Why Law Firms Are Embracing Lean

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: When we’re talking Lean, we’re not talking cheap. Running a Lean law firm doesn’t mean we’re running a stripped down, bare-bones operation that minimizes costs above all else.

Lean is a methodology. It originated in automotive manufacturing as the Toyota Production System, and it has been adopted across multiple industries. Healthcare organizations, software companies, governments, and many other verticals have embraced Lean as a way of doing business.

At its core, Lean is about separating waste from value. It’s about constantly measuring and improving your operations so that you can maximize the value you’re supplying to your client. It’s about increasing your revenue in a predictable manner. It’s about recognizing what you’re doing that can be optimized, and how to measure the output of your optimizations.

It’s because of the confusion surrounding Lean and the myriad of benefits that it can afford attorneys that we decided to publish our new eBook, Lean Basics for Law Firms.

When I first started working with law firms, I was advised to not use words like “profit” or “revenue.” There was an aversion to business terminology as though it soiled the decorum of the work of an attorney.

Yet as we’ve seen across industry, we are living in a time of major change. Most lawyers I know think their work is immune to this period of disruption. But I’m not so sure. Businesses that no one thought could be disrupted are in ruins: Consider Kodak, Blockbuster, Sears, Blackberry—all behemoth companies that are a shadow of their former selves (if not totally gone). When Napster turned the music industry upside down, I’m sure many in the business didn’t see that possibility either. And if you still think your profession is immune from the forces transforming society, just talk to a cab or limo driver about Uber and Lyft.

As of 2019, California is considering removing Rule 5.4, which would allow non-attorneys to run law firms. Imagine if billionaire Silicon Valley investors invented a way to provide legal services as a business. What if they took their know-how in pricing, process improvement, marketing, and technology and attacked the legal market. Likely, they would begin to focus on federal laws like intellectual property, labor, immigration, and others. This would cause pressure on other states to allow their federal practices to compete, and before you know it, all 50 states will allow non-lawyers to run law practices.

Robots making closing arguments in a courtroom is not a thing we’re going to have to deal with (anytime soon, at least). But small chips are wearing away at some aspects of legal business: LegalZoom and RocketLawyer are helping people with more commoditized aspects of law, such as simple contracts and filings. Walmart has experimented with providing family legal services in Canada. And AI continues to improve legal research, transcription, and litigation support, eliminating the need for as much legal support staff in organizations.

Whether or not legal gets rocked the same way other industries have been remains to be seen. The legal skill itself is not changing, but the method of marketing and delivery may. So the writing on the wall is clear: Now is the time for law firms to wizen up to the ways of running a business.

The good news? Lean gives you an instant business operating manual for how to run your law firm. And our free eBook gives just a taste of what you can do with Lean. We go over the core concepts of throughput rates, cycle times, Kanban board, and waste. We also include a sample chapter from our more in-depth book, The Lean Law Firm (ABA Press, 2018).

I hope this ebook helps you get started on your Lean journey. Download your copy today!