Vol. 73, No. 10, October
2000
by Dianne Molvig
Lawyers go to conferences hoping to be educated,
entertained,
and even inspired. When Milwaukee attorney Dennis Purtell arrived in
Phoenix
last November for a conference called "Seize the Future," he was unsure
what
to expect.
A mix of confusion, excitement, and apprehension accompanied him to
the event, Purtell admits. And each of those feelings surfaced time and
again over the course of the two-and-a-half-day conference, which was
cosponsored by the American Bar Association Law Practice Management
Section and Lotus Development Corporation. Purtell experienced
everything from "high levels of challenge and adrenaline to worry
approaching depression," he wrote in a memo to his partners upon his
return. "By conference-end, there existed a need to resolve to 'Do
Something!' following the direction of songwriter/action protagonist
Harry Chapin."
The latter reaction is exactly what conference organizers hoped to
stir among participants. It's no accident that the conference's title
starts with a strong verb. "It connotes the element of opportunity,"
says Gary Munneke, a conference organizer, past chair of the ABA Law
Practice Management Section, and a professor at Pace University School
of Law in White Plains, N.Y. "In all change, there are both threats and
opportunities. 'Seizing the future' means that individual lawyers and
law firms have the opportunity to define their own future by recognizing
the changes that are occurring."
Views from Inside and Outside the Profession
Grappling with change was a key theme of the conference. Phenomena
such as nonlawyer encroachment on what once were lawyers' exclusive
areas of practice, the ever-expanding self-help resources available to
legal services consumers, the move toward a more client-controlled
environment, and numerous other changes received much discussion at the
conference. But those discussions took place in a unique context, as
lawyers' conferences go.
Setting the tone for the entire conference were such speakers as Tom
Peters, internationally known consultant and author, and Gary Hamel, a
Harvard Business School professor and author of the widely acclaimed
Competing for the Future. These are not names that usually appear on
legal conference agendas. In fact, conference organizers point out that
many lawyers have heard of neither speaker.
"I've been to several Tom Peters' programs where you'll have 500
people in the room, and I'm the only lawyer," says Charles Robinson, a
Clearwater, Fla., sole-practice attorney who had a hand in selecting
conference speakers. "People like Peters and Hamel are the geniuses who
are helping American business try to find itself. And they're not
helping us because we don't even know about them."
Conference planners sought to begin to remedy that by bringing in
Peters, Hamel, and others from outside the legal profession to talk
about changes in society as a whole, which in turn have an impact on the
practice of law. Peters, for instance, pointed out that we're in the
midst of a one-in-10,000-year sea change in human existence. He asked:
Will lawyers be players in this new world, or will they watch from the
sidelines as other customer-driven providers take over the market?
Hamel challenged lawyers to stop looking to the future through the
eyes of legacy. Doing so, he contended, results in missing the mark. As
just one example, Hamel cited the leading brokerage firm executive who
claimed in 1998 that stock trading over the Internet had no future.
The conference also sought to impart a sense of urgency to
participants. A wait-and-see-what-happens stance toward responding to
change could "leave lawyers out of the loop," Munneke says. "One of the
aims of our agenda was to transform people so that after they were
exposed to the speakers and discussions, they would realize there's an
imperative to act. We wanted to raise the level of concern to the point
where people would say, 'I have to look at this.'"
Conference participants hearing those messages included some 140
attorneys, consultants, law professors, bar association representatives,
accountants, and professionals from law business support organizations,
such as title companies, from across the country. Purtell, the only
Wisconsin lawyer there, attended thanks to an invitation arranged by a
conference presenter who had been a consultant for his law firm.
State Bar President Gary Bakke didn't get the opportunity to
participate in the conference, but he owns a heavily yellow-highlighted
copy of the book that sprang out of it, entitled Seize the Future:
Forecasting and Influencing the Future of the Legal Profession, authored
by Munneke. "I think it's right on," Bakke says, "and it gives me
comfort that somebody 'gets it.' It's frightening, but I think it's
accurate. And I think some of us will respond and do well in the future,
while some will die on the vine."
