Kean Miller attorney Greg Anding studied business as an undergrad, so he got some business training before law school. Many lawyers have no business background whatsoever, which isn’t a problem if all your firm expects you to do is crank out billable hours and do good work.
But in recent years corporate clients have been putting more emphasis on controlling legal costs, often seeking to cap fees rather than accept open-ended billing arrangements. As law firms assume more financial risk, they’re being pushed to re-examine their business models and find ways to get more efficient without sacrificing quality.
“We’ve always driven the car down the road,” Anding says. “We’ve not taken the time to pull the car to the side of the road and see what needs to be done to fix it.”
As Business Report details in a feature from the current issue, Kean Miller has begun using Lean Six Sigma, a managerial approach meant to improve performance and reduce waste through collaboration. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch is the best-known American proponent of Six Sigma principles, which have caught on in various industries.
“Why wouldn’t you want to work with a lawyer and a law firm that spoke your language—the language of business,” says Catherine Alman MacDonagh, a former corporate counsel and founder of the Legal Lean Sigma Institute.
Kean Miller is the first Louisiana firm to hire the institute to train its lawyers, and in the spring will be the first to host an open enrollment course, MacDonagh says.
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