Takeaways from KM Legal 2023
on Topics: Conferences | Legal Tech
In the legal industry, knowledge management (KM) is a pivotal function within law firms that has continued to gain traction and prominence with the influx of new data sources, legal technology tools, and generative AI (Gen AI) solutions.
For those who have been watching the headlines in legal and other industries, it should come as no surprise that Gen AI dominated many of the panel discussions and presentations at KM Legal 2023. But in addition to all of the buzz and excitement around Gen AI, two other themes also emerged this year at KM Legal: (1) The importance of KM as a collaborative function within law firms, and (2) The ongoing pursuit of data maturity in the law firm data journey.
In this takeaways blog, we’ll dig into these two recurring themes by looking at the perspectives of law firm KM leaders, share some of our favorite panels from KM Legal 2023, and tell you how to learn more about using Legal Data as a Service (LDaaS) for KM.
KM as a Collaborative Function
One of the most pervasive and recognizable themes from KM Legal 2023, both from the panel discussions and conversations with attendees, is the importance of KM as a collaborative, connective tissue within law firms.
During the panel on Practical Applications of Technology to Foster Collaboration at Law Firms, Sara Miro, Managing Attorney and Director of Knowledge at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, shared that “you have to collaborate to collaborate” when it comes to being a proactive and effective law firm KM function.
As Sara noted, in order to reach the level of collaboration you want from leveraging data and technology, it’s critical for KM teams to collaborate with internal practice groups, other functions like business development, marketing, finance, and IT, as well as with outside vendors.
On the flipside of KM being a collaborative function for good within law firms, Gina Lynch, Chief Knowledge and Innovation Officer at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and David Wuchenich, Knowledge Management Attorney at Paul Weiss, shared the new, collaborative concept of Knowledge Management as a Service (KMaaS) for law firm clients.
To help their clients better understand their own data, get on-demand matter-level reporting, and gather insights from the legal services Paul Weiss provided, the firm created collaboration portals, customizable to individual clients, with dashboards and real-time reporting tools. These value-added Knowledge Management as a Service portals not only enabled better collaboration between the firm and key clients, but they also quickly became seen as a differentiating factor for the firm and an excellent vehicle for Paul Weiss attorneys to deepen client relationships.
KM as a collaborative function for law firms is such an important topic that UniCourt is developing an upcoming article for Legaltech News featuring insights from KM leaders at DLA Piper, Sidley Austin, Littler Mendelson, Levenfeld Pearlstein, and more on why they view collaboration as an indispensable element of firm advancement.
Stay tuned for their insights in our Legaltech News article coming out later this month.
The Law Firm Data Journey
The ongoing pursuit of data maturity by knowledge management teams represents the frontlines of modernization at many large Am Law firms, as the push for greater data maturity is central to executing on key technology initiatives, enabling the intelligence other firm functions need to compete in the legal marketplace, supporting better client service delivery, and expanding future firm profitability.
In the panel session that UniCourt sponsored at KM Legal 2023 on DANGER Data Overload – Finding a Needle in a Haystack, our CEO and Co-Founder, Josh Blandi, moderated an excellent discussion on the challenges and benefits of the law firm data journey with three Am Law leaders in KM: Keli Lea Whitnell, Director of Firm Intelligence at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP, Vishal Agnihotri, Sr. Director of Knowledge and Innovation at Alston & Bird LLP, and Courtney Toiaivao, Director of Research Services at Holland & Knight LLP.
To frame the conversation, Josh started off by sharing some findings from the report UniCourt produced along with Baretz+Brunelle, Marching Toward Data-Driven Business Development: Industry Insights from Am Law CMOs, and discussed the broad spectrum of data maturity we found at different Am Law firms in terms of how they were using data for business development and marketing. This wide variance in maturity led UniCourt and Baretz+Brunelle to co-develop The Law Firm Business Development Data Maturity Model.
To help law firms understand where they are their own data journey, this model includes five levels of data maturity, (1) Data Blind, (2) Data Aware, (3) Data Proficient, (4) Data Savvy, and (5) Data Driven, along with five different categories of data maturity, (1) Data Infrastructure, (2) Business Readiness, (3) External Data Usage, (4) Data Culture, and (5) Team Development. The model also provides law firms with next steps they can take to progress on their data journey. As Josh noted, it’s critical for firms to understand where they are and where they want to go.
For those firms that are anxious about charting a path forward in their own data journey, Courtney Toiaivao shared some insightful words of wisdom: “Start where you are… The best time to plant a tree for shade is 30 years ago, and the second best time is today. Start where you are in your data journey today.” Speaking from the experience of her own data journey at Holland & Knight, Courtney said that one of the most important things firms can do when they are at an earlier stage in their journey is to lock down the processes and documentation for how data is handled across their firm to set themselves up for success later down the road.
