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Mapping Law Firm Capabilities

By Alan Rich & Ric Merrifield
September 29, 2006

Not so many years ago, running a law firm was a simpler process. If you were good at legal research, drafting documents, arguing cases and attracting and advising clients, the business took care of itself. But today, managing a legal practice, particularly for large firms, is more like running a large, sophisticated, multinational business.

Additionally, law firms have been largely unable to take advantage of modern business improvement methods such as Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints ' complex techniques that have been applied to manufacturing processes with much success. These methodologies are measurement-based strategies that focus on process improvement and variation reduction.

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