I am proud of the audit in the abstract, but I take minimal pride in authorship. I would very much welcome feedback, suggestions, collaboration, and constructive criticism.
The audit is arbitrary.
I developed the audit, but it does not have a scoring system. I haven't identified a bright line between passing and failing. I can't make direct apples-to-apples comparisons between firms. In short, the audit does not yet embody the process-driven ideal that it demands from law firms.
The audit has a shelf life.
The audit evolves, but it rarely changes. It is just too time consuming to start over. Like a test that a professor gives year after year, the audit will start to become something for which firms can prepare. I genuinely need help if the audit is going to deliver more than ephemeral benefit.
The audit is not a panacea.
I recognize that I am focusing on one small piece of the legal cost puzzle. I don't want to pretend that the audit has some magical properties and is somehow better than every previous approach to cost containment. I am looking to add a tool, not replace existing ones.
Indeed, my goal is to render the audit obsolete. I believe it would be a boon to the profession if adaptive training and testing became standardized across the profession so that clients no longer had to worry about avoidable, technology-related inefficiencies.
D. Casey Flaherty is corporate counsel for Kia Motors America. Flaherty's opinions are his own, not those of Kia Motors.
This article originally appeared in Law Technology News.
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