• He is: The 55-year-old Managing Partner of Thelen, Reid & Priest, which has 380 lawyers in five offices in a range of practice areas; previously president of Kaiser Steel Company and its former general counsel.
  
• He says: "Have a vision for your firm, develop a plan to implement your vision, and stick with the plan until you' accomplished your objectives. Stay flexible enough to respond to the market quickly."
  
• Online: rngary@thelenreid.com

Question: Mergers are predicted to be a top trend for firms in the new century. What is your advice on making them work? Two things are critical. First, you need to examine the practice synergies between the two firms contemplating merger to make sure that there are strong business reasons to combine the two firms. Second, there must be good personal chemistry between the two partner groups. If those factors are in place and each firm is committed to a common objective of making the merger happen, I think it will happen 9 times out of 10.

In terms of managing the firm once the merger is complete, first you have to understand that it will take time for people to get used to working in the new firm. There will inevitably be a transition period, and some people will adjust to the new firm more quickly than others. Second, it' critical that you develop the new firm' identity as soon as possible. This is important both internally and externally.

In the increasingly competitive environment in which we practice law, firms and their lawyers need to differentiate themselves. Hence, for a merged firm, it' important for everyone to understand and be able to communicate—to themselves, their families, their clients and the marketplace—the mission and the purpose of the enterprise. It is management' responsibility to formulate this purpose in a way that firm members can recommunicate to themselves and to others.

Question: What is your take on management training for law firm leaders? Management experience and training gives the managing partner a tremendous advantage, most especially in large law firms. These are large businesses, and they require strong and effective leadership. Most lawyers don' pick up these skills practicing law. It is rare to have the opportunity to get direct hands-on experience in advance.

My advice is to talk to people who hold comparable positions in other firms. It' also crucial to take advantage of external educational resources, such as seminars and retreats. You cannot attend enough of these programs.

Question: You' credited with pulling Thelen Marin Johnson & Bridges back from the brink a few years ago. What were the key issues to confront? The former TMJB—which subsequently merged with Reid & Priest to form my current firm—suffered in the late 1980s and early 1990s from overcapacity and lacked operational discipline. While in the private sector, I had learned the importance of both planning and effective communication. So, we developed a recovery plan, stuck with it until we accomplished our objectives, and communicated frequently with audiences both inside and outside the firm—partners, associates, support staff, clients, the press—to make sure everyone understood our message.

Question: What' your advice on saving troubled firms? Troubled firms need two things: a recovery plan and strong leadership. With these in place, I think most troubled firms can be saved, though the elements of the plan will depend on where the problems lie.

The components of law firm economics are really quite simple: billing rates, billable hours, workforce size, expense controls, and billing timing and collections. If you can manage these components successfully, if the partners want to remain together and are committed to turning the firm around, and if they are willing to make some hard decisions (especially at the people level—i.e., cutting staff and budgets), then in the vast majority of cases, the economic problems are solvable and the firm can be saved.

In cases where the partners have lost the will to work together, however, it is difficult to reignite the flame, and chances of recovery are slim.

Question: How can law firms turn the competition from accounting firms and MDPs to their advantage? Competition is good for the profession. It makes all of us manage our firms more effectively. We know the accounting firms are coming. It' incumbent upon us to find ways to improve our financial health and at the same time provide intangible benefits that make large firms a more desirable place to practice law.

Question: What is most central to overcoming the impending challenges? The key element is firm management. Lawyers, like many professionals, frequently have an aversion to management of any kind. After all, it was not so long ago that law schools taught us that if we practiced well and worked hard, the business would naturally come. That is no longer true. With very few exceptions, the most successful firms in the next century will be the firms that are the best managed. In fact, strong leadership involves the ability not only to manage effectively but also to convince partners that effective management is critical to the firm' long-term success.

Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

EXPLODING THE LAW SCHOOL CURRICULUM

• He is: The 54-year-old Dean of Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology; a conflict of laws professor whose scholarship focuses on the legal issues arising from use of the Internet as a marketplace and political arena and on new international institutions to deal with post-Cold War problems; a former consulting attorney at the federal level, particularly the White House.
  
• He says: "To educate people to be innovators and leaders in the real world as it will exist over the course of a career, law schools have to be ahead of the times."
  
• Online: hperritt@kentlaw.edu and www.kentlaw.edu/perritt/conflicts

Question: Chicago-Kent is a leader in technology and the law. What are you teaching future lawyers about technology today? We are teaching future lawyers that information technology will define the practice environment and that new technologies—not only information technology but also biotechnology and genetic science—will produce an important crop of new legal problems that lawyers can deal with best if they think about them while they are still in law school.

In terms of practical tools, we ourselves use current technology and we expect our students to use it. There is, for example, no paper syllabus in my conflict of laws course—it is all on the Web, with links to other resources. Also, we use e-mail as the regular means of communicating between professors and students. These tools are now part of the world of daily law practice, so it prepares students for the real world.

