Most large law firms based in the UK have toyed with putting the principles of knowledge management (KM) into practice, in many cases, investing millions of pounds’ worth of the firm’s equity and intellectual capital in pursuit of the ever-elusive goal of developing a true ‘knowledge-sharing’ culture. Results have been mixed, to say the least.
Many firms are now on their second, or even third generation of KM systems and a more businesslike, stripped-down and realistic range of functions, targets and expectations are coming to the fore. City law firm Travers Smith Braithwaite is one of a number of leading practices currently rolling out a second-generation KM system following a two-year research and development project. And after a successful pilot project, the KM team has high hopes for the rollout.
