Case study How embracing digital technology has helped Seyfarth Shaws employees and clients

Rather than fearing the rise of digital technology, law firms should be embracing opportunities to use it to transform their workplaces into ‘strategic assets’ to improve client service and help retain talent, writes Michael Tamvakologos.

In an era when digital technology is changing the way we live and work in profound and irreversible ways, law firms must use technology as an enabler that helps deliver business efficiencies and superior client service. The key is to embrace innovation that has a purpose.

Few areas of our daily lives are not affected by digital technology. Most people now think of their smartphone as an extension of themselves. We constantly connect with others on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Skype. We ‘share’ our houses and cars through apps such as Airbnb and Uber, and monitor our health and fitness on devices such as Fitbit. Likewise, within the workplace rapid changes continue to drive the uptake of technology, creating an environment in which:

• businesses are becoming faster, more efficient and operating across international borders;
• collaboration is the key, with employees working in teams across offices and time zones; and
• a new generation of ‘digital natives’ is entering the workplace that has never known a world without instant and constant connectivity.

Next-generation tool

Given this context, Seyfarth Shaw has for some years put technology at the centre of its work – whether that is something as simple as working from client premises on the firm’s technology, or collaborating with clients across multiple time zones to execute on a project using our client collaboration platform, SeyfarthLink.

Launched in 2013 and since updated with capabilities such as document automation and mobile compatibility, SeyfarthLink can be accessed via an iPad or iPhone at the touch of a button and has helped solve legal problems in non-traditional, systemic ways. In so doing, it is a clear example of how technology can help a firm and its clients. The platform acts as the launch-pad for all of our technology offerings and, through it, we can provide tailored solutions that solve client challenges (importantly, it was designed with heavy input from our clients to reflect their business needs and how traditional service offerings were falling short).

SeyfarthLink is more than a traditional extranet, as we have reimagined what online collaboration within the legal world should be. It is a powerful knowledge-management tool that allows our lawyers and clients to access information more efficiently to better execute on the tasks that further the clients’ business objectives. In short, it helps our lawyers do their job better, and at the same time delivers superior outcomes for clients.

A Lean approach

The rollout of platforms such as SeyfarthLink should not be done in isolation. To this end, it is one component of the firm’s broader embrace of our SeyfarthLean client-service model that seeks better ways to meet our clients’ needs for value and efficiency, while maintaining high quality with our legal services. The approach combines the core principles of Lean Six Sigma with robust technology, knowledge management, project management and process management techniques, alternative fee structures and practical tools.

People power

The other key element of embracing such innovation is the impact it has on your people. The effects of digitisation on today’s workforce will be radical. The McKinsey Global Institute predicts that, by 2030, half the world’s current jobs will disappear due to a range of disruptive technologies. Two billion jobs are expected to be replaced by roles that have not been created yet, or they will be performed by a machine or IT capability.

The rise of digital technology brings obvious challenges. However, there are also significant benefits for those businesses that can turn their workplaces into ‘strategic assets’ to boost performance, productivity and attract and retain talent in an evermore competitive world. Many companies are already embracing this shift. According to recent research:¹

• 88 per cent of companies offer their workforce personal devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets;
• about 90 per cent of companies plan to increase their investment this year in technologies that promote collaboration and productivity such as video conferencing facilities;
• 62 per cent of companies conduct remote meetings through videoconferencing facilities; and
• 54 per cent of companies say they actively use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other tools to engage their workforce, customers and other stakeholders.

Seyfarth Shaw is confident that innovations such as SeyfarthLean and SeyfarthLink complement such technology trends. Provided that the technology adopted is secure and tailored to the business, the strategic use of digital technology should bring competitive advantages, including greater productivity, collaboration and employee satisfaction. The key to building and maintaining strategic advantage will be in combining intellectual capital with technology so that the effects of both are amplified.Of course, any new model requires genuine buy-in from internal and external stakeholders. It is essential that business leaders build the business case for change and remember that technology is merely an enabler – and that the real goal is to provide better outcomes for your employees and clients.

Michael Tamvakologos is a partner in the employment law practice of Seyfarth Shaw Australia. He recently completed executive education courses in leadership and strategy at Harvard University in Boston.

www.seyfarth.com

¹ Strategy&, Designing the digital workplace, Connectivity, communication, collaboration, report originally published by Booz & Company in 2013.