Thought leader

Well, despite the prophecies of doom that knowledge management (KM) would ultimately go the way of other management “fads”, we enter 2005 finding KM still going strong and having an ever increasing impact on the successful operation of law firms and in-house legal departments.

Recruitment consultants report a buoyant and growing market for professional support lawyers (PSLs) and other knowledge management professionals in the legal industry and, judging by the diversity of the students we see on the Nottingham Law School KM programmes, the importance of managing knowledge is being taken up by law firms large and small, in-house legal departments and increasingly international firms as well.

However, this growth in the take-up of KM, brings with it change and evolution in the discipline. Many consider that we are now in a period of second or even third generation KM, after initial emphasis in the early days on IT solutions (now widely recognised as an important conduit for KM, but not the be all and end all) and then a focus on PSLs as the main providers of KM solutions in law firms. The approach now is characterised by a growing realisation that knowledge pervades every aspect of law firm life, and therefore KM needs to involve everyone in the firm, not just specialist knowledge workers such as PSLs. Along with this is increasing recognition that the cultural aspects of KM, around encouraging lawyers throughout the firm to share their knowledge, should be a key area of focus.

Evidence of this evolution in KM is manifest in the articles in this special issue, such as the expanding role of PSLs as facilitators of knowledge sharing by others, rather than being seen only as creators of knowledge; the need to harness the experiential and tacit knowledge of lawyers as well as focus on documents; and measurement of the value of KM initiatives. This last topic recognises a pressing management issue for those firms that have invested heavily in KM in the past, whether by hiring PSLs, acquiring bespoke IT systems or other initiatives such as changing their reward systems to recognise contribution to KM, namely: how to measure the return on their investment. Measuring something as pervasive and nebulous as knowledge and its impact on the firm is very difficult, and arguably a focus purely on financial return is the wrong approach. Whilst financial measures are important, one should also look for evidence of the other more intangible benefits of KM, such as the development of people in the firm, improved internal procedures and client satisfaction, amongst other things. All of these aspects ultimately have an impact on the firm’s bottom line and its future sustainability.

In recognising the pervasive benefits of KM, law firms are beginning to associate it more explicitly with areas such as risk management, where effective KM can have a major impact in reducing many legal and business risks that law firms face. This recognition is to be welcomed and, whilst it may mean that the boundaries of KM become a little more blurred in the future, I have no doubt that, as KM continues to evolve, it can continue to contribute to law firms’ success in a variety of ways.

Karen Battersby is course director for 'Know How Management Programmes for Legal Practice' at Nottingham Law School. She can be contacted at: karen@dbattersby.fsnet.co.uk