The right legal knowledge management software can help a law firm or legal department capture their own people- or document-based knowledge, as well as the expertise of the collective legal community. A knowledge management system makes that knowledge more easily searchable and verifiable; allows for more efficient sharing, collaboration and communication with legal experts within a firm or the broader legal community; and helps ensure the best legal service and security for clients.
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What is knowledge management for lawyers?
In the legal profession, lawyers are always referencing, applying and building upon existing legal expertise and effective legal processes and precedent to meet their individual and business clients’ legal needs. They require a way to find that knowledge where it exists—anywhere from court and legal documents, to email communications and call transcripts, to the writings or thoughts of a legal expert with whom they seek to connect. Then, they need ways to establish the accuracy of that information and access it in a format they can use as a launching pad for new work or connect with the bearer of the knowledge they seek for a conversation.
Throughout this process, because of the nature of individual and business legal matters, there must be assurances that all information involved in these transactions is secure and—when necessary—kept confidential. A law firm’s knowledge management system, versus just a traditional internal knowledge base, is ideal for legal operations because it also incorporates content verification and insights and important security and compliance measures.
Benefits of knowledge management for legal professionals
Effective knowledge management builds value for many businesses and their clients, and that’s true for the legal profession as well. With the right legal knowledge management software and strategy, users in the legal industry can expect to:
- Establish a central repository for business-critical knowledge. It’s not uncommon for legal practices to have vast stores of knowledge spread across a variety of places, such as within individual offices or within the minds or communications of individual legal experts. A better way for attorneys to save legal research and briefs is by using knowledge management software. These systems ensure important legal information is stored in a well-organized and easily-searchable base, which can prove essential for reference in future cases.