Sparking Change in Legal Transformation

We live in an era of remarkable innovation and change. Technological advances have made it possible for alternative enterprises to seriously rival market-leading incumbents and well-established business models. We recognise the power of technology platforms especially in conjunction with crowdsourcing or two-sided networks – having seen their impact on the retail, transport, hospitality, entertainment and financial industry. Not surprisingly, we are finding increasing focus on "transforming" ways of operating so as to remain competitive and keep up with growing customer demand. If we accept that the legal industry cannot escape this inevitable wave of change, how then do we begin to future-proof ourselves? 

In this article, our Legal Process Improvement team comment on the importance and inevitability of legal transformation, drawing on the know-how they have gained firsthand in their roles within Ashurst Advance.

What do we mean by 'transformation'? 

In this digital age, one can expect "transformation" to be synonymous with "digital transformation". And what is 'digital transformation' without technology? Take, for example, the introduction of Australia's nationally mandated electronic lodgement network, Property Exchange Australia (PEXA). This new platform prompted operators to phase out the use of paper and embrace electronic property transactions to increase efficiency, flexibility, transparency and certainty. Those familiar with the conventional legal environment can attest to the fact that the rollout of PEXA is quite a feat. From this, we know new technology can be an effective instrument for change, if appropriately mandated.

In most other cases, however, simply introducing new technology will not unilaterally transform processes, practices or behaviours. How many times have we witnessed new tools falling out of favour when users default to old habits? Often, we are so focused on improving the client experience or operational efficiency that we forget to consider the users behind the process. Technology is an enabler, but people deliver results. Without human input, technology becomes shelf ware. Thus, to ensure we enable the delivery of desired outcomes, we need to meet actual user requirements and consider the nuances in the existing process and design a new process with integration of the new technology in mind. Users are the key piece in the change puzzle and we must bring them along on the transformation journey. Only when we consider the human aspect can we truly realise adoption of any change, digital or otherwise.

Leading the change

It has been said that one of the secrets to leading organisational change is empathy and there is no better way to gain empathy than to experience the user journey first hand. It not only helps us contextualise the user experience at various touch points in the process, it also allows us to identify opportunities and test potential impacts of selected solutions. Profiling users and mapping their journey in a process is a great way to step into the shoes of different categories of users and understand their motivations. The output should present a transformation roadmap for change leaders – whether it be adopting automation, an atypical deal team structure or simply a different way of working. While journey mapping is nothing new, we have yet to see it used more fully in transformation endeavours, especially in the legal industry.

Consider the scenario of introducing a new deal platform to a matter team. Assuming the benefits of the platform are clear (i.e. improved transparency for all parties, instant reporting for the client, enabled collaboration and enhanced information flow), we may still find that uptake is less than satisfactory. How do we remedy this? One option is to compel adoption by employing the traditional "carrot and stick" approach at the expense of efficiency, productivity and morale. Another approach is to address root causes of the resistance. For instance, by mapping the user experience journey, we may discover duplicate data entry fields, frustrating rework loops or incompatibility with certain aspects of the existing legal process workflow. If we address these issues and implement solutions with a view to actually improve efficiency and productivity, we could achieve true adoption without the need for extrinsic motivators.

Journey mapping is an effective way for management teams to put users, stakeholders or customers in the centre of change exercises and help to keep their objectives on track. It is a useful tool for exploring gaps and shortcomings in meeting the needs and expectations of particular user segments. It is essential to keep in mind that the goal is to understand the context of the user, what they perceive, what is important to them, what questions they might have and how they may feel. This should form the basis of change management strategies in transformation projects. Once we understand this, we can make headway in re-engineering ways of working and chart our journey to the desired end state. The how and what begins and ends with the who and why.

To change or not to change?

Reconfiguring existing systems, processes or culture is a tricky endeavour with a multitude of moving parts. Real, positive change requires a customised blend of coordinated execution, relentless campaigning and the passage of time to achieve. In a conventionally risk-averse, precedent-following legal industry setting, one could argue nothing short of a miracle will displace age-old habits. Nevertheless, we must admit that change is upon us and recognise the cost of not keeping up. We can let market forces define our future for us, or we can choose to take charge and lead the change from inside, starting with our own people.

About Ashurst Advance

Our Legal Process Improvement team within our Ashurst Advance division is enabling the legal transformation that this articles discusses across our firm. We are transforming the way in which legal services are traditionally delivered to our clients by using our expert capability to improve predictability, transparency and delivery of our services.

At Ashurst Advance, we combine our NewLaw expertise, a positive approach, collaborative working and thinking beyond the immediate deliverables to help solve our clients' business challenges and create value for our clients.

We bring together the firm's legal and industry experts, our process and technology capability, and a scalable range of cost-effective resourcing options in a fully integrated, managed and quality assured offering to deliver results which are aligned with our clients' needs.