White & Case - A New Global CKO

The remarkable Oz Benamram (previous guru of all things KM at Morrison & Foerster) has been appointed the new global CKO at White & Case. A great move for Oz, and an even better move for White & Case.

For those of you have not had the pleasure, take a look at some of Oz's pioneering work with Enterprise Search and Expertise Location here.

Reducing Operating Costs - Lovells Pilots Outsourcing

UK firm Lovells is piloting a new document production outsourcing deal with a South African provider in an attempt to reduce operating costs.

The interesting piece in this story is the preference for South Africa over the traditional India choice - with the firm stating that time zones was the determining factor.

See story here.

London Burning - UK Law Firm Redundancies

The Lawyer magazine has published their list of firms' redundancy numbers (including those in consultation). The number is a frightening 2,209. Keep in mind though that this number is for the entire year of 2008, and not a number from the past month or two.

We're not sure how accurate these figures are; however after spending the majority of the final quarter of 2008 in London, we can assure all that it is not the city to be in. See here for the chart.

Of those on the list, Clifford Chance has been the most talked about in the media, and also the most open with the press and staff about their intentions. The current number of non-partner fee earners up for consultation is quoted at 880. Support staff numbers are set to be announced within weeks.

Although the fear is in the City that other major firms will follow close on the heels of Clifford Chance with lawyer redundancies, Legal Week magazine has run with an article which states that few will be doing so immediately. See here for the story.

The Clifford Chance news is in addition to the firm calling in some GBP60 million of capital from partners (an average of GBP150,000 per partner), and this week announcing a potential profit fall of 30%. Such a fall will once again take the average PPEP down to under the GBP1 million level (not seen since 2005-06 when the average PPEP was down to a non-magic GBP810,000 level).

Cadwalader's London office is also not a happy place, with news today that seven London partners walked out the doors this week. Expect more tragic tales of loss in the coming weeks and months from others in the City.

Obviously it is not all doom and gloom - the loss of many high street retailers has created more work than some practice groups can handle.

Ashurst is the most recent of firm to announce a recent win in this area after furniture retailer Land of Leather fell into administration. Takeover related business is also set to start kicking in as the cashed up sharks circle the poorly performing and injured businesses across Europe. Both Freshfields and Norton Rose have witnessed this first hand with the GBP8.5 billion takeover of Dutch utility company Essent by German rival RWE.

...and of course there is always one person with a smile no matter what happens.

Massive Attack - Aderant Wins Crucial First Battle

Official news in today from Aderant (press release here) that they have won the first major battle for control over the next generation of ERP software within the Australian firm market.

Analysts have long suggested that the first one to make the move away from the legacy Keystone software would set the trend for the remaining major sites in the region - time will tell. There are over 10,000 potential users just across the major firms only in the Australian market, making it the next most critical segment outside of the UK and the US for these vendors.

The news will no doubt be a significant blow to the competition and a sign both that the market may no longer be prepared to take risks in uncharted waters, and that continued delays to securing a live flagship site of significant size and international presence is equally damaging. It is also a telling signal of confidence in Aderant's recent ownership changes by the market.

Allen & Overy Knowledge Management

The Lawyer magazine in the UK finally has run with the news regarding Allen & Overy's David Jabbari (Global Head of Knowledge Management) moving to the COO role at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert. Read the news article here and the press release here.

Allen & Overy's explorations in the field of law firm knowledge management have been well documented, and many firms have learnt lessons from observing the firm's activities during David's time at the firm. Best wishes to all parties.

...and so it begins...

As Thomson Elite's CEO Steve Buege flies in to Australia today to meet with clients and prospects in Sydney, and to beat the drum at the local user group meeting in Brisbane next week, news is breaking that the traditional Elite competitor Aderant is about to announce what could be a significant blow to the original business case which originally brought Elite to the APAC market some four years ago.

No Time For Innovation? Well, it is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time...

Here is a cute posting on Innovation which uses themes from Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club to make you think about how you are approaching your daily work and your own personal approach to Innovation.

After reviewing it, we certainly think that "Tyler Durden's 8 Rules of Innovation" are worthy of a read and your consideration.

With rules including "No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide", "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken" and "This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time" there is just enough content in the post to make you think and possibly challenge the way in which you approach your projects and your prioritisations.

The last two are our personal favourites - especially the "buying a MacBook Pro and an iPhone doesn't make you creative" comment and the thoughts on urgency (are you really living the life you imagined?). The link to Foolish Productivity is also worth a read, as is the introduction of Lou.

Enjoy, and thanks to the Pony for the link.