Continuous Improvement in Legal Departments
Okay, we all know the story, you're waiting for something to happen about continuous improvement in Legal Departments. Then all of sudden like buses, the stories start to arrive at once.
produced by their In-House Advisory Board, it touches on a key Lean Management technique applied in a legal department.
(click on the title to download)
In the paper they talk about the Why, What and How to measure inputs and outputs. There is also a section on "overcoming resistance".
From a lean perspective they talk about the application of Lean Process Mapping in a Legal department and from a rarely discussed viewpoint.
"One Advisory Board member had used this technique [lean process mapping] to refocus the legal team on its core purpose and to demonstrate that savings achievable through reducing headcount amounted to only one third of the consequent cost of greater reliance on external advisers."
From this snippet we've inferred that the act of producing a Current Lean Legal Value Stream map and comparing it with a Future Lean Legal Value Stream Map, highlighted that costs would go up.
This demonstrates the power of one of the key Lean Management techniques for Legal Departments and Law Firms. It demonstrates the power that many other business sectors have found; such maps can uncover unintended consequences of strategic decisions.
Continuous Improvement in Legal Departments and Law Firms Guide
At Levantar we've been putting the finishing touches to our first Continuous Improvement in Legal Departments and Law Firms Guide. That's a bit of a mouthful so we've simply called it;
Lean For Law Firms - it's a free PDF.
Now updated to 2014 and over 1,000 copies downloaded - get yours by clicking on the title. (It will take you to another page)
The Lean for Law Firms guide give you;
- Over 30 Examples of wasted time and effort found in Law Firms
- Explains how to find your processes and decide if they are broken
- Guides you as to how Continuous Improvement will reduce WIP
- How wasted time and effort in Your firm costs money
If you have any insights to share on Continuous Improvement in Legal Departments then I'm always willing to learn more!
Drop me a line mark@levantar.co.uk