In sharing the data journey that Troutman Pepper has been on, Keli Whitnel noted that her firm decided 10 years ago to move toward being data driven, and that they now have an open, collaborative spirit without the data protectionism that persists at many other firms. Having broken down many of the data silos that previously existed at the firm, Keli said that “at Troutman, data is in everything,” from business development, to pricing, legal project management, industry expansion, strategic planning, firm intelligence, and much more.
Beyond the clear benefits of reaching new levels of data maturity, the panel also touched on the challenges and difficulties present with creating master data sets and single sources of truth. On this topic, Vishal Agnihotri vocalized that one of the most challenging aspects of data harmonization is classifying the vast number of different data sets and data sources that law firms handle on a constant basis.
Vishal also shared that one of the consistently difficult tasks that KM teams tackle is extracting the highly valuable, but unstructured data that only lives in lawyers’ heads. Being able to effectively gather this data from lawyers’ heads and structure it, classify it, and enrich it with other data sources can help KM teams to move much further along in their data journey.
We were incredibly thankful to have such wonderful panelists join Josh in this discussion, and are excited to see where they will go next in their law firm data journeys.
Favorite Sessions from KM Legal 2023
This year’s KM Legal featured some excellent content curated by the legal industry’s brightest minds. Ranging from traditional panel sessions, to TED Talks-styled presentations, to a fireside chat with a legal expert on all things artificial intelligence and Gen AI, KM Legal 2023 did not disappoint with the level of educational content attendees received.
While all of the KM Legal sessions were insightful and helpful, here are a few of our favorites from this year’s lineup:
The Art of Persuasion: Incentivizing Attorneys to Embrace Cutting-Edge Tools
- Explore persuasive techniques to overcome resistance to change and “buying” attorney time that could be used on client work
- Discover effective strategies for influencing and motivating new and seasoned attorneys
- Hear about creative roll out strategies that can be adopted and implemented, that really work
Moderator
- Andrew Brinkman, Global Director of Knowledge Management, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
Panelists
- Sara Miro, Managing Attorney and Director of Knowledge, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
- Evan Shenkman, Chief Knowledge & Innovation Officer, Fisher & Phillips LLP
- Alex Chiang, Vice President of Customer Success, SimplyAgree
Deeper Data Yields Deeper Insights: How Firms Are Mining Unstructured Data to Create Rich, Tailored Practice Intelligence Capabilities to Meet Their Clients’ Needs
- Learn how firms work to expand the pool of practice data they have based on key documents
- Explore different approaches and perspectives that facilitate the drawing of discrete, structured data from firm documents
- Examine tools and techniques that help generate easy-to-access insights for lawyers
Moderator:
- Barry Solomon, VP M&A Integration, Litera
Panelists:
- Cindy Thurston Bare, Chief Data and Innovation Officer, Frost Brown Todd LLP
- Andrew Baker, Director of Data Analytics, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
- Rachel Shields Williams, Director, Knowledge Management Enablement & Insights, Sidley Austin LLP
Transforming the Data Strategy Experience: The Art of Aligning KM with Customer Needs
- The evolving role of legal knowledge management (KM) in meeting customer needs: Explore the shifting landscape of customer expectations and how effective KM strategies can play a pivotal role in transforming their experience
- Case studies and best practices from industry leaders: Hear real-world examples and success stories from leading legal professionals who have implemented customer-centric KM strategies, highlighting key lessons, challenges, and outcomes
- Leveraging technology for enhanced client interactions: Discuss how emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP), can be integrated into KM systems to provide seamless and intuitive client interactions
Moderator:
- Alejandro Vallelanes, Legal KM Leader, formerly Baker McKenzie
Panelists:
- Andrew P. Medeiros, Director of Innovation Solutions, Troutman Pepper
- Gina Lynch, Chief Knowledge and Innovation Officer, Paul Weiss
- David Wuchenich, Knowledge Management Attorney, Paul Weiss
Quick Fire Show and Tell Session: Innovation and Generative AI for KM
- Hear how law firms are leveraging and implementing generative AI to improve overall efficiency in their organizations – streamline document drafting, contract review process, optimize case management, etc.
Moderator:
- Greg Lambert, Chief Knowledge Services Officer, Jackson Walker LLP
Panelists:
- Dharma Betancourt Frederick, Knowledge Management Counsel, DLA Piper
- Iris Skornicki, Director of Knowledge Solutions, Paul Weiss
- Tiffany O’Neil, Director, Knowledge Management & Technology Innovation, Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP
- Othiel Glover, Global Data Innovation Manager, Mayer Brown
- Sara Miro, Managing Attorney and Director of Knowledge , Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Leveraging Legal Data as a Service for Law Firm KM
As law firms increasingly rely on data and technology (and Gen AI) to compete in the business of law, the collaborative nature and potential KM has to be a forward-moving arm of innovation and implementation will only grow in the years to come.
Want to learn how your firm can leverage Legal Data as a Service and UniCourt’s Enterprise API for knowledge management?
Contact us and set up a time to speak with one of our API experts about how you can take advantage of LDaaS for experience database enrichment, docket management, legal analytics, data cleansing, and Gen AI training data.