Question: How must law schools change to train lawyers for the future? Law schools must become more interprofessional, so their graduates can relate to client problems and be more creative as problem solvers, rather than being naysayers. I agree with those who predict law schools will need to expand the curriculum to include business, the social sciences and other disciplines (e.g., through new "combined" degrees).

Law schools must also embrace distance learning technologies, such as Internet resources for supplemental readings and tutorials outside of class. They must use these technologies to improve legal education rather than clinging unthinkingly to the past. They must also do a better job of bridging the gap between increasingly theoretical faculty scholarship and the needs of the profession and society.

Question: What is Chicago-Kent doing to bring its curriculum into the next century? We are continuing our tradition of coupling the practical with the theoretical; of operating at the frontier of technology as an enhancement to legal education; and of pioneering interprofessionalism, including new courses and types of clinical-externship opportunities. A good example of the latter is a program Chicago-Kent has conducted for the past 18 months. Law and engineering students work together in several troubled regions, including Bosnia, to help solve refugee, legal and political problems using Internet technology.

We are also discussing a new kind of entrepreneurship program between law and business students (which may cross over into other disciplines). The business students would develop a concept and plan for a new business or product, while the law students would work on the related legal issues—actually obtaining a patent, filing for trademark and the like. This means real-world experience in the actual practice of law and also, importantly, the opportunity to interact with other professionals, thereby learning to avoid some of the types of problems that can (and do) occur between working professionals today.

Question: How can law schools promote improved civility and enhance the profession' reputation? They can offer intensive programs like Chicago-Kent' Professionalism Day. Each year the law school cancels classes for a full day and presents sessions on topics such as civility and diversity. Breakout sessions are led by practitioners in various specialties who teach students how practice works in the real world.

Question: What is the critical challenge for law schools in the 21st century? To deal with distance education technologies and to keep faculty activities relevant to the needs of real world practitioners.

Megan Hayes

MAKING CHOICES: THE ALTERNATIVE WORK-LIFE BALANCE

• She is: A 40-year-old Research Associate who telecommutes with Dwyer, Huddleson & Ray, which has eight lawyers in Fort Collins, CO, practicing in civil rights and employment discrimination, tort litigation, and real estate banking and corporate law; formerly in solo practice and a clerk for the Colorado Supreme Court.
  
• She says: "Stay flexible and maintain a good sense of humor."

Question: How do you work in tandem with your firm? As a support lawyer for the litigation department, I work part-time and collaborate electronically on briefs, motions and complaints, conducting much of the supporting research, writing first drafts and working with the case lawyer on fine-tuning and editing the final product. I have remote access to my firm' computer system via modem, which allows me to dial into the firm' system and to save my work to its hard drive. The Fort Collins office prints, signs and files my work there. We are also linked with an interoffice e-mail system so we don' have to worry about the security issues of Internet e-mail. And, of course, there' always the telephone. I' in contact with the main office at least once a day, electronically or telephonically, and I travel there (about 70 miles) once a month to meet with our other lawyers face to face.

Question: What are the pros of your work arrangement? For me, the primary benefit is the balance between my work and personal life. I have three young children (the oldest is seven years), and right now they are the priority for me and my husband, who is a solo practitioner. I have a flexible work schedule, don' have to commute into an office every day, get to work on litigation issues without running into court at a judge' or opposing counsel' whim, and have solid blocks of uninterrupted time to write briefs and motions. It reduces the typical lawyer stress. Moreover, while I work about 20 hours per week, I have found that I am much more efficient—I have such a short workday that I make the most of every minute.

Question: Is there a downside to telecommuting? Occasionally I can get left out of "the loop" on, for example, new cases that come in. At times I can feel a bit isolated from the firm' everyday workings. You really have to be able to work alone. Someone who needs a lot of external stimulation and feedback about their work from clients and other lawyers probably would not like this type of arrangement. For myself, I' very involved in volunteer work in my community, which allows me to keep a balance between my somewhat solitary telecommuting existence and my more public community involvement.

In terms of career advancement, it requires an extra effort to keep up with networking and the local bar. Also, I' not currently on a partnership track. This would bother many lawyers, but it' a conscious choice I' made to be able to spend time with my family, and I' very comfortable with that decision.

Question: What advice do you have for those seeking to create telecommuting situations? Try to establish a relationship with a firm before attempting to convince them to let you telecommute. In my case, I initially did freelance legal research and writing projects for the firm I was interested in working for. The firm liked my work, and felt that it could take the risk of hiring someone whom it would not be able to monitor regularly. Few firms would consider doing this with a stranger, and who could blame them?

Firms that are considering creating telecommuting positions need to have a good computer system that gives the lawyer the appropriate remote access. They also need to be certain that the telecommuter has good work ethics and professional standards.

