Legal Ops Team Asked to Scale Process Without Process

08:42

The executive committee would like a single, scalable approach to opening new matters. I have the full support of the partnership. An accompanying email lists the partners whose practices must not be affected.

There are 118 names.

09:20

I ask six practice groups how a matter gets opened. I receive eight answers, three forms and a suggestion that I speak to Moira.

Moira is an assistant. She has worked here for twenty-seven years and knows how the firm functions. She is not on the working group because the working group is senior.

She tells me which form people actually use. It lives on her desktop and is called MATTER OPENING NEW. It is twelve years old.

10:50

We demonstrate a proposed workflow in MatterSpine. It asks for the client, scope, price and responsible partner before opening a matter.

The partners like it until we reach the questions.

They explain that you cannot necessarily know the scope before beginning, or the price, or which partner is responsible. These things emerge from the relationship.

I ask what information they do have.

They have promised the client we can start.

12:15

The Head of Corporate wants his group's exceptions incorporated into the standard process. The Head of Finance wants the Corporate exceptions removed from his standard process. Both have stressed the importance of consistency.

Moira brings me a sandwich. This is the first resource anyone has given the project.

14:30

We test the workflow with one team. It works. The matter opens correctly. Conflicts are checked. Finance has enough information to issue the engagement letter.

I report the result.

The partner says this is encouraging but the team is not representative. When asked what would make it representative, he says a more challenging matter.

I offer one.

He says we cannot experiment on an important client.

16:45

The launch has been approved, provided each practice retains its existing approach during the transition. No end date has been agreed for the transition.

I put 118 exceptions into MatterSpine. The system asks whether I would prefer to disable the workflow.

I have never felt so understood by a product.

18:10

The managing partner circulates the launch announcement. He describes a unified, firmwide operating model delivered through close collaboration between our lawyers and our non-lawyers.

Moira, who made the firm work again today, is pleased to learn what she isn't.

19:04

A partner forwards the announcement to a client with “Something I've been building”.

He has copied me in. This is generous. I will need the email when I am asked to nominate him for an innovation award.