to speak with Peter Rouse, the founder of Case Record about trends in confidential online communication. We discussed alternatives to e-mail and the management of concurrent confidential communication, as well as the need to coordinate and track conversations more easily. Rouse noted that Case Record leverages the social media ‘wall’ model in a secure environment and adapts it for professional services. Watch our interview below:

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