The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/57001
Factoring In the Global Picture While the above points regarding integration, training and support concentrate on the new office, there are many things for the IT department as a whole to remember at the firm level. The examples below look to put the new office setup into perspective alongside the day-to-day operations of the firm as a whole: • When preparing to open a new office in a different country, the breadth and depth of resources across the firm that get involved means the bonds between all the parts of the business — for example, legal teams and business services such as HR, IT, marketing and finance will be stretched and squeezed to accommodate this new request. • The announcement of a new office, especially at short notice, can be highly disruptive to other IT projects and initiatives that are underway or have been scheduled. • The challenges and excitement of opening up an office in new territory means that many individuals can be drawn to the project. While these projects provide a valuable opportunity to develop new and existing skills in various members of IT, care has to be taken to avoid oversubscription to the detriment of other work streams or project success. • Language can be an issue, and IT is not the only business services department that has to tackle it. For new BLP offices that communicate with clients and third parties in a language other than English, the firm needs to think about enabling and empowering other support departments too. For example, the document production unit might be asked to assist in creating or editing documents in other languages, or to proofread or translate such documents. As a result, they need to be forewarned of any such possible language requirements so they can build up or recruit resources with a suitable skill set. The Ultimate Goal: Happy Users Adding Value to the Firm Opening a new international office is a common but complex project for law firms. While the above comments and suggestions Legal Calendar and Docketing — Could it be that easy? Docket Enterprise provides a comprehensive calendar and docket solution that is ideally suited for both litigation and non-litigation practice areas. 64 Peer to Peer See just how easy it is. Contact