The Successful Technology Committee

Moderated by Leigh Isaacs

Panelists

David Michel

Jay Jurata

David Clark

Brian Schmitz

Judi Flournoy

David Michel Chief Information Officer

Rissman 65 attorneys 250 Users 4 offices

Panelists

David Michel

Jay Jurata

David Clark

Brian Schmitz

Judi Flournoy

Jay Jurata Partner

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

1,050+ attorneys 2,400+ users 25 offices

Panelists

David Michel

Jay Jurata

David Clark

Brian Schmitz

Judi Flournoy

David Clark Director

Kirton | McConkie 140 attorneys 260 users 4 offices

Panelists

David Michel

Jay Jurata

David Clark

Brian Schmitz

Judi Flournoy

Brian Schmitz CTS Technology Liaison

Faegre Baker Daniels LLP 745 attorneys 1,666 users 14 offices

Panelists

David Michel

Jay Jurata

David Clark

Brian Schmitz

Judi Flournoy

Judi Flournoy Chief Information Officer

Kelley, Drye & Warren LLP 277 attorneys 633 users 6 offices

August 18, 2014

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The Successful Technology Committee

Moderated by Leigh Isaacs

The Successful Technology Committee

Moderated by Leigh Isaacs

• 200 Attorneys, 10 offices

• Has both pros and cons

• Completely dependent upon ED’s approval (w/ Finance Director input)

• Faster decision-making for most items

• Very little attorney input or buy-in reduced project buy-in occasionally

David Michel

Firm #1 – No Tech Committee

Committee: A group of people who individually can do nothing but as a

group decide that nothing should be done.

• 100 Attorneys, 5 offices

• Worked well because group was technically proficient, engaged, very

responsive & made fast, informed decisions

• Associates often asked to be part of the discussion & evaluation

• Having partner buy-in and ownership helped projects like time capture

• Committee was good sounding board for users in all offices

David Michel

Firm #2 – Small Tech Committee – One partner per office

• 275 Attorneys, 9 offices

• Little overall engagement. Meetings often had only handful of people.

• Committee deferred heavily to non-technical COO

• Repeatedly brought up previous discussions and focused on small items

• Very little input & ownership equaled reduced project buy-in often

David Michel

Firm #3 – Big Tech Committee – ~15-20 Partners

• 65 Attorneys, 4 offices

• Has both pros and cons

• Fast decision-making for most items

• More complex concepts require more thorough and detailed reports

• Smaller group equals fewer people willing to spend money on their hot-

button issues

David Michel

Firm #4 – Very Small Tech Committee – 2 Partners

Changing Role of Technology

&

Embracing a “User Focused” Culture

Presenter:

Jay Jurata Partner, Antitrust & Competition Member, Technology Committee

• Practice of law changing faster than ever before

• Technology as key differentiator

• Value chain enabler

• Value creator

• Data driven insight

• Practicing attorneys critical to that process

• Setting priorities

• Understanding client/user needs

• Business development opportunities

Why Needed?

“Every piece of business strategy must be seen in its role in the perennial

gale of creative destruction.” - Joseph Schumpeter (1942)

• Composition

• 8 partners (worldwide), 1 associate, CIO, & select IT Directors

• Partner chair

• Narrow executive sessions & select subgroups

• Role

• Executive sponsor in how technology can/should be used

• Help set strategic objectives and major initiatives

• Understand IT needs of practicing attorneys

• Approve major IT decisions and budget

• Communicate with management and user community

• Frequency

Orrick Technology Committee

• “Consumerization of IT” affects law firms too

• Role of IT has changed dramatically

• Need to match IT practices with how attorneys/clients work

• “Less” many times is “more”

• Power of data

• “Vendors” as clients and potential clients

Key Lessons Learned

How to include others

In your technology committee

David Clark IT Director

• 140 legal and consulting professionals

• 4 offices, all based in Utah

• Full service, specializing in Constitutional law

• IT Director for 2 ½ years. Have been VERY supportive of

technology.

About Kirton McConkie

• Attorneys, both technical and non-technical

• Paralegals – they tend to use a lot of technology, and tend to

get ignored.

• Legal Assistants/Secretaries and others – They ARE heavy users

of technology

• Admin Staff

Trying to include others

• Find your evangelists. Be careful here. You evangelists can be

your technology enemy as well

• What are the attorneys motives. Their own needs or the firms

needs?

• Getting buyoff on technology. Educate the firm-why does IT do

what they do?

• Keep focus on the firm. You should deal with individual needs

outside of the committee

What are our motives for a Technology Committee

The Successful Technology Committee

Presenter:

Brian Schmitz Technology Liaison, Client Technology Solutions

• #67 in the Am Law 100

• 750+ legal and consulting professionals

• 14 offices worldwide

• Driven by a spirit of collaboration and a team approach to

service in more than 85 practice areas and industry segments

About Faegre Baker Daniels

Technology committees at Faegre Baker Daniels Acronym alphabet soup

ARB

ITIL Processes

IMB

PMB CMB

TSAC

Tech Groups

OutLAW COHESIVE

RelaTE AWiG

TAG

A Closer Look Two different audiences and roles

TSAC • Open forum for IT and

internal clients to share information and maintain end-user perspective

• 80 members

ARB • Review and Analyze tech

projects from big-picture perspective

• Maintain map of firm’s systems and vision of future state

• 17 members

• Sometimes the best members of a tech committee are non-technical

• Leave your titles at the door

• Seek out tech evangelists without an agenda

• Always keep the committee’s and firm’s goals in mind

• Review annually effectiveness of the committee – do you still need it?

Key Lessons Learned

The Successful Technology Committee

Presenter:

Judi Flournoy CIO, Kelley Drye

Judi Flournoy

What Problem Are You Trying to Solve?

• Strategic vs. Tactical

• Standing Committee vs. Ad Hoc

• Consensus Building

• Task Force & Working Groups

• Channels of Communication

• What Problem Are You Trying to Solve?

Why Not? Managing Investment

A committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours. Milton Berle

The role of leader and strategist Define the goal by sharing the vision

• You are the subject matter expert

• Demonstrate what you know by leading your team and executing

• The value of collaboration

• Never assume anything

• Firm Management and Key Stakeholders

• Utilize to influence

• Leverage their knowledge of the Firm

• Why is consensus important?

• Encourage participation

• The value of working groups and task forces

We’ll now open it up for questions

Questions

Thank You