Mythbuster- Innovation Edition

Myth: Innovation is Not for Us

Reality: Legal Innovation is Possible in Any Organization

Innovation has become a trend in the legal industry. You cannot attend an industry event or read an article without the “I” word taking center stage. The mantra “innovate or die” has spurred top-down mandates to create efficiency and adopt cutting-edge tech and processes. The thing is, there is little clarity about the organizational dynamics that are needed to innovate.

What does legal innovation mean?

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen describes innovation as “a change in the process by which an organization transforms labor, capital, materials, or information into products or services of greater value.” 

What does this mean in the practice of law? In any organization under pressure to do more with less, it means adapting and adopting tools and processes to more efficiently address low-value tasks and reduce time to evidence and insights.

There are many misconceptions about what it takes to create a culture of innovation and who is suited to undertake it. We are going to tackle the preconceived notions to empower you to embark on your journey toward change and, ultimately, transformation.  

Myth: Innovation in law is too risky, expensive, and challenging

Reality: Organizations today can't afford not to innovate — and thankfully, it is not as hard, as costly, or as perilous as most believe.

At first blush, it may seem that investing in technology is at odds with providing bespoke legal advice. The reality is that there is a dramatic influx of new technology, taking advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate time to evidence and reduce the amount of human time expended for low-value tasks. Investing in innovation enables legal teams to focus on high-value tasks, reduces waste, and drives better metrics to manage a legal program. 

While there are upfront costs for new solutions, the cost savings from increased efficiency and better visibility offset any investment (hint: get your prospective vendors to help prepare an ROI). Additionally, working with the right partner to create or customize solutions (co-innovation) significantly reduces the cost burden while improving outcomes.

It is essential to ensure that innovation emerges from the needs of the end-clients — which is why it is critical to have cross-functional groups and frequent touchpoints. At DISCO, we favor ongoing feature testing and request vetting combined with semiannual client workshops to ensure updates and new features are consistently provided, and we continually evaluate and address requests and modifications. 

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By Cat Casey,  Chief Innovation Officer, DISCO