Eric Mankin, a research director at Babson Executive Education, recently discussed some of his insight into law firm innovation. In an email from The Innovation and Corporate Entrepreneurship Research Center, he reports:
"I’ve been spending part of my summer on a research project looking at innovation in US law firms, or the lack thereof. According to the interviews I’ve been conducting with lawyers, consultants, and law practice administrators, law firms may be some of the least innovative organizations in the US economy. This is partially due to the nature of law as a profession. Laws don’t change very often. As one of my interviewees noted:
“Lawyers practice a profession that is rooted firmly in the power of precedent. They don’t want to change and are very suspicious of change efforts.” Retired Chief Administrative Officer of several law firms, July 06It’s also due to the ways in which law firms structure themselves. It’s hard to be innovative when you’re billing by the hour and you’re measured by the number of hours that you bill.
“Innovation is not a dominant strategy; profitability is. Law firms will do anything to preserve profitability and not take risks.” Consultant to Law Firms, July 06"
In addition to Eric's work on Law Firm Innovation, the Financial Times published a section on law firm innovation. In pursuit of modern practice documents innovations submitted to the FT from British law firms. In contrast to Eric's work in the United States, UK law firm's have many more examples of innovative offerings and processes.
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