Ten Technology Commandments for Opening a New Office

New law offices are opening every day: Some are opening because large firm partners are departing to start their own smaller firms; some because junior lawyers can't find work in established firms; some when firms expand to a new city; and some aren't traditional offices at all -- they're home or remote offices that, though for one or two people, have research and connectivity issues nevertheless.

Wrong! As business and operations advisers know, no two setups are specifically the same. Goals for a smaller or remote office are not necessarily the same as for existing headquarters. And, with the constant updating of innovation, prior decisions need to be revisited. What's more, pricing is nearly never quoted in easy-to-compare ways. Practicing attorneys, especially when departing a firm to start their own, need to keep their eyes on the client ball, and often don't have the background or time to make innovation decisions.

The past year

Over the past year, I have advised several groups of lawyers departing larger firms to start their own smaller ones. I've as well worked with many small firms who needed seamless, upgraded connectivity to remote offices and wireless devices. Those customers who took the time to plan up front with experienced advisers fared the best far and away. Those who did things by delegating to other partners, or by asking friends for innovation experts without ample due diligence or reference checking, wasted a lot of money and experienced untold frustration.

Having efficient systems in place to handle innovation when lawyers and staff departed vastly helped client relations, and as well avoided exposure and expense.

1. Practicing lawyers are not research advisers. Lawyers starting their own firm should tend to the business of law and client service. Those who assume the role of research "guru" invariably run out of time and patience, only to have to undo mistakes in selection and installation.

2. One size does not fit all. Take ample time to understand the users' daily needs and methods of operation. Every lawyer and firm records time differently, needs different kinds of remote access, and shares and stores documents differently. Since there is no perfect set of research choices, it is imperative to fully comprehend how research will be used as a practical matter.

3. Meet the consultants. Check out their references. Be sure they get along at the same time. Even research directors with years of background should hire experienced consultants with solid references when undergoing a move or expansion. More than one firm this year has had to spend extra money to redo what an inexperienced, distant consultant installed. Worse, the various consultants had not worked at the same time and didn't have a proven history of best integrating the various systems. This cost untold frustration and expense.

5. Life isn't perfect; neither is innovation. One of the most frequent concerns my customers raise is that their hand-held devices don't seamlessly integrate with everything in the office. Without spending loads of money, that's certainly true. Something will not be perfect. This is why lesson number 2 above is so important: you must absolutely understand the attorneys' priorities.

And be sure to draw diagrams and speak in descriptive ways so that lawyers can comprehend what you're saying. The truth is, most lawyers are taught to think logically and in a linear fashion. Innovation experts work in an engineering world, where explanations of how things work are not always spelled out or steps in instructions are overlooked. You run the risk of frustrating the lawyers -- and even overlooking crucial information or expectations -- if you do not explain things slowly, graphically, and in clear detail to the lawyer-users.

7. Train afterwards the fact. Then, that's an exaggeration. You need to train users on new technology earlier they open their doors. However what you as a matter of fact need is to have trainers walk the floor for the first week or two of operations. Many tech experts think the menus and icons are self-explanatory, either because they've worked with them earlier, or because to a tech mind they are so. Remember that not everyone's mind operates in the same way, and not everyone retains information or learns in the same manner. Lawyers can frustrate easily. Patience is not something we're known for. So be sure to have ample "fixers" all over the new office for a good week or two during people get used to the change.

Try to retain consultants and suppliers who understand how law firms work. Lawyers tend to use documents and financial tools differently than other professionals. The innovation priorities of a law firm are not the same as those for a medical office.

9. Build in extra time -- especially for phones. A few days to set up a new system and test it should be adequate, nevertheless things often go awry. In my experience, the longest delays are inevitably for phone numbers. In some areas, even afterwards being assigned phone numbers, the utility needs to physically go to the building to designate and connect "your" wires from a central box. The phone process can take many weeks. Research directors aren't always directly responsible for, or are expert in, telephone systems. When it comes to opening a new office, lawyers often lump phones into innovation, meaning tech people are de facto responsible for phone systems. With the advent of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), which has many advantages, phones morph moreover into the innovation realm.

My customers have as well had the unfortunate experience of receiving hardware with corrupted hard drives or other defective parts. You've probably had such experiences, too. And there is typically the problem mentioned above of one system not integrating then with another. So in any case, leave lots of extra time up front to get the research running and tested.