Several conference presenters and attendees expressed dismay at what
they view as a lack of leadership on the ABA's part - at least so far -
to move the profession forward to remain viable in the future. But, as
Hamel pointed out, it's a mistake for lawyers to cling to the belief
that change will start at the top. He asked, "When has the revolution
started with the monarch?"
Bakke agrees with those who believe the impetus for change may have
to arise at the regional, state, and local levels. With that in mind,
he's working with State Bar staff to organize a "Seize the Future"
conference in Wisconsin for Dec. 1-2 this year. Invitees will be drawn
from the legal profession, the courts, law schools, and bar leaders from
neighboring states.
"I think the role for the State Bar, and at least for me as
president," Bakke says, "is to try to get a general acceptance and
understanding of the problem, the urgency of the problem, and the
consequences of failing to act. We need to understand what our options
are, and then we can put together a plan to get where we want to
go."
Following are some of the key themes explored at the national
conference.
Innovate to Survive and Thrive
Running through all conference sessions was the message that
innovation is the key to survival in the 21st century. Lawyer and
nonlawyer presenters alike emphasized that it's time for the legal
profession to take a long, hard look at itself and its future.
For starters, attorneys have to recognize the business side of their
practices, as well as the professional side, many observers argue.
"Lawyers come out of law school with the mindset that all the
competitive factors that impact everybody else don't apply to a
professional practice," says Phil Shuey, an Englewood, Colo., attorney,
conference organizer, and a past chair of the ABA Law Practice
Management Section. "That's naive. If it were ever true - and I'm not
certain it ever was - it's certainly not true today."
Conference presenters called on lawyers to delve into
self-examination, asking: What business are we really in? How can we
serve clients' 21st century needs, which may differ substantially from
those of the 20th century? How does the law profession remain relevant
in today's and tomorrow's world?
Seeking answers to such questions can give lawyers a sense of
direction, Robinson says, and allow them to envision future scenarios
for the profession. By looking 10 years ahead, lawyers can see what
competencies they'll need that they don't already have. "The time to
build those competencies is not nine years and nine months from now,"
Robinson notes. "It's now."
This envisioning-the-future process could parallel what the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) did, with the help of
an independent research firm, to reposition its members for the new
marketplace. Barry Melancon, AICPA's CEO, spoke at the conference to
describe his organization's vision project.
A similar process could help the law profession get a fix on its
future - and on the innovations needed to make that future happen. That
requires a mindset open to change, Shuey says. He points to the Black
and Decker slogan: Our customers don't want drills; they want holes. "I
think legal services consumers want solutions," he says. "They want to
count on us to have the flexibility and agility to deliver those
solutions on a cost-effective basis." Lawyers can do just that, Shuey
adds, but not if they refuse to examine new ways to practice.
Look Through Clients' Eyes
As lawyers envision their future, they must look at their profession
from the client's perspective. What do clients need from their lawyers -
now and in the future? How do lawyers' services remain relevant to
clients? How do they offer services clients see as truly valuable?
Such questions are critical in a time when clients have many ways to
obtain legal services without seeing an attorney. They can buy a
software kit or download a free form off a Web site. Business clients
might hire an attorney to create a needed document, which they then file
on their computers. The next time they need the same document - or at
least they think they do - they simply key in a few changes, print out
the new document, and avoid paying additional legal fees.
Attorneys in all types of practice are well aware that clients now
often do for themselves what lawyers used to do for them. As a sole
practitioner, Robinson is grappling with those issues in his elder law
practice. He's constantly searching for ways to carve out a niche and
reshape it as needed. "I'm trying to reinvent my practice," he says, "so
that everything I do has perceived high value to my clients." He
emphasizes that value is the real issue, not cost. Clients aren't
necessarily looking for lower fees. "I think people want fees that
reflect the value they get," Robinson says.