Question: Will flexible work arrangements flourish in the next century? Telecommunications technology is changing so rapidly that telecommuting opportunities will certainly expand for lawyers in coming years. In addition, as the number of women in the law increases, job sharing and other arrangements that respond to the need for family time will gain in importance. Men certainly understand and support the need for family time, but it likely will be women lawyers who fill the flexible work arrangement jobs.

Overall, I don' foresee an incredible impact on the profession. There will always be a need for lawyers who can meet face to face with clients and clients who need a "storefront" to come to and discuss their situation personally.

Martha Barnett

THE CHANGING FACE OF THE PROFESSION

• She is: American Bar Association President, 2000-2001; a 52-year-old partner with Holland & Knight LLP, which has 950 lawyers in 18 offices, including joint ventures in Central and South America and Israel; with the firm since her 1973 graduation from law school; specializing in government and legislative, public policy and taxation issues.
  
• She says: "Client service and public service are the watchwords."
  
• Online: mbarnett@hklaw.com

Question: As women' role in the law expands, how is the profession altering? During recent years, the "face" of the legal profession has changed dramatically. Part-time, flex time, telecommuting, and maternity, paternity and family leave are becoming common. Despite the workaholic tendencies of many lawyers, the profession is more family friendly. As more professional couples enter the workplace, this phenomenon is sure to increase and result in even more flexible work arrangements.

Certainly, the increase in the number of women lawyers has had an impact on the practice, internally within the profession and externally in the client-business community. However, increasing absolute numbers is just the first step. The real impact—indeed, the real benefit—comes from having women at the table. It lifts morale, increases trust and communication, boosts creativity, fosters new ideas and enhances productivity. Different perspectives add depth and character to any firm or business. The smart law firms are the ones that not only have the "numbers" but also have the "attitude" that recognizes and capitalizes on the fact that women bring different, important and competitively relevant knowledge and perspectives on how to actually do the work, serve clients, communicate and lead.

My personal experience, happily, has been that clients not only accept but embrace women lawyers. This has to do with core competency, of course, plus something else—how women deal with clients, which can be different from their male counterparts. Some of it is the culturalization process, which is still different for men and women, despite all our best efforts to the contrary. Women are better listeners and seem to be able to hear the clients' goals rather than projecting our own measures of success.

Question: Do you have concerns about how online technologies will affect law practice? I am concerned about the increasing tendency to do everything by e-mail and voice mail, even when the recipient is just down the hall. I think we will lose a lot when we stop taking the time to talk, face to face, with our colleagues and our clients. Eye contact is very important. Another concern is that clients and others now want instant responses. Gone are the days when we had time to think about, reflect on and edit our work product.

In addition, public databases most certainly have changed our expectations of privacy. With technology and various software programs, vendors can now package everything there is to know about an individual or corporate entity that is part of the public domain.

Question: What do you foresee in terms of globalization, firm consolidations and the advent of multidisciplinary practices? Globalization of the economy, including the practice of law, is one of the primary factors behind the consolidation and expansion of law firms. Because of the economics, large institutional firms will be selected and will limit the amount and kind of legal work. I' concerned that this trend will cause an increased focus on the business aspects of the law and less focus on public service responsibilities. The "country lawyer," much like the "ol' country doctor," may become a fond memory. Solo and small office practitioners will fill this role in some ways, but to be successful, they may have to be boutiques with special expertise.

In the new century, when so much can be acquired from lawyers in non-legal settings, accounting firms, paralegals and the Internet, the profession must be vigilant about the lawyer' independence, that is, the ability to tell a client "no" when that is the proper ethical thing to do. Many seem to think that their job is to accomplish the client' goals at all costs. I fear that the move to MDPs will increase this trend and that the profession will forget what it is that has distinguished lawyers from others for centuries.

The oath we take is to uphold the constitution and to be accountable to the public and the courts, not just to the clients. If we ever cross the Rubicon there, I fear there' no going back. It will irrevocably change the nature of the profession.

Lawyers must recognize that multidisciplinary practices and ancillary businesses are here now. The profession has to find a way to maintain adherence to the Model Rules and Professional Standards and our responsibility to the public. The Association is looking at the issues and its Commission will probably recommend that, regardless of where you practice law, if you hold yourself up as a lawyer, you are subject to the Standards.

Question: What are your thoughts on safeguarding professionalism and civility in the new century? We need to be vigilant about professionalism, which encompasses civility and public service. I' greatly interested in the concept of outreach to the public, particularly in public education regarding what the law provides: that it' the foundation of such basics as uniform education, voting rights, and public works and infrastructure—that it' essential to a democratic society. The bar needs an eye toward public perceptions and understandings.

I view my own professional obligations to the public and the profession as threefold: 1) to uphold the Constitution' guarantees, 2) to make sure that I' always competent to provide the services that I promise, and 3) to keep in mind that my first obligation is to the public and to the clients.

