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Operational Excellence: Legal
Process Improvement Applied to
Business and Administrative
Functions
Presented by
Karen Dunn Skinner
David Skinner
OM21
4/4/2017
7:30 AM - 9:30 AM
The handouts and presentations attached are copyright and trademark
protected and provided for individual use only.
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
1
ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Operational Excellence: Legal Process Improvement Applied to Business and Administrative Functions
Denver - April 4, 2016
Gimbal - Lean Practice Management Advisors
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.
2
In a market where clients want the most efficient delivery of legal services, the market will reward law firms who focus on operational efficiency in its broadest sense — not just managing expenses, but transforming the way they run their firms and deliver legal services.
2017 Client Advisory Citi Private Bank & Hildebrandt Consulting
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE3
WHAT: Excellence in ALL aspects of your service delivery model
• Legal processes • Business and administrative processes
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE4
HOW: • Integrated, enterprise approach • Identify, evaluate, and eliminate (or at
least reduce) waste • Focus on activities that add value
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
USE LEAN TO ACHIEVE5
More efficient and effective processes • Time savings and cost controls • Improved productivity • Better margins and greater profitability
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
DMAIC6
Define: What does the client want?
Measure: How do we work to get that result?
Analyze: Why do we work that way?
Improve: How can we improve?
Control: Are we following the new process?
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
What does your client want?
7
DEFINE
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
Listen to the voice of the client
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
ESSENCE OF LEAN
8
Eliminate waste
Add value
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
SO WHAT’S VALUE?
3 key value criteria:
1. does your work move the matter forward?
2. is it what the client wants and is willing to pay for?
3. is your work done right the first time?
9
stuart miles / freeditigalphotos.net
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
10
Eight Wastes
Defects
Inventory
Transport
Non-utilized talent
Waiting
Over-production
Extra processing
Motion
DOWNTIME
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
Establish a baseline for improvement
11
MEASUREHow do you work
now?
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
Find the root causes
12
ANALYZEWhy do you work the way you do?
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
IMPROVE
13
How can you work better?
• Brainstorm and prioritize your ideas
• Involve the subject matter experts
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
YES, IF NOT
NO, BECAUSE
Think about how you can make something
happen…
not the reasons why it might not work
14
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
CONTROL
15
NASA [Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Are you following your new process?
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.
16
A NEW APPROACH
17
Apply data analytics to matter pricing, staffing, and outcomes
Roll out optimized legal and business processes
Implement legal project management in all applicable matters
Automate workflows and implement alternative staffing models
Deploy collaborative technologies with clients
Make continuous improvement part of the firm culture
Align compensation to reward innovation and performance excellence
Integrate AI and machine learning into legal processes
Performance, Profitability & InnovationMaturity Model
React
Monitor
ManageInnovate
© Fireman & Company 2017 All rights reserved.
Begin formal budgeting
Systematic budget monitoring
Develop performance and profitability metrics
Gather and analyze financial data
Ad hoc budgeting and monitoring
Metrics undefined
Processes inconsistent
Firefighting
Develop and adopt pricing models
Define and map legal and business processes
Implement and embed knowledge management
Begin building legal project management skills and resources
Improve
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS18
• Process…not people
• Small changes really add up
• Add value…eliminate waste
• DOWNTIME - look for these wastes in your work
• Authors not victims of change - get the subject-matter experts involved
• Have a “Yes…if” mindset
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2016. All rights reserved.
GIMBAL19
gimbalcanada.com 514-667-2288
[! ]1
LEANLEGAL™ THE EIGHT WASTES
DOWNTIME-Lean’s8WastesEliminatingwasteisonewayyoucandomore...withless
A Guide to Going Lean
WASTE COSTS YOU MONEY AND ANNOYS YOUR CLIENTS Chances are you’ll be able to identify some (maybe all) of Lean’s classic wastes in your law firm or in-house
department. Once you learn to see waste, you’ll never look at your practice the same way again.
What if… Youcouldclearconflictssooner?
