Knowledge Management
“Knowledge is power” - Sir Francis Bacon
Knowledge management (KM) is formalizing the collection of valuable knowledge gained from experience and then organizing the knowledge in a way that benefits the entire law firm. Information technology advances and high-speed networks provide an opportunity for firms to formalize the collection, protection, and use of legal knowledge. New software systems and processes are available to integrate with existing networked information to make it available to others inside or outside the firm. This approach is referred to as knowledge management. Knowledge management is already being incorporated in businesses.
In one form or another, law firms have practiced knowledge management for years. In a way, lawyers are already the ultimate knowledge workers. For years, they have sat in their offices, talked on the phone, and rummaged through huge knowledge bases. Attorneys constantly reuse past pleadings, settlement documents and other work product. The problem has been that the past knowledge has never been easy to find and has not been electronically accessible. Knowledge is useful if it can be found easily and in a form to incorporate its use. It must be relevant and what is needed. Time and distance are two key obstacles to the use of knowledge anytime and anywhere. It must be immediately available for use and reuse. The goal is how can you turn today’s solution into an artifact of knowledge that they can use later? The purpose of knowledge management is to:
Legal “knowledgebases” need to be set up for firmwide use. A knowledgebase would be a collection of case specific or area of practice specific documents, discussion sites, and databases that support the day-to-day work processes for that case or area of practice. Some suggested steps to implementing a knowledge management system:
Lawyers and other legal professionals may be disinclined to share knowledge with co-workers, since they may believe that their worth to the organization is measured in terms of accumulated intellectual capital or knowledge about the firm or cases. They may resist discarding private libraries of “necessary” documents even though the documents are on-line. Or, they may encounter managing partners who believe that knowledge management systems will enable them to fire associates, other partners, or paralegals. In firms where these ideas persist, any attempt at knowledge management will grind to a halt. It is important to find team players, provide open access to information, offer tangible benefits, demonstrate to the individual and group the value of shared knowledge, make sure management is enthusiastic and involved, and ensure access to needed technology. Some of the main technological issues:
Some of the technology tools available to assist in managing knowledge include:
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