The document discusses the changing landscape of Australian law firms over the past two decades due to factors like mergers, globalization, and technology. It notes that while law firm productivity and revenue have increased, work cultures are shifting away from an emphasis on growth at all costs. The document also examines how lawyers are accessing information more through mobile devices and social networks rather than traditional desktop research. It advocates that information managers in law firms adapt services to focus more on strategic areas and allow users more control through new technologies.

1. The changing face of law firms
Where does that leave information
management?
25 August 2011

2. Discussion
1. The changing nature of Australian law
firms
2. Considering the ways that lawyers are
accessing information
3. Adaptation and making the most of these
changes

3. 1.The changing nature
of Australian law firms

4. The changing nature of Australian law firms
– We have experienced
>two decades of profound
transformation
– Mergers, consolidation,
globalisation, technology,
new law firm models and
changes to the work force

5. Industry numbers: 10 year snap shot*
Key statistics 2001-2002 2010-2011
Revenue $16.8bn $23.1bn
Employment 103,858 126,416
Enterprises 18,087 16,398
Revenue per employee $161,800 $182,700
Wages $5.8bn $7.08bn
*IBISWorld

6. A productivity surge? Exhibit (A)
Revenue per employee
185
180
175
170
165
160
155
150
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Rev/Employee 162 166 169.7 177.7 176.7 175.6 179.9 181.8 182.1 182.7
*IBISWorld

7. A productivity surge? Exhibit (B)
Wages % Revenue
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Wages % 34.6 33.9 33.1 31.7 31.6 32.5 32 31.5 31.5 30.7
*IBISWorld

8. But law firm cultures are changing
“Increased work intensity
cannot be sustained
forever, so my analysis
predicted that the above-
average productivity
growth would be
reversed as Australian Top: Average hours worked (ABS)
workers reclaimed Average Wage
Average Wage
control of their lives in a
$60,000
$60,000
$59,500
$59,500
$59,000
stronger labour market…
$59,000
$58,500
$58,500
$58,000
$58,000
$57,500
$57,500
$57,000
$57,000
$56,500
$56,500
$56,000
$56,000
$55,500
$55,500
- John Quiggin (UQ), AFR 20 August 2011
$55,000
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
$55,000
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Average Wage $55,961 $56,227 $56,134 $56,400 $55,905 $57,117 $57,583 $57,230 $57,394 $56,072 $56,344 $56,726 $57,277 $57,501 $57,890
Average Wage $55,961 $56,227 $56,134 $56,400 $55,905 $57,117 $57,583 $57,230 $57,394 $56,072 $56,344 $56,726 $57,277 $57,501 $57,890

9. The good times are over? Or are they…
Revenue % growth*
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Revenue % 7.9 6.9 5.4 0.8 1.1 4.3 1.2 2.2 2.9 3.1 2.5 3.9 3.5 3.5
*IBISWorld

10. Overpaid, overqualified and over here…
– The arrival of some of “The global financial crisis forced aa
“The global financial crisis forced
rethink on growth for growth's sake
the large US and UK rethink on growth for growth's sake
while reinforcing how global and
while reinforcing how global and
firms is having a interdependent world society had
interdependent world society had
become…
profound impact on the become…
Australian legal industry The right model for globalised legal
The right model for globalised legal
services needs to consider the growth
– Most likely we will see: services needs to consider the growth
regions, sustainability and ability to
regions, sustainability and ability to
• Further mergers/poaching export legal services. Access is
export legal services. Access is
important, and sometimes the most
of talent important, and sometimes the most
direct path to an international market
direct path to an international market
• New entrants is not the most suitable.”
is not the most suitable.”
• Moves into Asia and - Don Boyd, Deputy Chief Executive Norton Rose in
Africa - Don Boyd, Deputy Chief Executive Norton Rose in
The Australian, 3 June 2011
The Australian, 3 June 2011

11. Good reasons for moving into the region
– Why large multinational
firms are looking to are
region?
– IMF Word Economic
Outlook 2011
– Growth in GDP:
• North America and
Europe “slow”
• Asia and Africa growing
• Apparently Mongolia is
the place to be!

12. Other factors…
– The challenge of an ageing work force, which will
most likely increase the cost of labour (reducing
profitability)
– Disruptive technologies as represent both threats
and opportunities
– Commoditisation of technology and information…
the “iPhone effect” that makes technology cheap,
fun and accessible*
* Ask yourself, just how “cheap, fun and accessible” are law firm systems?

13. Why we should care
– Australian firms cannot afford to “stand still”
– This have implications for the type of:
• Services we offer
• Staff we employ
• Technology we deploy
• The perceived value we add to the firm
– Ask the question:
• “How can you help the firm grow, retain talent and
differentiate itself from the competition?”

