During the recent CLOC conference, attendees had the opportunity to receive a complimentary copy of Richard Susskind’s second edition of “Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future.” Susskind also spoke as the lunch keynote on the first day, and shared with us that while his first edition had been written for young and aspiring lawyers in the profession, he had found that everyone interested in the changing legal ecosystem wanted to hear more about (and sometimes argue with) what he had to say. And so the second edition was updated and published.

Towards the end of the book, with respect to the future of the legal industry, Susskind says:

Given our economic conditions, the shift towards liberalization, the new providers in the marketplace, and the burgeoning, exponential increase in the power and uptake of technology, I find it unimaginable that our current legal institutions and legal profession will remain substantially unchanged over the next decade. Indeed, it seems to me that the least likely future is that little will change in the world of law. And yet, the strategies of most law firms, law schools, and departments of justice assume just that. In truth, for much of the legal market, the current model is not simply unsustainable; it is already broken.”

Those are strong words, but we’re living in a time when change is fast-paced, faster than it’s ever been. And while most leaders in the industry are willing to accept that change is happening, not many of them are either willing or able to do anything about it.

Rather than opine on the challenges to change (which we can certainly do another time), let’s look at what Susskind emphasizes as a response to what he calls as the “more-for-less challenge” (I encourage you to read his book to understand that in depth) – collaboration. He suggests that in-house lawyers are looking for greater collaboration both among their outside counsel and between themselves and their outside counsel.

One company that is taking this challenge by the horns is Telstra, who presented at the CLOC conference on “Turning Innovative Ideas Into Results: Why Collaboration is Critical to Success.” They shared their case study of partnering with law firm Herbert Smith Freehills on a series of “design thinking workshops and innovation sprints to tackle productivity opportunities.” If that sounds like a bunch of management-speak and fluff, I can tell you that these workshops helped them to save more than 40,000 lawyer hours – in a time when in-house legal departments are being challenged to find ways to cut their legal spend by 30-50%, and most of their outside counsel are only able to offer them a 10% discount, that is something that makes you sit up and pay attention. For outside law firms, the subsequent case study presents a tangible opportunity for collaboration and adding value AND it can also be a template that you can use within your own firms for implementing change.

Presenting the case study were Mick Sheehy, General Counsel of Finance Technology Innovation & Strategy, Telstra, and Ohten APAC’s Lisa Leong and Tristan Forrester (both formerly of HSF).

Read more: http://www.zenlegalnetworking.com/2017/06/turning-innovative-ideas-into-results-a-practical-guide/