Youcouldmovethatclosingupbyaweek?
Youcouldwork,uninterrupted,fortheentiremorning?
Youcouldturnthatcontractaround48hoursfaster?
Youcouldmanageyourbudgetwithlessstress?
Youcouldmeetdemandsforlowerfixedfees,andknowyoucouldstillmakemoney?
You can! Whetheryou’reinprivatepracticeorin-house,therearesomepracticalwaysyoucanimproveworkflowandqualitybyidentifyingandeliminatingwasteinyourpractice.
©GimbalCanadaInc.,2016.Allrightsreserved.
[! ]2
WHAT IS VALUE?Whatever your client
thinks it is
THE VALUE CRITERIA
Your work only adds value if you can answer “yes” to every one of these questions:
Does your work move the matter forward?
Is it something the client wants and is willing to pay for?
Is your work done right the first time?
That last one is tough for lawyers. We are perfectionists. We write and rewrite. We correct and edit. We move commas. Sometimes we need to, but not always.
The next time you are tempted to make a stylistic change to a colleague’s document or a contract from opposing counsel, ask yourself:
Does the client want to pay for that change?
Does it advance the matter?
If it doesn’t, then let it go.
If it doesn’t add value, it’s waste!
DOWNTIME: An easy way to spot waste Wastecomesin8classicforms:defects,overproduction,waiting,non-utilizedtalent,transportation,inventory,motion,andextraprocessing.We’veadaptedthe8wastestolaw,givingyouconcreteexamplestolookforinyourpractice.
DEFECTS:Anyworkproductthatisdefectiveiswaste.Ifyourworkhastobecorrectedorreworkedbecauseoferrorsoromissions,that’swaste.Ifyoumakeamistakeonafiling,that’swaste.Ifyouenterthe
wrongtaskcodeorclientnumber,that’swaste.Dataentrymistakes,poorlycommunicatedinstructionsthatresultinyouorajuniorhavingtoredoamemo,incomplete“KnowYourClient”formsthatholdupconflictschecks...allofthesearedefects.
OVERPRODUCTION:Timeisyourmostlimitedresource.Doingmorethanwhat’srequired,soonerorfasterisamisallocationofresources.Toomanyemails,toomanyhardcopies,toomuchcommunication.Wemayneverbecompletelypaperless,butkeepingelectronicandpaper
copiescostseveryonemoney-clientspayforproductionandyoupayforstorage.Askingformemosorresearchonasubjectalreadycoveredinanothermatteriswastethatcanbesolvedwithappropriateknowledgemanagement.
WAITING&DELAYS:Waitingforacolleaguetoshowupforameetingisobviouslywaste,butwaitingincludesmuchmore.Timelostwhenpeople,machinesorinformationarewaiting,idle,warmingup,orawaitingprocessingistimewasted.Andthentherearethe
interruptions.Mostemployeesspendabout30%oftheirdaydealingwithinterruptionsandgettingbackontrack.Giventheproliferationofsmartphonesandtablets,thatnumberiscertainlyhighertoday.Gettingbackuptospeediscalledset-uptime.It’saperniciousandpervasivewastethatcostsyouandyourclientstimeandmoney.
NON-UTILIZEDTALENT:ALeanorganizationusestheskillsandtalentsofitsresourcestothefullest.Failingtorecognizethepotentialofallthepeopleinyourteamiswasteful.So,too,isfailingtoallocatework
tothemostappropriateinternalorexternalresources.Itincludesusingsomeoneover-qualifiedforthetask—workdonebyapartnerthatcouldbedoneaseffectivelybyanassociate,orworkallocatedtoalawyerthatcouldbehandledbyaparalegalorlegalassistant.
Starteliminatingwasteandyou’llseeimmediateresults.
D
O
W
N
©GimbalCanadaInc.,2016.Allrightsreserved.
WHO IS YOUR CLIENT? Whomever you pass
your work on to
[! ]3
Time: the Lean side-effect
Learning to spot the waste in your practice is the first step towards process optimization.
