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BRIDGING DEPARTMENTS AND SYSTEMS Another multi-departmental priority in many firms is managing matter and transactional information, starting with conflicts and new client/matter intake, and ending with post-action reviews and declarations that the matters and files are closed. Knowledge management professionals can play a key role in coordinating the efforts of the departments who collect or use matter information. Historically, selected matter information was collected by administrative departments: conflicts, finance, records, marketing and business development; and by numerous practice-related groups in the firm, often decentralized in different offices or regions. Each department handled a different portion of the process, collected different pieces of information — as well as some of the same — and operated well but independently. Each gathered what it needed and compiled it into a specialized database. Thus, each silo of information was distinct with its own field labels and classification schemes. There was little communication among people or systems. In many firms, KM leadership has proven invaluable in getting the diverse groups together to communicate and develop uniformity across systems, and to motivate them with what author and business expert John P. Kotter calls a “sense of urgency.” With the invaluable help of IT, we have been able to bridge systems to introduce efficiencies, and to make it easier than ever to create matter experience lists to tie transaction details back to documents for better reuse of work product. The system can also be used to tailor associate assignments to their expertise or, conversely, to ensure that they are provided opportunity to gain work experience they might be lacking. Matter 24 Knowledge Management ILTA White Paper management projects thus address the needs of all four categories of lawyering. Just as the anatomy and culture of a firm varies, so too does a firm’s knowledge management program. Knowledge management is in the unique position of having no single universal definition or purpose and, therefore presents us, as KM professionals with unlimited opportunity to contribute to the success of our colleagues and firms. ILTA REFERENCES Jones, James W. “It’s Law Firm 101.” Legal Times 30 (46), Nov. 12, 2007. Kotter, John P. A Sense of Urgency. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2008. Staudt, Ronald W. “Perspectives on Knowledge Management in Law Firms.” Miamisburg, OH: LexisNexis, 2003. www.lexisnexis.com/presscen- ter/hottopics/kminfirms.pdf