One step he's taken to revamp his practice is to stop providing
certain services, such as simple wills and trusts, which have become
commodities. Basic information and services that do not fit the
high-perceived-value definition will be available to clients through his
Web site, where clients also will be able to get simple documents for no
or low cost.
In his actual client-contact time, "I try to do only those things
that take their breath away - that make them say, 'Oh, I didn't know
that!'" Robinson notes. "I believe that for the entire time people deal
with our office they need to have a powerful, positive experience that
borders on show biz." Thus, he's planning on using technology in client
presentations, just as he does when speaking to bar groups around the
country. Asks Robinson, "Why shouldn't I give the best sizzle to my
clients?"
Reshaping law practice to better meet client needs isn't just good
for clients, adds Robinson, who's practiced law for 33 years. It also
can lead to an outcome many lawyers are crying for today: to make law
practice enjoyable again. "I don't think lawyers see how liberating this
is going to be for the profession," he says. "We can do 'cool' stuff
that's fun, that turns you on. And you see your clients turned on
because you've done something really special for them."
That "something special" is creating solutions for clients, as noted
earlier by Shuey, who's also been in practice for 30-plus years. "This
brings up a wonderful term we haven't heard much in recent years," Shuey
points out. "That's 'counselor at law.' If we go back to being
counselors at law, I think we have a good shot at survival and
prosperity."
Befriend Technology
Today, many attorneys create documents on computers, perform research
on the Internet, communicate via email, and send and receive client
documents electronically. But those are mere basics, according to
conference speaker Mike Harnish, chief information officer at a Detroit
law firm and president/CEO of Chicago-based Technology Consulting
Partners. "Most lawyers use technology as a conduit to transport
documents," Harnish says, "as opposed to using it to be part of a
collaborative solution." The latter function can give lawyers excellent
leverage in today's client-focused environment, Harnish says. For
instance, technology exists (such as Lotus QuickPlace or Microsoft
NetMeeting) that allows a lawyer and a client to simultaneously work on
a document, even if they're miles or continents apart. They can each
make revisions and interact with each other through an online
discussion, or vocally using voice-over IP (Internet protocol) - a
rapidly up-and-coming technology. No more sending marked-up documents
back and forth several times. No more cumbersome telephone discussions
along the lines of "turn to page 12, paragraph three, line five." The
document is in front of both parties at the same time, and each sees
whatever changes the other makes as the changes are made. Another useful
tool is the extranet, which allows an attorney to become an integral
part of a client's business processes. A bank handling real estate
transactions, for example, might continually call on its outside
attorney at certain points in the process. "What we can do is set it up
as a transactional process," Harnish explains, "whereby once a document
gets so far, it automatically goes to outside legal counsel who does the
work and transmits it back. It's all done electronically." When the
document returns to the bank, the appropriate party receives
notification, again electronically, and the bank's processing continues.
Thus, the system moves the process along smoothly and automatically,
with the law firm built right into the process. Lawyers also could put
technology to work for knowledge management, says Seth Earley, a
conference presenter and president of Earley & Associates, a
Boston-based technology consulting firm. As the term implies, knowledge
management entails amassing and making accessible a firm's cumulative
knowledge and experience. Without such a system, "it's very difficult to
capture the organizational memory and tap into it," Earley says. For
example, his company worked with a law firm to create a settlements
database, in which the firm kept track of offers and counteroffers in
settlements. The firm ended up with a years-long history to consult for
guidance in future cases. Different types of databases could be
developed to suit different aspects of a firm's business.
The first step in making better use of technology is to become
educated about what's available, Earley says. "Technologies are
beginning to mature to the point where you can start out with something
fairly simple," he says, "and be able to make a difference with your
clients."
Revamp Legal Education
How will lawyers be better prepared to practice in a changing world?
It starts with the law school curriculum, and goes on through
career-long continuing legal education (CLE).