David Hambourger

CATALYST FOR NEW PRACTICES: MASTERING THE DIGITAL AGE

• He is: The 44-year-old Director of Practice Support and Of Counsel for Chicago-based Winston & Strawn, one of the nation' oldest and largest law firms, with more than 600 lawyers in the Untied States and abroad. Until this March, he was Director of the ABA' Legal Technology Resource Center, taking a macro view of the profession' technology uses and needs.
  
• He says: "Think big, start small, move fast!"
  
• Online: dhambour@winston.com

Question: Your position represents a new direction for law firms. What are the responsibilities? Long-term, my responsibility is to leverage the strategic value of the firm' technological investments by providing vision and leadership in planning and implementing enhancements to practice systems.

On a day-to-day level, this translates to working with our practice groups and clients to identify and implement technology-based solutions—ranging from evaluating niche software packages to assessing client relationships from a technological perspective. We have implemented tools such as expert document review, voice recognition, videoconferencing links and collaborative extranet applications. My particular interest is knowledge management applications, or ways of categorizing and organizing information produced within the organization so that those who need it can readily access and reuse it.

I have a significant advantage with access to a 50-member information systems staff to put new systems on a solid footing. In smaller firms, my work and the issues involved would likely need to be handled on a more ad hoc basis via lawyer and staff "champions."

Question: What' your perspective on legal information "brokers" emerging on the Internet? What the Internet does best is to dramatically improve our ease of access to information that was previously difficult or expensive to obtain. Legal information is no exception to this model, with a bevy of data available in just a few clicks of the mouse. Legal research brokers have existed for quite some time. Individual lawyers will need to distinguish themselves and assess which services are desirable. In certain practice specialties, the lawyer will have to consider the degree to which a particular service could be "commoditized," with the Internet economy being especially applicable to the profile.

As to substantive law practice on the Internet, it is clearly foreseeable, but there are issues to be resolved: attorney-client privilege, malpractice concerns, regulatory matters and the like. Still, more is bound to happen. The Internet reduces transaction costs, and that means clients will drive the trend.

Question: What do you foresee as technology' role in the globalization of law practices? Technology neutralizes time zone differences, speeds communications and enables "virtual teams." These teams will be formed in much the same way they are formed within firms today—that is, an entire legal services delivery team (lawyers, paralegals, secretaries, technical support staff) comes together based on the matter involved and the individuals' expertise and capabilities. Technology is simply taking this concept to the next step: The team comes together, and works together, over the Web, with every element of the matter tracked online so everyone simultaneously knows the other members' progress. Realtime editing and videoconferencing will also be important elements. Teams will form and dissolve "at will," in much the same way that today' film casts and crews come together for a one-shot project and disband when it concludes.

Question: How can firms use technology to stay competitive? All law firms need to look to the long term and be mindful about clients' technology sophistication outpacing theirs. Several areas come to mind, including use of Internet, intranet and extranet technologies, communications and knowledge management. To keep pace, firms will have to continually evaluate their strategic use of technology and make critical decisions about resources and direction.

Greg Siskind

THE INTERNET EVERYWHERE

• He is: The 31-year-old Managing Partner in charge of business development and technology for Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine, a 15-lawyer firm with six offices exclusively practicing immigration law; responsible for the firm' award-winning Web site; previously in solo practice, where he learned to use the Web for marketing; author of the ABA Law Practice Management Section' Lawyer' Guide to Marketing on the Internet.
  
• He says: "Lawyers who understand that technology should be transforming every aspect of the way they practice law will be the ones who succeed the most in coming years."
  
• Online: gsiskind@visalaw.com and visalaw.com/news/index.html

Question: How do you actively use the Internet in your day-to-day law practice? The Internet plays a vital role in just about every aspect of our practice. I myself do client consultations through the Internet, while firmwide we use it in a wide variety of ways. For example, we use it to manage documents over the Web and allow clients to access their files online. Currently we' mainly working on this on a pilot basis for a few key clients. We' intentionally going through this process slowly so that clients will become comfortable with it, not so much on the technical level but rather on a psychological level (it' such a new way of interacting with their lawyers). So far they seem to really like it, and other clients are now specifically asking for it.

We also use the Internet to maintain calendars and contact managers over the World Wide Web, to conduct legal and factual research, to provide long-distance clients with instant access to formatted government forms, to receive faxes and voice mails as e-mail attachments, to bill clients and accept online bill payments via the Web, and to conference via voice and video tools. In addition, we use the Web for office and administrative tasks such as collecting client information, purchasing supplies, banking and paying bills, booking travel reservations and tracking express mail deliveries.