Eliminate or reduce waste and you will free up human, financial and technical resources for other valuable work. You’ll also give yourself more time.
How you use that time is up to you. Take on more work and become more profitable if you’re in private practice. Be proactive rather than reactive if you’re in-house. Find new and creative ways to better serve your clients. Or...
Which waste is
this?
DOWNTIME: An easy way to spot waste TRANSPORTATION:Transportationwastesmightseemhardtospotinthelegalcontext,butthey’reeverywhere.Anyunnecessaryorinefficientmovementofequipment,documentsorinformationiswaste.Movingstacksoffilesfromofficetooffice,usingacourierservice
insteadofemail,usingcheques(requiringsignature)ratherthandirectdeposit,evenpoorlyorganizedinternalmailrouting.Theseareallexamplesoftransportationwaste.
INVENTORY:Amajorandoftenobvioussourceofwasteinmanufacturing,inventoryalsooccursinlegalandbusinessprocessesinlawfirmsandlegaldepartments—itjustlooksalittledifferent.
Inventoryissimplyanotherwordforworkinprogress.Excessworkinprogresscostsyourfirmorlegaldepartmentmoney.Itsuggestsinefficientworkflowsorstaffingproblems.Whetherit’sdocumentsawaitingsignature,unansweredemailsandvoicemails,oraclientmatterlanguishingonsomeone’sdesk,reducingworkinprogressisasurewaytoimproveturnaroundtime,improveworkflowanddriveupproductivity.
MOTION:Wastedmotionismovementofpeoplethatdoesnotaddvalue.Itcouldbephysicallytrackingpeopledownformeetings,signaturesorotherapprovals.Itmightbesearchingforamissingfileor
movingthroughapoorofficelayout.Itcanevenbeapoorlyorganizedcomputerdesktopthatrequiresyoutomake7or8clickstofindthefileyou’reworkingonortoaddsomethingtoyourknowledgemanagementsystem.
EXTRA-PROCESSING:EverytimeyougiveyourclientsaFerrariwhenalltheyneedisaFord,you’rebeingwasteful.Gildingthelilyiscommoninlaw:doingunnecessaryresearchtocoverthejust-in-case
scenario;overstaffing;doubleortriple-checkingwhat’salreadybeencheckedjusttobesure.Eliminatingtheextratouchesandunnecessaryreworkwillsaveyoutimeandyourclientsmoney.
Remember,ifitdoesn’taddvalue,it’swaste.
T
I
M
E
What would you do if you had more
time?
©GimbalCanadaInc.,2016.Allrightsreserved.
[! ]4
What do we mean by going Lean?
Forin-housecounsel,itmeanscreatingalegaldepartmentthatbetterbalancesrisk,costandheadcount.
Byoptimizingyourinternalprocessesandeliminatingthewaste,you’llbeabletoimproveyourturnaroundandensureyou’reallocatingtherightworktotherightresourcesattherighttime.
You’llbeabletoincreasecomplianceandcoverage,andimproveclientsatisfactionamongthebusinessunitswithoutnecessarilyincreasingthesizeofyourdepartmentorthelengthofyourworkday.You’llhavemoretimetodevotetospecificbusinesschallengesandparticipateinthestrategicdecisionsaffectingyourcompany.
Forlawfirms,itmeanscuttingcosts,improvingpricingmodels,andbecomingmoreprofitableandmorecompetitive.
Eliminatingthewaste,reducingthenumberofstepstocompleteagiventransaction,loweringyouroverhead,andimprovingthespeedofadministrativeprocesseslikeconflictsclearingwillimproveyourbottomline.
You’llbuildasolidfoundationforlegalprojectmanagementandadeeperunderstandingofexactly
whatagivenprocesscostsyourfirminresourcesandtime.YoucanusethatknowledgetostructureAFAsthatmeetclientdemandsandstillensureahealthyprofitmarginforyouandyourfirm.
Who’s going Lean? Here are just a few of the law firms and legal departments
who have realized the powerful benefits of going Lean.