As a law professor, Munneke sees merit in the traditional Socratic
method for teaching first-year law students. "I don't think I'd want to
change the part of education that brings people together and challenges
them to analyze cases and problems," he says. "I think that skill is
useful in a variety of different areas, not just the traditional
practice of law." He adds that most colleagues who have closely examined
the process probably would agree.
But education beyond the first year is ripe for change, Munneke says.
For instance, more upper-level electives could be taught through
distance learning, allowing an expert to teach students at several
locations at once. Law schools could become more interdisciplinary,
abandoning their current tendency to be insular. Future lawyers may need
combined credentials, not just law degrees. Thus, law faculty need to
coordinate more with colleagues in other professional schools, Munneke
says.
The attitude still pervades law schools that "real" lawyers try cases
in court. Entering law students bring those biases, thanks to mass media
images. "But I think law schools feed those attitudes," Munneke says.
Curricula often have a litigation bias, while electives in negotiation
and alternative dispute resolution are viewed as peripheral. That must
change if future lawyers are to fulfill roles as solution finders and
problem solvers, not just traditional litigators.
As for practicing attorneys, now more than ever they need to view CLE
as vital to their success, not just a burden on their time. Those
designing CLE need to be sure courses are relevant to lawyers - thus
helping them remain relevant to clients in a rapidly changing practice
environment. "Now we're back to creativity and innovation," Munneke
notes. "It will take vision to come up with new ways to provide
education, not only in law school, but after."
Conclusion
Creativity and innovation. Those emerged as bywords throughout
conference presentations and discussions, and also in Munneke's book.
Conference organizers aimed to drive home the message that lawyers need
to tap into creativity and innovation to shape their future. The irony
is that these are talents traditionally undervalued in the law
profession - whether in assessing law school applicants or promoting a
lawyer to partner. The conference called on lawyers to question old
assumptions.
As Munneke writes in his book to summarize the challenge, "Whether we
act individually or collectively, we are called today to Seize the
Future. If we do not heed the call, then surely the future will seize
us."
To Read More About It
...
Competing for the Future, by Gary Hamel &
C.K. Prahalad (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School, 1996). 384 pgs.
$13.45. Order online at www.amazon.com.
Seize the Future: Forecasting and Influencing the Future
of the Legal Profession, by Gary M. Munneke (Chicago, IL:
ABA Law Practice Management Section, 2000). 168 pgs. $39.95. To order,
(800) 285-2221 or www.ababooks.org. This book contains
four pages of additional reading, including:
o Managers and the Legal Environment: Strategies for the
Twenty-First Century, by Constance E. Bagley,
International Thompson Publishing, 1998.
o The Business of Discovering the Future,
Paradigms, by Joel Arthur Barker, Harper Business,
1992.
o "The Territory Ahead: 25 Trends to Watch in the Business of
Practicing Law," by Simon Chester and Merrilyn A. Tarlton, ABA Law
Practice Management, July/August 1999.
o "Creating a Client-Driven Firm," by William C. Cobb, Law Governance
Review, Winter, 1998.
o "The Foundation that Guarantees Law Firm Survival," by William C.
Cobb, Law Governance Review, Summer 1998.
o "Selecting Growth Strategies to Enhance a Competitive Advantage,"
by William C. Cobb, Law Governance Review Summer, 1999.
o "Legal Advice Without the Lawyers," by Alan Cohen, New York Law
Journal, Nov. 15, 1999.
o Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, by James
C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras, Harper Business, 1994.
o "The Need to Plan for Growth," by Robert W. Denney, ABA Law
Practice Management, October 1999.
o Thinking in the Future Tense, by Jennifer James, Touchstone Books
of Simon & Schuster, 1997.
o "Leveraging the Firm's Knowledge," by Helen E. Moss and Lynda
Snyder, New York Law Journal, April 19, 1999.
o The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain
World, by Peter Schwartz, Doubleday, 1991.
o The Future of Law: Facing the Challenges of Information Technology,
by Richard E. Susskind, Oxford University Press, 1998.
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Wisconsin Lawyer