Question: How do you use the Internet to market your firm? We want to be the online source for information on U.S. immigration law. We have worked for five years to develop a Web site that includes nearly 2,000 original articles on immigration law, 100-plus government forms in downloadable Adobe Acrobat format, an extensive primary source document library, a high-traffic discussion board on immigration law, an advocacy center with information and links to dozens of immigration-related bills pending in Congress and detailed chronicles of key legislative battles, and a good deal more. We also distribute an e-mail newsletter that is typically 50-plus pages of the latest news and analysis in our field. The Web site and e-mail newsletter have a broad appeal to immigrants, lawyers, foreign student advisors, reporters, employers and government and court officials.

By developing strong content, we have been able to develop a regular and substantial readership. The site has had more than 13 million hits to date and the newsletter is e-mailed to more than 21,000 subscribers every month. Both have helped the firm to build a national brand name quickly and given us the credibility to land top clients. It is the engine that has helped our firm grow from a solo practice to one of the nation' largest immigration law firms in just five years.

Question: What advice do you have for other lawyers seeking to use the Internet in their marketing? Our strategy involves an incredible time commitment and will obviously not be right for every firm. Most firms, however, should be able to find a useful way to incorporate the Internet into their marketing plans. The Web is a highly affordable place to market. Our Web site, for example, costs just $60 per month and our newsletter goes out via list serve for a $10-per-month fee.

Firms should carefully consider who their Internet target market will be. Readers of your site could be existing and potential clients, other lawyers who may have cases to refer, reporters, law students and potential lateral hires as well as lawyers in your own firm.

Your content strategy should be designed around the market you are targeting. For example, a firm primarily using its site as a recruiting tool may view matters differently from a firm trying to attract attention from reporters. It is important to set goals in advance in a detailed Internet marketing plan.

Even if you come up with a tremendous site, failure to adequately market the site will diminish its impact. Take the time to make sure the site is marketed after it goes online. Develop a marketing strategy for the site both online and offline. A quick rule of thumb: everywhere you mention your phone number in your print marketing materials, mention your Web address.

Question: How do you see the growth of the Internet and other technologies altering traditional law practice? The Internet will transform the profession in ways many lawyers may not see coming. Barriers to interstate practices will continue to fall as the public demands the ability to shop for legal services nationwide. Small firms can look as big as large firms on the Web, so size will matter less and less. Boutique firms will thrive because the Internet makes it easier for them to deliver a clear message about what they do well. Larger firms, on the other hand, will be able to use their bigger budgets to focus on using technology to deliver the most convenient and highest quality service. Private client Web sites and firm intranets will become the norm, with the big firms leading the way.

Further, the Internet will make legal services look more like a commodity. Expect to see more consumer demand for fee information on Web sites and to see less satisfaction with the concept of hourly billing.

Most importantly, the Internet will help to make legal services and information on the law accessible to a much larger portion of the public. It will create a more efficient marketplace and Internet technologies will help to drive down the cost of practicing law. Thus, more people will be able to hire lawyers. And more and more people will handle simple legal matters themselves because the tools to do it will be available at the click of a mouse. n

Joy M. White works from her home office on Chicago' North Side, writing on a variety of professional and business issues. She has edited numerous law-related publications and regularly interviews intriguing practitioners for LPM' "Best Practices" profile. Contact her at (773) 728-5306; whitejacks@aol.com.

Sidebars

INTELLECTUALCAPITAL

TRENDSETTER: JOHN HOKKANEN www.lptc.comJohn Hokkanen (john@hokkanen.com), Chief Knowledge Counsel for Alston & Bird LLP, leads a group of Web developers in creating knowledge management, collaboration and information publishing applications on the firm' intranet and extranet.

Key factors in knowledge management for law firms: "It requires a solid understanding of new technologies as well as the practice of law. Another factor is realizing that collective action by individual knowledge workers poses problems for all industries, including law firms. Thus, it is the human factors, not the technology, that are the focus of knowledge management initiatives. For small firms and solo practitioners, knowledge management takes on a decidedly different character because the group that is managing the knowledge is much smaller. Often the only initiative that is needed is a collective staff meeting. However, as solo practitioners become part of larger initiatives by corporations using many local counsel, the solo practitioner will also need to become more familiar with knowledge sharing."

How lawyers can keep pace as technology advances: "Technology will be used in three capacities. First, it will continue to play a role as a productivity tool (e.g., the word processor). Second, it will play a role as a way of providing services through new means (e.g., e-mail, extranets). Last, technology will be used as a way of wrapping legal services as a bundled product, where the legal content and technology components have been merged. Lawyers can only remain competitive if they understand and exploit each role of technology."

Twenty-first century watchword: "Innovation. Lawyers who understand how to use technology to add value to the needs of their clients will do fabulously well; those who don' should consider other options."

