In Law Technology News, Attorney Laura Owen of Cisco Systems recommends steps that companies must take to adapt to the changing legal landscape in her article "The Tech Evolution: Change or Die." While I don’t agree that failure to adapt legal practices causes a lot of corporate carcasses, embracing advances in legal work can make any company more successful and more profitable. She makes a good point about reigning in the cost of IP legal work, an area that typically commands the highest billing dollars.
3. Move your legal work to low cost firms located in the Midwest, South or other regions away from high cost centers. Doesn’t sound like technology here, but it is. Extranets provide ways for companies to work with firms across the country (and the world ). Web-based worksites are always open, always on. Work flow tools — putting the right person in the right order at the right time — can dramatically improve productivity and reduce costs.
For example, patent prosecution works well for this model — and if the client uses an online patent application tool for its employees, connecting to the firms that do the work, clients improve the patent prosecution for the company and the firms make more money through an increase in patent filings.
We already do work with many coastal high-tech companies that like my firm’s low billing rates and personal service. If you are interested in finding out about what we can offer, call me at: 513.651.6839 or send me a note at: salbainyjenei@fbtlaw.com.
