At our ELM Amplify 2022 User Conference, we have a session titled “ Rethink legal technology, which helped attendees better understand how to create and execute a vision for a legal department’s technological future. We were joined by speakers Jennifer Mattson, AVP, OCLO Operations for Nationwide, and Debbie Siedlecki, Manager – Legal Operations at Abbott, who discussed how their legal operations teams are engaging with legal technology.
Our two guest speakers are experienced in selecting and implementing legal technology and had a lot to share with the participants. These are some of the most important lessons they learned.
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Don’t rush to implement or expand technology
When a company makes the decision to implement a new technology solution, they need to be sure they’re taking all the necessary steps to ensure they’re ready. For example, an AI solution that can help your team make good decisions is only as effective as the data you feed into it. If your data collection or cleanliness is lacking, then the benefit of the technology is limited. Take the time to ensure the basic elements are in place for the attention-grabbing new solution to do its job well.
The same principle applies when you want to extend a new technology by introducing additional features or rolling it out to more users and/or practice areas. As Debbie pointed out, you don’t want to build a house on an unstable foundation. Realize that you will be more successful if you address any early problems before you develop the solution.
Automating workflows has several benefits
Automated workflows can be particularly helpful for legal departments because of the wide variety of improvements they introduce. They can make technology products easier to use, which often allows the legal department to do their job faster and more efficiently. Importantly, the automation also prompts people to complete the entire process you designed, which allows you to get more and better data.
When you’re able to get more relevant data into the system, you get a basis for conducting analysis, which you can then display in easy-to-understand formats that department staff and executives can reference when making critical decisions. For example, Jennifer’s team has saved about 150 man hours per year by automating many of their processes. In doing so, they also improved the quality and completeness of the department’s data.
Communication is the key to change management
When you communicate clearly and concisely about your technology implementation, you lay the foundation for strong user adoption that will help you succeed. It should start with discussions between stakeholders about what they want from the new technology. These conversations can also help you gain approval from leadership, which is an important consideration.
Announce important dates and milestones in a timely manner to affected individuals within the organization and externally at law firms and other vendors. Include information on how the new solution will help improve performance and make employees’ work easier and more effective. A recommended way to spread the word about benefits is to recruit “change advocates” across the organization. These are colleagues in each affected function who understand the new solution and can talk to users about how it will help them.
The training should be continued
When introducing new technologies to a team, you need to include training as a well thought out and ongoing part of your plan. This is one of the keys to making sure your users feel prepared and supported. Introductory training before introducing new technologies is of course important. But in addition to this pre-implementation training, you should also provide opportunities for users to provide you with feedback on their experience and then respond with additional training to fill any gaps in initial processes or understanding
The first-hand experience Jennifer and Debbie have of planning, implementing and using legal technology gives them valuable perspectives. We are very grateful to them for sharing these experiences and helping our participants to better prepare themselves for the transformation of legal technology in their own companies.
