Lawyers are Not Research Specialists
Does your law firm hire attorneys based on their research skills? No, of course not! That’s what knowledge and research specialists provide. We’re not saying attorneys can’t find information, eventually. We are saying knowledge staff do it faster and better.
The quicker your attorneys access the right information, the more successful their outcomes. The cost to your firm is high when staff don’t get the correct information quickly. Your brilliant attorneys working together with your knowledge specialists make for a formidable team. That’s your competitive research edge!
8 Reasons Why Knowledge Management Teams are Cost and Time Effective
A well-resourced and well-staffed knowledge and research center provides many benefits. There are too many to list, but here are eight critical benefits you and your firm will gain from the research and management skills of information specialists that will give your firm the competitive research edge.
1. They Find the Information Your Attorneys Need, When They Need It, Fast
They know where to find it fast. It could be from specialized databases, current and previous cases, journals, or internally created documents. But, that’s not all. They curate the existing and newly acquired resources, ensuring all that information is easily retrievable.
2. Can Your Attorneys Be Sure They’ve Got the Right Information?
Sure, you could just tell your attorneys and paralegal staff to “just use Google, it’s on the internet somewhere”, but have you ever done a Google search? How do you know:
- Whether you’ve used the right search term or phrase?
- What is the information you want from the millions of results you get?
- Whether those results include the information you need?
- Whether the information is valid or the most recent information on the topic?
- What to do if the information you need is locked behind a paywall?
How many times do you go past the first page of results? Searching Google, or any other search engine, is not as efficient or effective when the information you seek is specialized.
Your knowledge staff specialize in research to source information that is relevant to your business efficiently. They will:
- Research and filter large volumes of information.
- Assess information to ensure it is valid, reliable, and applicable.
- Ensure subscriptions to industry-specific databases to match your firm’s information needs.
- Categorize material according to topics and subject groups.
- Organize resources of all kinds in user-friendly formats to ensure ease of access.
- Store resources securely to ensure access to authorized staff.
- Digitize hard copy files, reports, cases and other documents.
- Maintain and preserve digitized resources. Formats change, which may result in loss of data.
Time is money. Having knowledge specialists who know how to find information and where to find it increases efficiency and accuracy. Investing in the right specialists for the right tasks ensures a return on your investment.