Seyfarth Shaw Borden Ladner Gervais
The Royal Bank of Canada Hunoval Law Firm
Barley Snyder
Going Lean lets you do more...with
less
CONTACT US:
Gimbal Canada Inc. www.gimbalcanada.com
+1-514-667-2288
JOIN THE DIALOGUE: Converse with us on Twitter
@DavidFSkinner @KarenSkinner @GimbalCanada
Visit us on Facebook & LinkedIn
READ THE BLOG: We write regularly on legal practice management, Lean Six Sigma and innovation in law. Subscribe to The Lean Law Firm for practical tips on improving the way you deliver your legal services.
GoingLeanmeanscreatinganinnovativelawfirmorlegaldepartmentthatoptimizesitslegalandbusinessprocesses,alwayslookingforwaystoreducewasteandimprovetheflowofworkthroughapracticegrouporadministrativefunction.
GO LEAN WITH GIMBAL!
©GimbalCanadaInc.,2016.Allrightsreserved.
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved.
Driving Performance, Profitability & Innovation
Prepared by Gimbal Canada Inc. for the PPI Group
January 2017
PPI GROUP
TABLE OF CONTENTS January 2017
Performance. Profitability. Innovation. 3 Our three-step methodology 4
Why the PPI Group? 5 Our integrated practice 5
Our proven track record 5
Our focus 5
Our Clients 6 Gimbal clients include 6
Fireman & Company clients include 6
Client Success Stories 7
Our Team 10
Thought Leadership 12
Contact Us 13
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 2
DRIVING PERFORMANCE WITH PPI January 2017
Performance. Profitability. Innovation. Today's legal market demands a new approach to service delivery. Point solutions no longer suffice. Too many firms focus on single initiatives: improving a knowledge management system, hiring a pricing analyst, buying LPM software, or improving a process. These help, but individually, they are not enough. Firms must integrate these and other strategies in a comprehensive series of initiatives, and then execute appropriately. That is the path to profitable, measurable, sustainable performance excellence.
The Performance, Profitability & Innovation Group (the PPI Group) assists firms in developing and executing an integrated approach that increases profitability and improves service delivery. Our team includes attorneys and experts in pricing, process improvement, LPM, KM, staffing, legal technology, and data analysis. We help firms focus on the right opportunities and apply the most appropriate mix of solutions to their specific challenges.
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 3
We are thrilled with how engaged the project has made members of our team, and we’re excited to move forward on the new initiative!
DRIVING PERFORMANCE WITH PPI January 2017
Our three-step methodology
Assess the Current Situation
We help you understand your firm’s current situation, so you can decide where to start. We focus first on your initial point of enquiry, whether it’s pricing, budgeting, KM, or another concern. Working with your attorneys and staff, we apply our decades of experience to assess your practice and operational capabilities. Our analysis helps you identify clients, practices, or portfolios that face challenges based on realization, profitability, market share, or another metric important to you. You’ll receive an Opportunities Assessment Report describing improvement opportunities across a range of related programs at the core of your service delivery model, including process improvement, project management, resourcing, budgeting, monitoring, capacity utilization, and knowledge management, as well as pricing, alternative fee arrangements, and business intelligence analytics.
Recommend Improvements Consistent with your Vision and Needs
The Opportunities Assessment Report also provides our recommendations on the best way for your firm to achieve its strategic objectives. Whether your firm wants to improve productivity, differentiate its offering, increase profitability, or some combination of these and other important drivers, we provide an implementation plan. That plan details improvement initiatives that support your strategic objectives.
Deliver Results
We help your firm select, prioritize, manage, and execute the projects we recommend and that we both agree fit with your goals. We recognize the dependencies between projects and the need to create a solid foundation for sustainable change. Our implementation plan provides a path—a series of short- and longer term projects—that increases buy-in, builds successively, and integrates the critical elements of performance excellence. We also design systems with checks and balances that help you monitor key performance metrics. Our shared goal is to ensure that improvements are sustainable and new systems deliver the desired results.
