This is the sixth in an occasional series of “maxims” on managing legal technology. Each one is a bit edgy – you have to decide where the line is on just how true it is!  

Let Chaos Work for You, Not Against You. Law firms governance is very different than corporate governance: organization and management lines are relatively loose. When it comes to practice support and knowledge management (as opposed to infrastructure), go with the flow. Work at the practice group level and meet the needs of individual groups of lawyers. Trying to achieve or impose a standard firm-wide often fails.

Appeal to lawyers’ sense of competition. If you achieve a victory with one practice group, advertise widely. Hope that envy / competition causes other practices to ask for the same.