lmatech2013: applying process improvement techniques to boost your firm and grow your business

© 2011 LawVision. All rights reserved.

Applying Process Improvement Techniques to Boost Your Firm and Grow

Your Business

Silvia L. Coulter, Principal LawVision Group LLC

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The Value Challenge: It Exists Everywhere

• All professional services firms’ clients expect more for their money

• Firms must consistently generate month to month financial results while continuously building a long term sustainable business model

• Current environments demand superior performance

• Limited ability to differentiate—fierce competitors

• Must be in collaboration with the buyer to define and deliver value

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Ongoing Pressure

• In fact, our economic system essentially guarantees the need for ongoing process improvement

• Changes in the business environment are constant and are taking place at an ever-increasing rate•Clients•Employees•Regulators•Competitors•Technologies

• These changes create requirements for higher process capabilities and higher process efficiencies

• Your processes should be changing as fast as the environment is changing (or “the end is in sight” -Jack Welch)

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What is Process Improvement?

Process Improvement is the systematic practice of:

• Analyzing a process to understand the how and now

• Searching for issues, problems, and opportunities in the process, and prioritizing them

• Employing tools and techniques to solve priority problems or capture significant opportunities

• Controlling the new process to deliver anticipated benefits

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Process Improvement and Project Management

• Process Improvement helps you to define the process

• Project management helps you to manage the process

• Process improvement helps take time and waste out of a process

• Project management helps implement toward promised results

• Intricately tied together

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What is Lean Sigma?• Lean Sigma is both a process improvement

methodology and a toolkit

• The methodology consists of investigating a process and improving it by using a set of five principles, in a particular sequence:

1. Specify Value in The Eyes of The Client

2. Reduce Waste and Variation; Create Consistencies

3. Make Value Flow At the Pull of The Client

4. Align and Empower Employees

5. Continuously Improve In Pursuit of Perfection

*Lean.org is a valuable resource for more information

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DMAIC and the Process Improvement Roadmap

DEFINE- What are the opportunities for improvementthat will achieve the organization’s goals and provide the largest payoff?

MEASURE- What is our current performance level?

ANALYZE- What re the true root causes for gaps or problems in performance?

IMPROVE- What are the possible solutions and how do we implement the best solution? (What are the key deliverables?)

CONTROL- How do we maintain the gains we have achieved?

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The Intersection of the Teams—Room for All• Let’s pick a process……….

– Who is involved?

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Process Improvement and its Applications in the Law Firm

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Firm/Client Points of Interaction

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How To Begin?• Top/Down or Bottom/Up?

• Involve Key Stakeholders

• Identify a Process (or a few) (VPs from client side)

• Select 5-7 People Involved in the Process

• Map out the Process (view from clients’ eyes)

• Look for Errors; Gaps in Deliverable

• Redefine the Process

• Implement New Process

• Provide Opportunity for Continuous Feedback

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Process Improvement as a Value Add From the Clients’ View

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Typical IP Litigation Case Process Defendant’s Perspective

Preliminary ActivitiesAnd Case Management

Retain local counsel. A factor tokeep in mind, should be the judgeassigned to the case.

Prepare for collection and productionof documents, per the automaticRequirements of the local patent rules.

Identify people and documentsrelating to the accused systemsand/or methods.

Consider obtaining opinionof counsel.

Consider jurisdictional issuesand venue

Review the asserted patentsand file histories.

Analyze the accused systemsand/or methods.

Search for prior art.

Consider defenses:

- Non-infringement- Invalidity – e.g., for prior art etc.- Unenforceability – e.g., inequitable conduct, etc.- Laches and equitable estoppel - Standing and rights in the asserted patents

Consider counterclaims:

Consider third-party claims

Respond tothe Complaint

- Patent infringement- Antitrust issues- Other business torts

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Typical IP Litigation Case ProcessDefendant’s Perspective

The litigation schedule will key off the date of the scheduling conference.

Consider how much discovery will be required:

Scheduling Conference,Docket Control Order,

Discovery Order

- Production by plaintiff of documents relating to prior art and potential prior art, and documents relating to plaintiff’s development of the patented subject matter

- Production by defendant of documents that show the functionality of accused systems and/or methods, and documents relating to prior art.

The local patent rules have automatic provisions for infringement contentions by plaintiff and invalidity contentions by defendant.

The local patent rules have automatic provisions for document production:

Interrogatories

Fact depositions

Discovery motions

- Number of depositions- Number of written discovery requests

Fact Discovery

Identify patent claim terms for construction

Serve claim construction contentionsfor identified terms

Briefs

Hearing

File Joint Claim ConstructionStatement

Claim Construction

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Typical IP Litigation Case ProcessDefendant’s Perspective

Expert reports

Depositions

ExpertDiscovery

- e.g., invalidity- non-infringement- damages

Dispositive Motions

Pretrial order

Exhibits

Motions in Limine

Jury instructions

WitnessesFinal PretrialPreparation

Usually occurs within a year ofThe Scheduling Conference

Count on ten trial days at most.

For example, for summary judgmentOf non-infringement and/or invalidity

Trial

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Value Add—One Law Firm’s Approach

• Situation: Mortgage Bank was told by the Board to cut outside legal costs.

• Law Firm Solution: using a Lean Sigma process the firm reviewed the entire process for providing services and was able to cut time and waste out of the process and thereby reduce legal fees. They presented this solution as a way to align with the Bank’s goal of reducing outside legal spend.

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Case Study - Solutions

Solutions included developing:

– Client protocols

– Standard transaction processes

– Standard operating procedures

– Standard forms

– Improved data integrity

– Document preparation software

– Standard forms of communication

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Case Study – Sample Results Time Charges

Before:

After:

From: Six Sigma Legal Services for Mortgage Loans, Richard J. Sabat,

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Value Add: Client Case/Firm Example• Review of internal audit department to assess risk assessment and risk mitigation procedures

– E.g., fertilizer plant explodes—enormous liability—are you prepared?

• The 5 As of Risk Assessment was developed:– Assess Risk– Accept or reject risk– Avoid risk, transfer risk or reduce risk to an acceptable level– Analyze performance gaps– Act to improve

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Powerful, Not Always Implementable…Why?

• Key stakeholders were not involved in the process

• Other reasons???

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Try It!• Review the Exercise•Assign a Scribe

–Use a blank piece of paper to take notes about process and for final workflow/Map, etc.

•Assign a Presenter

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Report Out• Your Team’s Approach to Exercise I or II.

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Thank You!

Silvia L. Coulter, PrincipalLawVision Group LLC

scoulter@lawvisiongroup.com617-697-4869

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