There's a lot of talk about fostering innovation in Silicon Valley, but those discussions don't usually involve law firms. As a result, it's been gratifying to see that the new leadership at Womble Carlyle is committed to actively encouraging innovation, diversifying leadership, and modeling corporate best practices to better serve our clients.
Womble Carlyle Chair and CEO Elizabeth "Betty" Temple took the reins on January 1, 2016. Betty, who has held a series of important leadership positions at the firm, is one of just a handful of women chairs at major U.S. law firms. She is a corporate attorney who is focused on using her board room experience to inform continued growth and innovation at Womble Carlyle. Betty discussed her law firm world view in a recent article in National Law Review: "We've found that we can learn quite a bit from our corporate clients. Creating diverse teams and incorporating a range of perspectives, understanding all aspects of a client's issue, clarifying a vision of success, developing a thoughtful plan about how we will pursue engagements, and understanding the risks to that plan are all important."
Betty isn't talking about rocket science, although we may get to that a little later in this post, but instead outlining what looks a lot like a classic project management approach to major engagements. She continues: "We start by teaming with clients to develop a strategic plan that includes sound budgets, realistic schedules and cooperative benchmarks. This ensures staffing is at an appropriate level for each matter and that the attorneys working on the project are the ones best suited for it. Also, where it is acceptable, we're integrating our professional staff deeper into client work. All of this has resulted in our firm delivering results to clients that are more efficient, cost-effective, and strategic. I can't tell you how much positive feedback we've gotten because of this."
The rocket science comes in with the creation of a formal "Innovation Center" within Womble Carlyle. This is one of Betty's ideas that is intended to encourage the creation of business solutions keyed to the wants and needs of clients. "Our lawyers always have innovated on behalf of clients," she said in an American Lawyer profile earlier this year. "The difference with our Innovation Center will be the structure, discipline and client input we bring to the process."
The Innovation Center has been up and running and accepting proposals for the last few weeks. It's too early to report on results, but I'll look forward to doing so in a later post.
That's it for this month. I can't believe that the kids are back in school and summer is in the rear view mirror. Back at you in September.
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