Terrific article in the ABA Journal about ORX, Cisco’s OnRamp Exchange, a collaborative tool designed and hosted by Legal OnRamp, a web 2.0 tool for in-house law departments and lawyers who collaborate well. The article addresses the tension between law departments and outside counsel over the concept of "efficiency." The outside view, expressed by Fenwick & West partner Ralph Pais:
[P]eople share just enough information to get others excited, but they don’t share the secret sauce.
Steve Harmon of Cisco offers the client view:
It’s about a win-win for both the company and the law firm. Firms that get efficient at providing these services will be able to serve more clients with fewer lawyers. Revenues per partner may even go up. It just may mean there are fewer partners.
So in-house counsel have one view of collaboration. Outside Counsel? Most don’t get it. Yet. Risa Schwartz, head of knowledge management for Cisco’s law department puts it nicely:
A lot of law firms don’t have the predilection to collaborate and share. Many do, but those are avant-garde.
Just remember, the die is cast. It is only a question of when. And the ground (and tool) for successful collaboration among inside and outside counsel, and, as importantly, among multiple firms or lawyers working for the same client, has been staked out by Legal OnRamp. Congratulations to LOR on this recognition.