ACCEPTTHECHALLENGES

TRENDWATCHER: C. RANDEL LEWIS

In 1992, Randy Lewis (crlewis@hildebrandt .com) left a large law firm practice to assist other firms in charting their futures. He is now Managing Director (CEO) of New Jersey-based Hildebrandt International. In addition to steering the consulting firm' growth and performance, he counsels clients on a wide range of business challenges. Randy travels hundreds of thousands of miles each year, but keeps his primary base at his mountain home in Colorado.

The MDP culture clashes: "Much of the traditional practice of law will be subject to new competitive pressures from a variety of new service providers. We' see many once-traditional legal service providers join multidisciplinary organizations. This means cultural clashes are inevitable. It will be an interesting decade."

Borderless practice: "Simply put, successful practitioners will use new technology to its fullest potential instead of trying to adapt old (and potentially outdated) practices to new technology. Technology allows the best and, many times, most economically efficient service provider to do the work for clients. It also allows firms to take advantage of talent anywhere in the world."

New satisfaction: "As we tell our consultants and our clients, you need to work for the fun and the love of it, not just for money. Money can' make up for the demands and stresses that work creates. Lawyers need to recognize that they are responsible for making themselves happy. No one else is going to do it for them."

The long hallway: "I enjoy working from home when I can because it lets me be closer to my family. For me, the key is that my Colorado office really is a separate, full-service office—it just happens to be located next to my house. In fact, regardless of my location, I have access to my firm' full staff. The special thing about my ‘office' is that it' spread over several locations. It' not just down the hall—or, at least, the hall is a lot longer than it used to be."

Millennium guidepost: "Many of the changes that will occur can be overwhelming and stressful—if you let them. Recognize when you should let things slide and when you should laugh. Enjoy the ride—taking all of this too seriously would not be a good thing."

THE NEED FOR SPEED

TRENDSETTER: Howard J. Rudge

Howard J. Rudge (howard.j.rudge@usa.dupont.com), Senior Vice President and General Counsel, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, is credited with revolutionizing his corporation' law department by forming new strategic partnerships with outside counsel. As a result, according to an Arthur Andersen review, DuPont has saved tens of millions of dollars in fees through firm innovations and early case assessments. The average case cycle time was reduced by 17 months.*

The DuPont Legal Model: "To improve the quality of service from our outside counsel and simultaneously reduce our legal costs, we created the DuPont Legal Model based on trust and a new way of practicing law. We developed several basic premises to support the new partnering concept. First, we agreed to grow the law firms' business if they grew DuPont' business. We required the firms to be on the cutting edge of technology, with the creation of our knowledge base. We told them to try alternate fees through which they shared the risks and rewards. We also asked for diverse work teams on our problems. Implementing the model also meant extensively reworking our inside practice of law."

Outside counsel ahead: "The practice of law is changing exponentially. The pace of change is acceleration. I believe that the legal practice in the form of law partnerships will vanish in 20 years. To gain in this new environment, outside law firms must change the way they market themselves and the way they make their contribution. They need to emphasize speed over quality. The clients will increasingly object to the high cost of legal services."

Alternative billing methods: "The billable hour is fast disappearing. More incentives will be billed into the system that measures results rather than effort."

Dispute resolution: "In future, methods of dispute resolution will be judged more on the speed with which they achieve resolution than the quality of the decision. We will get to the point where computer software will be able to resolve most disputes. Slow traditional law practice where it takes years to resolve issues will vanish as inefficient."

Mooring: "Be principle centered, and build trustful relationships."

*For more about "The Great DuPont Experiment," go to: www.ilap.com/crawfordreid/dupont.htm

ON LEADERSHIP

Trendwatcher: Peter Neary

Lead Past the Power of Precedent

How do you innovate in the practice of law? It' a big question for lawyer leaders, and one that Peter Neary (nearyp@aol.com) helps them address. Until May 1999, he directed the nonprofit Center for Creative Leadership' Leadership at the Peak program. He now provides leadership training for law firms and corporations worldwide through Peter J. Neary Associates, based in Colorado Springs, CO. The former Jesuit priest and Georgetown University instructor also coaches business ethics and team building.

Differences between lawyers and corporate executives in leadership and team development programs: "Lawyers tend to think of themselves as unique when the reality is that they have more in common with their counterparts in business and other professions than they realize—except that managing partners often perceive that they have a deficit in terms of management theory and practices. The truth is that they do! They face a great deal of pressure to keep up a high number of billable hours—a pressure that executives do not face. An increasing number of managing partners are entering management and leadership programs, though, so this should lead to improved perspectives.

"Other differences are that lawyers tend to be broader and more articulate than many business executives. They have a harder time, however, fitting into team dynamics, even though the partnership organizing principle ought to equip them to be better at teamwork. Lawyers are ambivalent about leaders in firms. On the one hand, they want to have input into decisions, while at the same time they want the executive committee or managing partner to make the decisions so they can get back to billable hours. Lawyers have an easier time understanding the spiritual side of leadership when it comes to appreciating the firm' culture or ‘soul' but a harder time experiencing leadership activities as work."

