Three Keys to Maximizing the Success of your Legal IT Department

05
Apr
2013

Geoff Zodda

The Legal Industry as a whole has seen so much growth within their IT organizations over the past several years. Who would have thought years ago that some law firms would be considered “innovative” within Information Technology? If I told you ten years ago that a good percentage of AMLaw 100 Firms would have most of their IT organization fully in-house by 2013, would you have believed me? 

It may be hard to imagine it could be any other way than technology serving as an integral part of major law firms conducting business. However, there are certain key factors that led to firms' ability to grow and maintain successful IT departments to the state they are today.

Buy-in from all levels within the organization

The Partners and CIO, down to IT Management and hands-on IT team. If you have the buy-in from the firm as a whole, the organization will be able to create a culture that values technology as an advantage for their organization, rather than a necessity. This mentality does not just come from the technology organization; it starts at the Partner level and works its way down to the individuals that handle the day-to-day operations and support of each technology. Law firms who adopted a technology-driven philosophy also changed their hiring strategies, putting an emphasis on bringing aboard both strong management within the technology group and the top tier technologists across the country. The result was firms' ability to unify the IT organization and ultimately establish high standards on par with the best departments.

Innovative, efficient technology

The current business landscape for law firms suggests that one way to be distinguished from close competitors is to have the newest and latest technologies. The number of technologies that are available to firms, and even specifically catered, now is exponentially greater than even 5 years ago. Many enterprise applications and legal software are customizable by firms to meet the specific needs of the attorneys and administrative teams, but also provide user interface options for their clients. In turn, it has essentially become necessary for firms to stay ahead of the curve and take advantage of the evolving capabilities of legal technologies. 

Strong overall IT operations

Help Desk, Network, Systems - As IT infrastructure continues to rapidly expand in law firms, it has become increasingly important for firms to bolster their IT Operations for critical support. This group needs to be reliable and also readily available to fix any IT “breaks” at any moment. If this component is lacking within the IT organization, it will not matter how cutting edge the applications or how secure the networks are. In order to maximize the value of employing the best technologies, firms must fortify their support and operations resources within their internal Help Desk, Network, and Systems teams.