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Lean and Legal Process Improvement
An Introduction to Lean for Lawyers Ottawa U Faculty of Law, 2014
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Agenda
■ The context for process improvement
■ Introduction to Lean
■ The eight wastes
■ DMAIC
■ Process mapping
■ Standard work
■ What can a law student do?
■ 5S
■ Think about value
■ Look for waste
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A Little Icebreaker...
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■ Applying proven business tools and strategies to
■ lower your overhead - whether you’re in-house or in private practice
■ improve turnaround times
■ increase client satisfaction (internal or external)
■ price more accurately
■ free up limited resources for other valuable work
What Do We Mean by Going Lean? 4
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What Do We Mean by Going Lean? 5
The result? A productive, competitive,
profitable practice
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Trends in Law TodayGlobalization Commoditization Excess capacity DIY law
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The Result: More competition Lower fees 7
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What is Lean Six Sigma? 8
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■ An answer ■ to current trends
■ A tool box ■ of practical metrics and tools to make your practice more
productive, competitive and profitable
■ A framework ■ for continuous improvement
Lean Is A Solution 9
A Way to Deliver More For Less
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■Add value
The Essence of Lean 10
■Eliminate waste
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■ Three key value criteria
■ does your work move the matter forward?
■ is it what the client wants and is willing to pay for?
■ is your work done right the first time?
Add Value 11
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■ Anything that doesn’t add value is waste
■ And it’s really annoying!
Eliminate Waste 12
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13Lean’s Classic Wastes
Eight Wastes
Defects
Inventory
Transport
Non-utilized talent
Waiting
Over-production
Extra processing
Motion
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14D O W N T I M E
■ Defects / mistakes
■ missing a filing date
■ incomplete forms
■ bad drafting
■ data-entry errorsImage by marin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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15D O W N T I M E
■ Over-production
■ starting work before clearing conflicts
■ preparing an invoice in advance
■ printing too many hard copies
■ cc’ing too many people
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16D O W N T I M E
■ Waiting / delays
■ people late for meetings
■ documents waiting to be worked on
■ warm-up times for printers
■ interruptions
■ late responses from clients/counsel
Image by ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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17D O W N T I M E
■ Non-utilized talent
■ under-using talented paralegals
■ partners doing work that should be done by associates
■ external counsel doing work that is best done by the client
Image from RickMercer.com
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18D O W N T I M E
■ Transportation (of things)
■ sending documents via courier rather than email
■ multiple deliveries to one client
■ cheques rather than direct deposit
■ too many handoffs or approvalsImage by emptyglass / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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19D O W N T I M E
■ Inventory / work-in-progress
■ unanswered emails & voicemails
■ files sitting on your desk awaiting work
■ overflowing stationary cupboards
■ conflicts awaiting clearanceImage by nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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20D O W N T I M E
■ Motion (of people)
■ unnecessary travel for meetings
■ too many keystrokes to find documents
■ poor office layout
stuart miles / freedigitalphotos.net
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21D O W N T I M E
■ Extra processing
■ too much research
■ triple-checking
■ over-staffing a file
■ too many turns of a documentImage by teerapun / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Why Worry About Waste?■ Because waste
■ makes you less effective and efficient
■ reduces your firm’s competitiveness
■ annoys your clients
■ interferes with your workflow
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Because reducing waste will have an immediate impact on your bottom line!
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Where’s the Waste in Law School? 23
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Lean Tools
!
DMAIC (the framework) Process optimization Other tools 24
ponsulak / freedigitalphotos.net
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Define
Measure
Analyze
Improve
Control
25DMAIC: A Framework for Improvement
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Outputs Tools To Get You There
Define 1. Project charter 2. Project plan
1. Process Grids 2. Voice of the client tools
Measure 1. Data, metrics and list of resources 2. Detailed, annotated current state
process map
1. Process mapping 2. Waste walks and spaghetti
diagrams (recall DOWNTIME)
Analyze 1. List of potential root causes of inefficiency/waste
2. Ideal/future state process map
1. Brainstorming 2. 5 whys 3. Process mapping (again)
Improve 1. Prioritized list of improvement opportunities
2. Improved/optimized process 3. Revised process documentation,
including the new map
1. Brainstorming (again) 2. PICK chart 3. Improvement events 4. 5S
Control 1. A system for monitoring and periodic validation
2. Project close out and final report 3. Implementation plan
1. Project management (ongoing implementation)
2. Training 3. Monitoring 4. Communication and culture
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The right resources in the right place at the right time
!
What is Process Optimization?
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Process Optimization28
■Maximize the value you deliver ■ lower overheads and faster completion
■ more efficient workflow and a focus on value-adding work
■ better resource allocation (human, financial and technological)
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■ Optimized processes cost you less
■ faster, better delivery of your services
■ smooth flow of work
■ improved allocation of scarce resources
■ You can market your efficiency to your clients
Why Do It? 29
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To make process improvement work, you need to see the process in your art
But We Don’t Make Widgets...
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Client calls
Client Intake/Conflicts Check
Negotiate LOI
Senior
Finalize LOI
GC
Draft letter of intent
Junior
LOI
Title Review and Due Diligence
Jr / Paralegal
DD Checklist
Draft Title & DD Report
Jr / Paralegal
DD Report
Review LOI
Senior
Draft Purchase Agreement
Purchase Agmt
Senior
Junior
Negotiate Purchase Agreement
Senior
GC
Vendor/Counsel
Closing and Registration
Junior
Vendor/Counsel
GC
What’s a value stream?
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Commercial Lending in a Map 32
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You’ve Got a Map, Now What?
Process improvement Business development Consistency Knowledge capture Training Legacy Project management Pricing
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Capturing Your Greatest Asset
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Knowledge capture Training Legacy
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35Image by adamr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Win-Win Pricing
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Know your margins Respond to RFPs Offer AFAs with confidence
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Standard Work…uh…Pork A game about the value of standardization 36
stuart miles / freedigitalphotos.net
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But What Can I Do?I need an articling position, not a Lean toolkit…
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Get organized with 5S
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Does This Look Familiar?
Image © Karen Dunn Skinner
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40Image © Joe DeStefano
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When Lean Goes Bad…41
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What Else?
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Think about the process Look for waste Create personal checklists Standardize your work
freedigitalphotos.net
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Examples of Lean in Action
■ Borden Ladner Gervais has mapped 30 processes (from litigation to M&A) and now uses its maps for training, KM and marketing
■ A Virginia firm saved 30 hours and $21,000 by reducing set-up time in one afternoon, in the very first process they looked at
■ The Hunoval Law Firm reduced its timeline on foreclosure filings by a whopping 94% and landed a huge new mandate as a result
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■ See the context for change in the legal profession
■ Understand the benefits of process improvement can bring to lawyers and clients
■ Recognize waste so you can start to eliminate it and deliver better value
Takeaways from Today 44
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45Additional Resources!Books on Lean Six Sigma
See our website for recommendations: www.gimbalcanada.com/bookstore/
!Twitter - consider following:
@jordan_law21
@gnawledge
@valoremlamb
@slaw_dot_ca
@LeanLawStrategy
@RiverviewLaw
@KarenSkinner
@DavidFSkinner
!!
Useful Apps and Productivity Tools
Cardmunch
Smart Timer
Feedly and Mr. Reeder
Evernote
!Blogs - consider following:
www.law21.ca
www.adamsmithesq.com
www.thoughtfullaw.com
www.blogs.hbr.org
www.gimbalcanada.com/blog/
www.attorneyatwork
www.penningtonhennessy.com/blog/
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It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. !
It is the one that is most adaptable to change. !
—Charles Darwin