Challenges for lawyer leaders in coming decades: "The big issues are firm size; globalization; balance between work and personal lives; coming to terms with the relatively low regard in which the public increasingly holds the profession and countering this trend; balance between making more money and making a difference; pro bono issues; and the processes and effects of mergers."

Keys to adapting to this new world: "Traditionally the power and impact of precedent have put narrowing blinders on firm leaders. A staid mind-set—i.e., we do things the way we' always done things—is the biggest danger. Good leaders will guide their partners and firms in the 21st century by balancing the impact of precedent as a deformation professionelle while stimulating risk taking, innovation and creativity—not just doing things better but doing them differently. It is at their own risk that firms dismiss what other professional service organizations have done to reinvent themselves in recent years."

Leadership principles to take into the new millennium: "Inspire a shared vision; impart purpose and meaning through helping clients; realize the critical link between high morale and high productivity; and expand the boundaries of the ‘team' to include nonpartners and nonlawyers."

THEBULLETTRAIN: GET ON BOARD—OR STAND ASIDE

Trendwatcher: Stewart Levine www.resolutionworks.org

Since coming to the conclusion that "fighting is an odd way to resolve problems," former litigator Stewart Levine has specialized in dispute resolution consulting and facilitation. His firm, ResolutionWorks, in Alameda, CA, focuses on increasing organizations' effectiveness and profitability by establishing and building cultures of agreement and resolution.

Dispute resolution models for the 21st century: "The fundamental change will be a shift back to lawyers honoring their primary role of resolvers. They will use the model that seems best suited for the situation, including a combination of techniques (e.g., mediating issues on which the parties can come to agreement, and arbitrating remaining issues on which they cannot). Effective lawyers will become process designers—they will design the process that gives their client what they want in the most efficient manner possible. On the commercial side, lawyers will see themselves as part of the client' business team. On the personal side, lawyers will realize that their fundamental job is ministering to the client' personal problem or facilitating a life transition."

Effects of expanded ADR and minimized litigation for the court system: "First, courts will become more specialized and service oriented, with their own experts for taking care of certain substantive issues. Second, they will become direct providers of ADR-type services, and many of the community-based ADR services will become directly attached to the court system. Third, at a certain level of complexity, civil litigants with business disputes will have to pay for services. Lastly, criminal courts will start to offer a wider array of services aimed at more than punishment and housing. As the prison population swells and more civil disputes are resolved through public and private ADR, the courts will start to focus on rehabilitation issues and long-term solutions to criminal behaviors."

The shift in legal education: "Lawyers will realize that a major part of what they do is manage people through major life transitions. Communication and interpersonal skills will become a very important part of legal education, as will advocacy skills in the context of ADR. Many law schools will realize that although they are academic institutions, their fundamental role is training helping professionals. The third year may become all clinical, with students used to staff legal assistance programs for those who can' afford to pay."

Cyberlaw and tomorrow' lawyers: "The power of technology is becoming so affordable that lawyers will be able to use expert systems, video and voice recognition so that in a cost-effective manner they will be able to efficiently serve greater numbers of people without leaving their offices. Lawyers will have more time to truly serve people as technology takes over the support role. We will have more smart systems to delegate to and many clients will be able to serve themselves in many areas. Creativity and strategic thinking will become the marks of effective lawyering."

"Calling all passengers": "Put on your roller skates, and be prepared to stay on them for a while. What it means to be a lawyer will change dramatically in the first quarter of the next century. Rather than look to the past and bemoan the loss, look to the future and the joy of opportunity. The bullet train is departing—get on board or stand aside. If you stand still and resist new ways, you' get run over!"

CLIENT-CONTROLLED MARKET

Trendsetter: Sally Fiona King

• Position: A professional legal administrator and senior corporate executive who serves
  
• as Vice President, Legal Department, Bell Atlantic, a Fortune 25 company (second largest in the telecommunications sector) that is merging with GTE.
  
• Background: 41; a transplanted Brit and MBA; former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Counsel Connect; the first nonlawyer business manager for General Electric Company' legal organization (perhaps the largest corporate legal department); recently gave birth to daughter number two.
  
• E-mail: sally.f.king@bellatlantic.com

Range of your duties as a legal administrator: "The responsibilities encompass the Legal Department' strategic and operational management, extending from such traditional administrative areas as developing and managing capital and operating expense budgets to implementing our business plan and all administrative policies—including the department' information technology, facilities security and human resources. It is my task to promote a work environment that encourages excellence, productivity, high morale, diversity, loyalty and respect. I also manage the outside counsel process—an unusual position for a nonlawyer. This includes negotiating fees, building and redefining critical counsel relationships, and developing creative cost-saving measures."