14. Implications
– The bad news:
• Pressure on budgets
• Pressure on services to meet increased
demands – both volume and sophistication
• Pressure on staff retention
– The good news:
• Represents opportunities that are both
challenging and add value to the business

15. 2.How lawyers access
information

16. Trend: the decline of the AFR as an
authoritative source
– For some time we thought giving staff access to
the full text of AFR articles would be a worthy goal:
• But then reviewed our statistics in regards to retrieving
full text AFR articles from our news clipping services
• On average, we retrieved x2 articles per month
• Our users happily exist without it
– Users will “find a way” by themselves
– Reflects a general decline in the popularity of
traditional news services

17. The decline of the desktop
– Our services,
technology and
infrastructure is built
around a platform in
decline*
– The number of
desktops being
“shipped” is small in
comparison to mobile
devices
* Morgan Stanley, Web 2.0 Seminar 2010 (held San Francisco)

18. The written word is far less important
– North American
internet traffic has seen
a rapid growth in video
related content
– 35 hours of video
content is added to
YouTube every minute
– Increasingly, much of
this is accessed via
“mobile” devices

19. Social networks becoming the new
information portals
– Recent McKinsey research* based on 100k
respondents to survey questions indicate:
• For people under 34 the preferred channel (minutes per
use) displacing email/text
• 33% use social network platforms to navigate
content on the web – up from 13% in 2008
• Yes, search engines are losing out to social networks as
“gate keepers”
• Smartphones becoming the preferred platform of users
* Are your customers becoming digital junkies? McKinsey Quarterly July 2011

20. Node of trust: new versus old media
– Report “Reporting war, waging peace: the
impact of new media technologies” (P.
Mirchandani)
– New Web 2.0 technologies have:
• “thrown into turmoil traditional media’s business
models”
• traditional communication practices “are losing
trust and relevance

21. What is a “node of trust”?
– Audiences demand the right to “New media have introduced aa
“New media have introduced
changed concept of aa“node of trust”
“talk back and be heard” changed concept of “node of trust”
––ititcan now be an individual, aa
can now be an individual,
– Users have adopted the notion website, aanetwork, aablog, an
website, network, blog, an
Internet TV channel ––which people
that “sharing is cool” Internet TV channel which people
turn to for information…”
turn to for information…”
– The line between “professional
and amateur” is blurring for
users
– New media is “eroding attempts
at control”
– Influence is generated by
“nodes of trust”

22. Its not the same “internet” we grew up with
– Users built networks and solutions from the
bottom up
– The peers and social network of users are a vital
conduit of information
– Less a “culture of the book”, and more of a
“culture of video”
– The web has “decoupled” from the desktop, and
now mobile
– Users want control and a voice – indeed, the
expect and demand it if they trust the platform

23. 3. Adaptation

24. Who we service?
– Question: do we continue to add a “full service”
model in the hope we touch every part of the
business?
– Answer/s:
• Given the pressure on costs and resources, be strategic
in your choice of who you service
• Conduct a “customer segmentation” exercise
• Determine out which parts of the firm are growing
• Worry about those groups/individuals who don’t use
your services only when they “pester you”

25. Align your business model to firm strategy
– Question: how can information professionals add
value to the business?
– Answer/s:
• Carefully align your services, collection and the skills of
your staff to firm strategy
• At Middletons we conduct an annual planning session,
in which the firm strategy is the “foundation”
• All new products and services match growth areas for
the firm – “ruthless” in selection
• Developing subject matter experts on a small range of
subject areas

26. Accept the brave new world of the internet
– Question: how can we ensure users remain faithful to
“authorised” sources of information?
– Answer/s:
• Educate them on sources, but don’t worry about it – we’ve lost that
fight
• Look at it from a risk management perspective and judge potential
negative impacts on the business (low-medium-high)
• Explore Web 2.0 tools, but don’t race to embrace them all – ask
what suits the culture of your firm
• At Middletons we are “retiring” resource guides and handouts –
web based “gadgets” or even Smartphone apps will most likely
replace them

27. Allows users to “talk back” and control the
spaces
– Using the “node of trust” content, explore how users can take control of
the platform
– Provide them with the tools, then let them organise the spaces/social
network
– Involve users in technology development
– At Middletons we are redesigning our catalogue: feedback was
essential
– The new “catalogue” will be tailored to the user:
• allow them to favorite materials
• keep all their past research requests
• alert them to new resources specifically related to their practice area
• Have quick links to the “top five” most frequently used resources
• Allow them to see what is “popular” in their groups
– Catalogue conceived in “pragmatic terms” – we know they use Google!

28. Think beyond the desktop and other
traditional services
– Smartphones, the “cloud” and mobile
internet will be upon us soon
– Start thinking about non-desktop services
(i.e. Apps)
– At Middletons we are exploring “just-in-time”
video/online training to compliment
traditional training services

29. The “broker” model
– Too often information services become straddled with a
range of “knowledge” activities or business units
– Advise information managers to pick your “niche”:
• Advanced research?
• Business or market intelligence?
• Knowledge management?
• Integration?
– Market you services in a “personal” manner
– Deliver to you clients a range of “bespoke” solutions,
customised to their needs
– Allow them choice

30. Our response
– Research desk: the “call centre” Information
with one phone number with work Services
being picked up by anyone rostered
on
– Focus on projects that have positive
impacts on business and can be Learning
Collection Innovation &
delivered in reasonable time frames Management Technology
– No catch ups for the sake of
“catching up”: meetings are project
based
– Structured Information Services to
meet the changing needs of the firm
(see right)
– Quietly dropping products and
services that no longer “add value”
– Streamlining our services to match
strategic direction of firm

31. Questions
Further information
Michael Marriott | National Information Services Manager
T: +61 9205 2171
E: michael.marriott@middletons.com
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