The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) has published its 2007 IT Staffing Survey.  It’s chock full of interesting information.

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One part of the study examined who manages the KM efforts at law firms of various sizes.

A few trends to note: (1) the larger the firm, the more likely that KM is managed by groups outside of the IT department; (2) larger firms tend to not outsource KM; (3) there are still a lot of firms who are not performing any KM.  

The first trend is not surprising.  The more “knowledge there is to manage” (ususally larger firms have more), the more specialized the staff needs to be to handle it and truly support the lawyers.  IT is essential because KM so heavily relies on technology; but increasingly, there are dedicated people and groups to focus all of their efforts on KM (both the content and technology). 

The second trend also makes sense.  Well-developed KM programs involve more than just a work-product retrieval system (which could be maintained by outsourcing).  Dedicated KM personnel who are integrated into law firms are more likely to be able to determine the KM needs and desires of the lawyers and staff.  

The third trend may make sense, but it is troubling.  Very large firms (more than 500 users) usually have greater need (and greater budgets) for KM, so the relatively high KM adoption rate seems right.  But over half of large firms (252-500 users) do not perform KM.  Let’s hope that they actually do KM but just don’t call it KM.  It will be interesting to see if this trend shifts in the future.   Even more troubling however, is that compared to last year’s numbers (see the report here), the percentage of firms not performing KM increased in all but medium sized firms.  (Small: -5% | Medium: +8% | Large: -14% | Very Large: -9%). 

While the numbers are what they are, they don’t seem to comport with the buzz on the web or on ILTA forums, and elsewhere.  It seems that more and more, firms are expanding their KM programs.  What does this mean for KM?  Please share your thoughts. 

By the way, if you are not an ILTA member, then you should join.  It is a fantastic organization. 

LawyerKM :: Knowledge Management & Technology for Lawyers and Law Firms