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Our Pick from the Lawtomatic Newsletter:
How to Manage Technology Change in a Law Firm
By Jared Correia in the Lawyerist.com
As a business consultant to solo and small firm lawyers for the past decade, Jared Correia has helped lawyers deal with many law practice … issues. In his column, “Law Practice Confidential,” he will be answering real questions from real lawyers. To send Jared an anonymous question, use the form at the bottom of this post.
Question: Nobody ever listens to me. At work, at home. Doesn’t matter. It’s like I’m talking to a wall. But, the worst is when I have to onboard any new technology at work. I mean, I think I employ adults, but this is like trying to tell my kids to do something: They look at me for a second, and then run off and do whatever the hell they want, like we didn’t just have a very specific conversation about expectations. Invariably, I will tell everyone in the office that we need to be using a new piece of software, and three months later, no one has even logged in. I give up. Am I going to have to manage my law firm in amber, using the same technology that I’m using now twenty years on?
WC, Woodstock
Answer: Most lawyers are control freaks. And, that’s not always a criticism. In this case, however, it is. Yes, most attorneys take your view, which can be teased out from your comments as follows: I tell people what to do; and, when they don’t do it, I…pout? Frankly, that’s the size of it when it comes to many attorneys. They’re roaring lions until they step on a splinter and then they plaintively wail for the mouse to come on and remove it already. Far better to have the mouse on board earlier, clearing the splinters from your path instead.Let me be far less abstract: The way to help yourself here is to let others help ... More
Gabe Teninbaum
(@GTeninbaum) is a professor at Suffolk Law (with additional affiliations at Yale, Harvard, and MIT) focusing on legal innovation, technology, and the changing business of law.
Every day, he digest tons of content on these topics. The goal of Lawtomatic, his newsletter, is to curate the most interesting, valuable, and thought-provoking of these ideas.
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