1.
Improve Profits and Sanity by
Running a Lean Law Firm
Larry Port
Dave Maxfield

2.
About Dave
Systems Geek. Solo Practitioner.
Coffee Achiever.
dave@consumerlawsc.com
@ConsumerLawSC

3.
About Larry
Software Engineer. Rocket
Matter CEO. Little League
Coach.
larry@rocketmatter.com
@larryport

4.
Most law firms
are in survival
mode.

5.
We won’t get anywhere
unless we step back and
gain perspective.

6.
It’s 1911 for the practice of law

7.
Basics:
Lean Thinking and Terminology

8.
Sacred Texts

9.
Kaizen
Slow, continuous improvement.

10.
Waste (Muda)
Any work that does not add value.

11.
KPI (Key Performance
Indicator)
Most important measurable numbers that gauge
the performance of your firm.

12.
WIP (Work in Progress)
The number of “case units” your law firm is
processing at a given time.

13.
Hey Dave! What is a
Case Unit?

14.
Throughput Rate
The number of “case units”
your law firm finishes during
a given time.

15.
Average Unit Value
(AUV):
Average value in $ to your firm, of
each case "unit." In a law firm we talk
about ACUV - Average Case Unit
Value.

16.
Cycle Time
The amount of time a “case unit” spends between
the day you accept it formally and the date that
case is considered done.
Accept
case
Phase Phase Done
CycleTime

17.
Bottleneck
A constraint in the system that causes an increase
in cycle time.

18.
SYSTEMS THINKING 1—
THE INCOME FORMULA

19.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

20.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

21.
Is a law firm different than a car factory?

22.
Is a law firm different than a donut shop?
N PE.

23.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

24.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

25.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

26.
1. You reduce cycle time by optimizing
contstraints.

27.
2. You reduce cycle time by minimizing the WAIT
TIMES you can control.

28.
3. You shorten the WAIT TIMES you can’t
control by reducing inventory (WIP).

29.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW
How does this
work with
hourly billing?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

30.
USING KPI’S—
WHAT, WHEN, AND HOW TO
MEASURE

31.
Critical Measurements:
• Cash Quantity (aka Cash Position)
• Cash Pipeline
• Collection Percentage
• WIP
• Average Case UnitValue
• Throughput Rate
• CycleTime

32.
Agile management at its core relies
on the iteration.

33.
SYSTEMS THINKING 2—
BRINGING YOUR SYSTEM TO
LIFE

34.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

35.
LEAN MARKETING

36.
If you’re not
measuring,
you’re not
marketing

37.
Marketing Measurements:
• New Leads Per Month
• New Clients Per Month
• Cost-per-Click
• Impressions
• Click-Through-Rate
• Website Metrics

38.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

39.
LOCKING IT DOWN—
STANDARDIZATION,
WRITTEN PROCEDURES,
AND CHECKLISTS

40.
www.techshow.com #ABATECHSHOW

41.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION,
MEETINGS, AND RHYTHM

42.
The Retrospective:
1) Start
2) Stop
3) Continue

43.
GETTING CONTROL OF
TECHNOLOGY

44.
In Lean, waste is bad and must be
eliminated whenever possible, which
is where technology can really shine.

45.
Don’t just adopt tech to tech to adopt
tech. How does it help you improve
your KPIs?

46.
Automation

47.
Communication,
Process tracking,
Measurements.

48.
GOAL SETTING AND THE
OCTOBER SURPRISE

49.
Thank You!
Dave Maxfield
dave@consumerlawsc.com
@ConsumerLawSC
Larry Port
larry@rocketmatter.com
@larryport

50.
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TECHSHOW 2019: February 27 – March 2, 2019