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 4
The group’s approach to Lean focuses on the tools that are most relevant to streamlining legal processes. They are also highly flexible and respond to the
changing dynamics of the project as it unfolds.
Why the PPI Group January 2017
Why the PPI Group? The PPI Group brings together industry leaders from two consultancies: Fireman & Company and Gimbal. Together, we offer our clients a powerful and unparalleled combination of legal innovation, Lean and process improvement, knowledge management, pricing, technology, and legal project management expertise.
Our integrated practice
• we bring unparalleled depth of understanding of the legal profession
• we have expertise across a range of solutions
• we combine tools and approaches to maximize value, in a way that single-offering consulting firms cannot
Our proven track record
• we execute successful projects in law firms and legal departments across North America
• we design solutions attorneys actually use
Our focus
• we improve your performance and profitability
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 5
Their experience in both law and Lean is evident, and it significantly enhanced the value of the process improvement project.
The team knows their stuff, and they are great with our lawyers.
Our Clients January 2017
Our Clients We work with innovative law firms and in-house counsel across North America. Recent clients focused on pricing, LPM, and process improvement include Akin Gump, Cadwalader, Buchanan Ingersoll, Baker Donelson, Stewart McKelvey, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, and BCF Business Law.
Gimbal clients include
Fireman & Company clients include
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 6
Representative Clients
Our Clients January 2017
Client Success Stories
Our mission is to help our clients make substantial, distinctive, and lasting improvements in performance. Below, you’ll find some of their—and our—recent successes.
Firm PPI Strategy, Analysis, and Practice Group Improvement
Our client was experiencing service delivery and profitability issues across several areas of practice. A firm committee had been struck, but was unable to agree on a starting point for the firm. The PPI Group conducted three days of workshop and interview sessions, and developed a strategic approach focused on process improvement, budgeting, and monitoring. After practice-group and matter-level financial analysis, we selected three practice groups for process improvement. The process improvement projects are ongoing, but through process mapping and redesign, the firm expects significant increases in realization.
Immigration Law PPI Project
The PPI Group worked with the largest immigration group in Canada to improve the firm’s visa application processes. The practice operates in a high-volume, fixed-fee environment, with significant competitive pressure, so cost and time savings were critical objectives.
Using our integrated approach—combining team training, Lean, and process improvement with in-depth requirements gathering and systems analysis—we identified a series of opportunities to increase revenue and client satisfaction, while leveraging resources and technology the firm already owned. Working with a team of attorneys, paralegals, and assistants, we mapped and redesigned an important visa application process. The new process reduced attorney time, automated workflows, and standardized documentation and communications, as well as provided clients with a more efficient process and better reporting. Improvements in the one process will roll out into other aspects of the immigration practice.
Firm-wide Practice Management System
Our client had grown rapidly by acquisition and required a firm-wide practice management system that would integrate matter management, pricing, and legal project management with key firm systems (DMS, enterprise search, financial management, time entry, task management).
We undertook a substantial change management program to facilitate the introduction of a new work paradigm for the firm, and coordinated the work of multiple vendors involved in the project. We also developed over one hundred use cases based on detailed analysis of attorney workflows. These use cases are the core of a SharePoint-based practice management system that is scheduled for release in early 2017.
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 7
Our Clients January 2017
Firm-wide Legal Service Delivery Improvement Project
Our client wanted to change its service delivery model. Our team conducted thorough business requirements gathering and analysis. We recommended a series of strategic initiatives, including a new intranet and extranet, a client-facing service portal, new software systems, enterprise search, and legal project management.
Over the last four years, we have led and continue to lead projects to support their initiatives at all stages, from planning and design through to implementation and roll-out. Our team also manages the projects, develops change management programs to maximize adoption, coordinates the work of multiple vendors, and represents the firm in discussions with vendors on complex projects.
