What’s a Googley lawyer?
Links
The book “What Would Google Do?” By Jeff Jarvis (check out his buzzmachine.com blog)
http://www.abovethelaw.com/
Article about the ABA advisory opinion.
Outline of the video blog
“The law and its execution are aided by its obfuscation.” Jarvis, What Would Google Do? So true! Since the law is so complex, lawyers are [somewhat] insulated from the crowdsourcing/community control phenomenon. However, there are fewer opportunities in the legal marketplace today than there was last year. Part of the contraction in the legal industry is due to the economic crisis. Since money is tight, the market rewards efficiency which places a lot of pressure on bloated law firms. Will they return to their stature of enormity and power? I don’t think so.
What is a Googley lawyer?
Spartan attitude towards overhead. Leverages every technological advantage to drive costs down and passes savings over to clients. Outsources all simple legal tasks.
Authentic and unique. In the Google age, the trick is being found. There are hundreds of thousands of lawyers, but there’s only one you. Instead of showing a facade of perfection, be human, be unique and people will be drawn to the authenticity (which is rare). Check out Gary Vaynerchuk and you’ll figure it out in a few minutes.
Vast network. The Googley lawyer doesn’t deal much in atoms. They stay remote and for connections with partners in a virtual environment and pass the savings to clients.
The masses benefit but they don’t take control
The ABA won’t allow it (yet). None of these suggestions involve turning the reins over to the masses….But these changes do represent a huge transition from how services used to be delivered (with the associated fat/costs). Access will be more feasible for the masses.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I agree, especially about authenticity being critical. Your “Googley” factors could be applied in just about any industry today.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:56 am
[...] mainly because they have to do what clients want and can’t be transparent. In Twitter, lawyer Kevin Thompson said he disagreed, so I tweeted back asking him to define a Googley lawyer and he taped his [...]
February 11th, 2009 at 9:24 am
I can’t believe it has taken me so long to come across your blog. Thank you for your video, it validates so much of my thinking about the legal profession and the role the Web can play as an enabling mechanism to help more innovative lawyers improve their visibility and the quality of their offerings.
I particularly like the idea of smaller firms collaborating to provide a meaningful service to larger clients. I have been thinking about a virtual firm structure for a while now comprising independent yet associated smaller firms.
February 11th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Paul, we should chat and figure out how to create a networked platform where lawyers can associate/aggregate to perform services for larger clients. The market rewards efficiency and you can’t get more efficient than a virtual network with low overhead.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Hey Kevin
I have just started outlining a model for just such a network and I have a space set aside for it already. I don’t want to make it public before it has been fleshed out but perhaps we could collaborate on its development and create something worth talking about?
You may have my email address already. If not, you can reach me through Facebook.
February 15th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Kevin- thanks for the video review. I saw the book in the bookstore yesterday and didn’t want to buy it yet. You’ve now given me a reason to read it.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Like Paul, who I know via other collaborations (hi Paul!), I only recently came upon your blog and am surprised it’s taken me so long. I too believe a virtual law firm model is on the rise and would make sense for a lot of reasons. I’ve considered a few models in building my own practice, and always come back to the same problem: how do we resolve conflict of interest/ethics issues? I also enjoyed this post from 2006 where several of my favorite lawyer-thinkers (Ernie Svenson, Denise Howell, Dennis Kennedy, an Marty Schwimmer) discuss the issue too. http://tinyurl.com/cw6uvd I hope lawyers thinking about this (and the state bars that govern their licensing) can move this issue forward and find a solution that protects clients’ interests as well as the public’s in getting better services at lower costs.