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The Law Firm CIO of 2020

I want to give credit where credit is due, so I apologize for the length of my initial setup. I’ve been talking recently with some of my peers in preparation for a panel discussion at the annual International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) education conference in August. The session is entitled “The CIO in 2020: The Business-Savvy Strategist” and will be ably handled by Marsha Stein, Peter Westerveld, Todd Corham and David Rigali (and myself if my situation permits). Then Matthew Stern asked the question in the LinkedIn group CIOs.com: Chief Information Officer Network “How do you describe what a CIO does?” As part of that discussion, Sudhir Wadhwa, posted his blog chart of what makes a “complete” CIO.

I don’t agree with the all Sudhir’s items (or where he placed them) but I thought it was an interesting way to lay it out. I’ve written him that I think there are also a few key missing sections to his “complete” CIO. After thinking about it some a bit, in addition to the five he outlined, I think there should be three others: Business, Clients and Organization.

So for the law firm CIO of 2020, I have suggested the following, using my expended set of Sudhir’s categories as the framework.

  1. Leadership – CIOs of 2020 are going to have to step up their game in leadership. Information is not the sole property of the IT department. Leading and consulting to the practices and administrative functions of the firm will become more and more important. There is too much potential and too much money at play for a CIO not to be involved at the highest levels of strategic business management of the firm. Those CIOs without seat at the Executive or Management boards at their firms will simply be carrying out the instructions set by someone else.
  2. Accountability – I liked that Sudhir separated this section out. There is a lot for a good CIO to be accountable for. Beyond the staffing, the budgets and the basic functionality of the firm’s technology, CIOs must step up and be accountable for true practice integration and data management. Firm-wide information flows and the elimination of data silos are both key focal points for the CIO of 2020 to truly obtain value from technology.
  3. I would argue that a mere upgrade to MS Office 2010 will add no value to any law firm

  4. Technology – I have said for a number of years now that in many instances the actual technology has become less and less of an issue. Broadly speaking, the commodization of technology is increasing (not too dissimilarly, I might add, as the increased commodization of legal work). Dell or HP servers, desktops or laptops matters little. Open Text or Autonomy for your DMS – not a huge deal. Macro package, meta data scrubbing – pick any of the top 4 or 5. For the CIO of 2020 it will be more important to anticipate and identify game changing technology – and to have a malleable enough infrastructure to take advantage of it. Virtual desktops and applications? Gesture technology? Business IM? Personal videoing? It will not be enough to upgrade your existing tools (In fact I think some of the firms who are eliminating tools and simplifying their desktops are taking a step in the right direction). I would argue that a mere upgrade to MS Office 2010 will add no value to any law firm. The business model of 2020 will not permit the cost of such an upgrade if all the other remaining factors stay consistent. The CIOs who can add to the application in anyway (new and improved integrations or even more/better training) will be the winners. Electronic calendaring (It still amazes me how many firms aren’t doing this 100%), use of categories and mail rules, easier forms and frequently updated document assembly tools – these will be the sorts of things that add value, add to the ROI. And many of these things can be done without upgrading any software!
  5. The CIO of 2020 will be helping change aspects of the culture

  6. Culture – While it can be argued that all law firms operate in the same basic way, all of our firms have unique aspects to their culture. Having worked in several large firms with radically different cultures, I know that each firm’s budget, executive support, user support, appreciation of training, tolerance for change (a factor many CIOs overlook) and other factors weigh into the final decisions that are ultimately made. Hearing the phrase “we’ve always done it this way” makes me want to scream (ask people who have worked for me – they’ve heard me scream!). If your firm is still using it’s 1990 procedures with it’s 2010 technology, you’ve missed the boat in a major way and the value of your 2020 technology will fall far FAR short of other firms who have updated their processes. If your executive management starts out your budget discussions with the phrase “Will the lights go out if we don’t do this?” your strategic planning is only going to go so far. If you live in a training adverse culture that says lawyers are smart people, they can pick up on simple things like MS Word and Outlook, they don’t need to ‘waste’ billable hours in training – then your use of technology will hover around 20% and never rise higher (and it won’t matter what it costs, whether it’s the latest, greatest version or even if it is platinum plated). CIOs have always adapted to culture, but the CIO of 2020 will be helping change aspects of the culture.
  7. The CIO of 2020 will have to have a better level of internal communications

  8. Social Presence – Social networking is here to stay. CIOs of 2020 will either take advantage of it, or let their competitors get their message out so that their potential clients find the lawyers that work in their firm, not yours. Or let the users run the social networks in a vacuum and send out all kinds of mixed messages to your clients and prospects. Another aspect of this is internal social networking. The CIO of 2020 will have to have a better level of internal communications. I’ve heard some CIOs use the term “internal marketing”. Regardless of what you call it, doing it will be important.
  9. Business – This should probably be item #1 on this chart. Any CIO in 2020 who does not understand the business of law, who isn’t constantly working to understand better what the practice groups and administrative units face, and what his clients need, won’t be a CIO in 2021. As CIO, have you asked to see the firm’s strategic business plan? Better still, as CIO have you participated in it’s creation? About a decade ago, the strategic business plan was the first thing I asked for when I accepted the job. I was met with a profoundly impactful question back “Why, as CIO, would I want to see that!?” Here is my free budget tip for any CIO . If that project can’t be justified against a business objective or goal, then cut that project.
  10. Clients – I am not sure whether clients is its own category or one held closely under business. The landscape between law firms and clients has changed significantly. I happen to fall in the camp that thinks that the changes aren’t over yet and that they will be permanent. Business processes, financials, metrics, etc. are all changing. The CIO of 2020 should be in the thick of it all. Knowing what your client’s clients want is very important, if for no other reason than it helps you anticipate the needs of the people in your firm. If, as CIO, you aren’t meeting the major clients, then you have issues (or limitations if you prefer). Remember the old game “Whisper down the lane” (some called it “telephone” or “grapevine”). We play it from time to time at the dinner table.

    Cutting edge technology requires cutting edge people

    One person whispers a phrase to the person beside them and they try to remember it and whisper it to the next person and then at the end you see how close the phrase communicated was to the original. With 5 children in our family (ages 5 to 12) the results can be quite hysterical! With children and the family, hysterical departures in story telling is funny and amusing. In the business world such miscommunications with clients are disastrous. I have sat down with lawyers to discuss their top clients, what they think their needs and desires are. When I have the opportunity to sit down with the client directly, I am amazed at times how much the two stories don’t match up.
  11. Organization – Last, but not by any means least, cutting edge technology requires cutting edge people and a cutting edge management structure. The people you have are key assets, more so than any other asset. I’d rather have a top staff and second tier technology – I can and will surpass any firm where those two are reversed. In 2020, is your records department still in facilities, still viewed as the keeper of all things hardcopy? Last time I looked at my firms stats, the number of electronic records not only far exceeded hardcopy, but were being created at a far faster clip. Are your library and research functions of 2020 still reporting off to a partner? Are you negotiating your technology, ediscovery, marketing and library contracts separately, even though the same big vendor now owns all four pieces? Are you moving to the cloud? Are you considering out sourcing all or aspects of your IT? To maximize these key assets, your management structure needs to change and adjust with the processes and technologies you deploy.

If you have an opportunity to attend ILTA’s Annual Educational Conference, Strategic Unity, at the ARIA Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada from August 22 through 26, stop by, I think this session is going to be fantastic (whether I make it or not). Once at the conference, there are 159 other sessions that might also excite you!

 

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