Ways managing a large corporate department differs from managing a large law firm: "In a law department the emphasis is on expense control rather than revenue genera-tion. Legal results and successes are rewarded both financially and with recognition throughout the corporation. Many of the challenges, though, are the same as at a law firm. Lawyers still have egos, are still perfectionists, still require maximum support and are still providing a service. Managing outside counsel and ensuring that they understand the corporate objectives is not always easy."

Advantages of having a nonlawyer manage outside counsel: "First and foremost is better management. It is a simple value proposition: Lawyers add the most value to the corporation doing what they do best—lawyering. Similarly, a business manager adds the most value by managing the business.

A nonlawyer manager has the responsibility to seek a prospective budget and assess the resources deployed. This is always done in conjunction with the in-house counsel responsible for the matter but permits in-house counsel to maintain the "partner" relationship of camaraderie and collegiality so important to good teamwork (and therefore the best possible outcome). For example, the nonlawyer manager is often sufficiently removed from the details of the case to question why six associates have been deployed to the case; to insist that the associates assigned continue with the matter through a reasonable time frame; to suggest that in-house paralegals or lawyers can complete certain tasks and that alternative corporate resources be deployed rather than expensive law firm resources utilized at tremendous cost. In addition, from matter to matter, an outside firm is often brought in at a time of crisis. Speed and creative legal thinking are the highest priorities. Lawyers must correctly focus on the matter at hand, not on the budgetary constraints or the resources available."

Developing criteria for hiring counsel in coming years: "First, outside counsel must be ‘expert' in their given field and provide creative solutions. Second, lawyers need to be available from wherever they happen to be, and they must be fully attuned with the way in which the law department operates, i.e., they need to be able to work as part of the in-house team. Third, those who have demonstrated an ability to provide true value will be preferred."

Your technology for managing outside lawyers: "We use the case-matter management system LawPac by CompInfo. We also have an internal intranet site, The LegalWeb, which provides our internal lawyers with resources at their fingertips from wherever they happen to be so that they don' need

to go to outside counsel. We like to have e-mail connectivity with all outside counsel and expect documents to be transmitted electronically.

"Going forward, information technology will be ever more critical. I anticipate more virtual spaces through which inside and outside lawyers will collaborate. We will also make even more use of Web tools. At Counsel Connect I learned that lawyers indeed have the vision to use the Web as an effective tool, and I believe that they are innovating to make use of ‘virtual space' ahead of most other professions."

WANT WORK?

THINK VALUE, INNOVATION, DIVERSITY

As Bell Atlantic' Legal Department Vice President, Sally Fiona King is responsible for hiring and retaining outside counsel for the telecommunications giant. A professional legal administrator and MBA, she has the following advice for lawyers in private practice.

1. Be computer proficient and use every efficiency tool available. Do not be an "e-dinosaur." Pass along all efficiencies and cost savings to your clients.

2. Know your client' business, culture, goals and objectives. Attend industry seminars. Do not believe that all you need in your toolkit are good lawyering skills. Sound business judgment is imperative. So, too, is a broad-based knowledge of your client. Spend time at the client' office on your own dime. Have lunch with clients in their cafeteria. (Do not bill the time!) You will learn more informally than you ever will in a business meeting.

3. Do not try to be smarter than in-house counsel. They are very smart and will be your best allies in communicating with the business leaders. In-house counsel usually understand the politics, business, and goals and objectives of the business leaders very well. Ultimately it is in-house counsel who decides which outside counsel is hired. It is smart to make in-house counsel look good whenever you can.

4. Manage within the budget you have provided—even if you write down many hours. Do not send a bill via express mail of any kind. Avoid surprises at all costs. If something is going to cost more than estimated, say so as soon as you can, and always explain why. Do not assign associates without approval or without introducing them to in-house counsel. Send bills regularly (monthly is best), and in whatever format the client has requested. Do not let any paralegal bill 12- to 14-hour days "reviewing documents."

5. Think value. Review every bill from the client' perspective before sending it. If a bill makes you blush, think again before mailing it. If it would make more business sense to settle a case, or not do a deal, say so. Do not recommend a course of action that you would not take if it were your business.

6. Innovate and be creative. That is why you were hired. Be proactive in suggesting solutions; do not be constrained by tradition. Think about radical change over incremental improvement and constantly reevaluate the manner in which you provide service. Evolve to meet the ever changing needs of the clients—but be prepared to change quickly in response to market dynamics. Be available. Voice mail is annoying, so always have a human alternative. E-mail often creates the appearance of complete availability. Be sure to read and respond to both e-mail and voice mail.

7. Try to look like the client—and the client' customers. Think diversity! Increasingly, legal departments and corporations have a commitment to diversity, to hire and retain more minority and women candidates. This commitment extends to hiring minority law firms and firms with minority partners and associates. Similarly (but certainly less important), if it is a casual day at the client', dress casually to attend meetings there.

—Sally Fiona King