Litigation - Oral Discovery Project
Our client wanted to become more efficient, productive, and competitive in the face of growing demand from clients to better control, or even reduce, the high cost of certain types of litigation. After analysis, the firm decided to initiate its strategic process improvement project by focusing on the oral discovery process in one type of litigation for a keynote client—a process that, once improved, could be used by the entire litigation group.
Using our integrated approach, we facilitated the mapping and redesign of the oral discovery process. Improvements increased overall client satisfaction, reduced lawyers’ billable time, and decreased the time required to produce a key report to the client, all without sacrificing the excellent quality service that is a hallmark of this firm’s litigation team. The redesigned process included better work allocation within the practice group so that the right work was being done by the right people at the right rate. The team also found ways to reduce variation and extra processing by standardizing key elements, including witness preparation.
Bill Generation Process Improvement Project
Our client wanted to improve its process for generating monthly invoices. The project focused on reducing the time required by the attorneys to review and revise draft bills, eliminating errors, streamlining the bill generation process on the administrative side, and developing a process for electronic billing.
We worked with a team of partners, associates, and billing clerks to map the entire bill generation process. We then helped the team develop an improved process that eliminated a significant number of steps, reduced the opportunity for error, facilitated electronic billing, and incorporated automated workflows to simplify the process for attorneys and support staff. Attorney adoption of their new digital review process was over 35% within the first few months, and over 60% were viewing their bills in digital form. Although cost reduction was not a goal of the project, the new process reduced their annual postage costs by approximately 70% and yielded significant savings in stationery and printing costs.
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 8
Our Clients January 2017
Corporate Search Process Improvement Project
Our client needed to decrease the administrative burden on attorneys and paralegals for work associated with corporate searches. They wanted to reduce attorney involvement, create more effective search reports, and move more work to existing corporate service resources.
We worked with a team of attorneys and paralegals to map and optimize the corporate search process. The new process standardized search and reporting processes, reduced the number of steps, reallocated work between resources, created bandwidth to take on additional work, and allowed the firm to better meet the needs of attorneys and clients in less time and at less cost. Execution of the project is ongoing, but many improvements were immediately approved. Please see our recent article on this client’s experience.
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 9
Tom’s enthusiasm is palpable. His ability to synthesize the feedback we’re hearing and discuss it with our COO and our Chairperson is
amazeballs.
The discussion and enthusiasm generated under your fantastic facilitation has already led to positive incremental
action for onboarding our next new lateral.
Our Team January 2017
Our Team The PPI Group brings together industry leaders from two consultancies: Fireman & Company and Gimbal.
Our integrated practice allows us to concentrate our efforts on our clients’ business needs, combining tools and approaches to design solutions that lawyers will actually use.
Tom Baldwin has established himself as globally recognized thought leader and expert in practice management and economics, information management, legal technology, and knowledge management. Tom’s deep understanding of law firms comes from a 20-year career that includes roles as Chief Information Officer and Chief Knowledge Officer at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Reed Smith, and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton.
As a partner at Fireman & Company, Tom specializes in building and leading teams aimed at improving firm efficiencies, profitability, attorney working practices, and user experiences. He understands how to align law firm financials and business practices with legal processes, attorney behaviours, and best of breed legal technologies. Learn more…
Karen Dunn Skinner is Gimbal’s co-founder. She’s a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and an attorney with over 18 years of experience practicing law in Canada and Europe. She combines her deep understanding of the legal industry with her training in Lean Six Sigma to provide practical solutions to the competitive and budgetary pressures on practitioners and clients alike.
Karen is an expert in Lean and process optimization. Her work adapting Lean’s business improvement strategies to the legal industry has made her a recognized leader in legal practice innovation. She’s taught Lean and process improvement to over a thousand lawyers and legal professionals, and led process improvement projects in large and small law firms, and in the legal departments of government agencies and multinational companies across North America. Karen was a member of the Quebec Bar for over 20 years. Learn more…
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 10
Our Team January 2017
Joshua Fireman is Fireman & Company’s founder and president. He has practiced law with two of North America’s largest law firms, and was in-house counsel at a multi-billion dollar multinational corporation. Joshua is recognized as one of the leading experts in law firm strategic consulting, and is a recognized thought leader in areas such as knowledge management and change management.
