Canadian Lawyer

22 M A r C h 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m RBC's legal group, with 315 people including lawyers, paralegals, and finance and administrative staff at more than 20 locations around the world, decided that the way they had always been doing things no longer met all those demands. So Jelich and her crew set out to find more efficient ways to operate. Taking a page out of the Lean approach developed by the manufacturing sector, the RBC team applied the principles of Lean Six Sigma under the guidance of the U.S. firm, Seyfarth Shaw LLP. By applying its principles of employing a collabora- tive team effort to improve performance by removing waste, RBC's legal group's first cohort exercise yielded $7 million in savings, with estimated future savings of $25 million through ongoing projects. Delighted with the process, Jelich says she found in-house counsel need to take better control over the tasks they do by examin- ing how they provide strategic advice and support. The team also found there were advantages to be found in routine tasks when partnering with external firms. The process and the involvement of all staff members allowed them to find patterns that they could take advantage of. The exercise involved breaking down the work into stages. When using external counsel for a particular type of litigation, for example, the group was able to break down the work to develop value-based pricing for each stage. A statement of claim for a particular type of scenario might typically cost x amount, building in some predictability useful for budgeting. Encouraging all those involved to discuss assumptions for each stage allowed for a better understanding of the process and the costs. The group now plans for what is likely to happen, which allows it to be ready for the outliers. "It makes each of us work more efficiently," concludes Jelich. Jordan Furlong advises starting with a flowchart or checklist that lets lawyers carry out routine and repetitive matters more rapidly — finding the patterns, like the RBC team did. When it comes to routine tasks, building and contributing to even a modest knowledge manage- ment database means the information and process is in place so it doesn't have to be developed from scratch every time. The information, however, is only useful if it is readily available to all those in the practice who need it. The examination of the practice also includes who does what. Perhaps a more junior lawyer can take on some of the tasks being carried out by a senior lawyer. Lawyers can also start looking for opportunities to streamline their work, increase their efficiency, and reduce their own cost of doing business, in order L AW o f f I C E M A N A g E M E N t Efficiency checklist: • produce a flowchart or checklist; • identify routine and repetitive matters; • create a database; • build a knowledge management data- base and make it accessible; and, • ensure lawyers oversee systems-level work or are taking on higher-value tasks. LEXPERT.ca is the online destination for authoritative information about Canada's business of law. INTRODUCING THE NEW AND ENHANCED Bookmark the new LEXPERT.ca for updates on Big Deals/Suits, People Moves and articles of interest appearing in Lexpert ® Magazine. Find information about Canada's leading Lexpert-ranked lawyers and law firms through the site's enhanced navigation and search functionality. Visit LEXPERT.ca Untitled-1 1 2015-01-20 1:38 PM

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