Knowledge management has been a catch phrase in the legal industry for decades. In law firms, knowledge management started with a focus on precedents and, subsequently, the archiving of legal research memos for use on future files. The idea behind knowledge management was to save time and avoid having to reinvent every work product from scratch.
Not surprisingly, knowledge management has become more sophisticated in conjunction with evolving technology. There are new electronic tools to assist in organising precedents and legal memos in a meaningful and fully searchable way. In addition, it has increasingly been recognised that organisational culture has an important role in contributing to an organisation’s knowledge management.
Some knowledge is more difficult to manage or transfer, as it resides in the experience and expertise of individual lawyers. This type of knowledge usually only gets passed along when individuals work together on a file, or have an opportunity to talk about or discuss their work.
Modern law firms have become increasingly large organisations. Within one law office, there can be different cultures between practice groups. Differences can be even more pronounced within national and international law firms, with each office having its own culture. The trend toward larger firms has made the objectives of knowledge management even more important.
In order for knowledge management to be successful, the culture of the law firm should be marked by sharing and trust. Trust is essential to knowledge sharing. Some lawyers have been criticised for hoarding their knowledge to increase their competitive edge within the firm. They like to keep something up their sleeve in case that rainy day comes. Sharing information may also be problematic where there are ongoing power struggles within a practice group or within the firm.
There are other barriers to knowledge management. Given that lawyers are generally compensated based on billable hours, traditionally there has been very little incentive for lawyers to contribute to knowledge management tools and projects. In some cases, senior lawyers may simply be reluctant to spend the time mentoring junior associates within the firm especially due to the high attrition rate of associates.
In other cases, due to the increased specialisation of legal practice, some practice groups may be reluctant to share their knowledge outside of that group. Sometimes this is based on the belief that their knowledge would only be of interest to them. Other times, this may be due to the belief that because their work is so specialised, it requires an expert.
Firms can create opportunities to allow knowledge to be shared amongst its members. Some of these opportunities may be explicit, such as pairing junior lawyers with a senior lawyer or holding a formal debriefing after a major project to determine what worked and what could be done better in the future. The firm can also create an atmosphere which facilitates knowledge sharing. In some cases, this can be as simple as creating areas in the firm where people can talk and share ideas, or holding social gatherings where people from different parts of the firm can build connections. More structured alternatives include holding informal but regular meetings where everyone discusses their work. As well, more sophisticated information technology systems can capture and collate advices and other products of the firm.
Implementing a few of these simple strategies can have a significant impact on the facilitation of knowledge sharing within a firm. Ultimately, the sharing of information increases the skill level of lawyers within the firm, and improves client service.