Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Fire the Technology Committee

Continuing my live-blogging from International Legal Technology Association's Annual Conference. . . .

Let's see, what qualifies someone for membership on a firm's technology committee? Desire for an Apple iPhone? Having assembled an Altair computer in 1975? Having a son-in-law in the computer business? Technology committees are notorious for their ineffectiveness. We'll do our best to find out the proper way to govern technology investment and strategy inside law firms; the goals of governance and who should set them; the attributes of a good technology committee; and other governance structures that work (and ones that never work) in this lively and entertaining panel discussion.

Speakers:
  • Michael Mills - Davis Polk & Wardwell
  • John Tredennick - Law Practice Today
  • Chris Bull - Osborne Clarke
I missed most of the session, but slipped in for the final few minutes.

Government structure is important and you need to think about the relationship with the technology committee. It is important to give the committee tasks and to keep them busy. View the committee as working for you. For example, if you are thinking about moving to Office 2007, ask the technology committee to ask their clients what they are doing.

You also need to address the difference between responsibility and authority.

Download the session materials.


My ILTA Schedule

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