With a decade of consulting experience, Joshua has advised clients on the development of firm strategies, knowledge management, change management and client collaboration strategies. He has led complex engagements executing strategic plans, including the implementation and integration of portals, enterprise search, file, document and email management, and records management. Learn more…
Ron Friedmann has spent over two decades improving law practice and legal business operations with technology, knowledge management, and alternative resourcing. Ron was one of the first non-practicing lawyers hired by a large law firm, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale), to manage practice support. He pioneered legal process improvement, knowledge management, online legal communities for lawyers, electronic discovery, virtual law libraries, law firm portals, and online legal services based on expert systems.
Prior to joining Fireman & Company, Ron was a senior executive at Integreon, a leading legal outsourcing company. He advised large US, Canadian, UK, and Australian law firms and corporate legal departments on how to improve practice support and business operations while reducing cost. Learn more…
David Skinner is a co-founder of Gimbal and a certified Lean Six Sigma Sensei with over 20 years experience practicing law. David spent more than 10 years in large, international law firms in Canada, Europe, and the UK, and the second half of his career in-house in the venture capital and biopharma industries. David combines his profound understanding of the practice of law with the perspective he gained as a client, to help lawyers improve their practice, performance, and profitability.
David is a change management expert and a recognized leader in the application of Lean to the legal profession. Since founding Gimbal, he’s facilitated successful improvement projects in law firms and legal departments across North America, and taught Gimbal’s unique LeanLegal™ approach to over a thousand lawyers and legal professionals. David was a member of the Quebec Bar for 25 years, and remains a member of the Bars of Massachusetts and New York. Learn more…
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 11
Thought Leadership January 2017
Thought Leadership Our team writes and presents regularly on issues related to performance, profitability, and innovation in the legal industry. For more insight into our approach to innovation in the legal profession, we recommend you see our blogs, The Lean Law Firm and Prism Legal. You will also find articles by Ron Friedmann, Karen Dunn Skinner, and David Skinner on LinkedIn Pulse.
We are invited to speak regularly at conferences and events across North America. Recent and upcoming engagements include:
When Will Blockchains and Smart Contracts Be Important in Legal (Ron Friedmann, Moderator, ILTACon 2016, 30 August 2016)
Rethinking the Application of Technology to Regulatory Work (Karen Dunn Skinner and David Skinner, Presenters, International Conference of Legal Regulators, Washington DC, 15 September 2016)
What Types of Entities Will Provide Legal Services? (Ron Friedmann, Panelist, College of Law Practice Management Futures Conference, Kansas City, 15 September 2016)
Implement Legal Project Management with Delivery Optimization (David Skinner, Panelist, LegalTech Toronto, 22 September 2016)
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Emails: Managing complex transactions with stickies and a whiteboard (Karen Dunn Skinner, Presenter, Legal Management Redux, Toronto, 5 October 2016)
Experience Management is Hot Again? (Joshua Fireman, Presenter, Legal Management Redux, Toronto, 5 October 2016)
Artificial Intelligence: Use Cases in Law Firms (Ron Friedmann, Moderator, 12th Annual Ark KM Conference, NYC, 27 October 2016)
Practical Legal Project Management: Kickstarting an LPM Initiative (Tom Baldwin, Presenter, Association of Legal Administrators’ Annual Conference, Denver, 4 April 2017)
Improving “How” We Work: Legal Process Improvement in Business and Administrative Functions (Karen Dunn Skinner and David Skinner, Presenters, Association of Legal Administrators’ Annual Conference, Denver, 4 April 2017)
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 12
Thought Leadership January 2017
Contact Us For more information, please contact us as follows:
Karen Dunn Skinner: [email protected]
David Skinner: [email protected]
Telephone: 514-667-2288
©Gimbal Canada Inc., 2017. All rights reserved. 13
Your opinion matters!
Please take a moment now to evaluate this
session.
