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Consultants:
How to Choose 'Em
How to Use 'Em
Anyone can call him or herself a
Aconsultant.@
Thousands of successful people have amassed their fortunes by
giving valuable advice to others. But how can you tell which
of these people merit your business and your trust? And once
you have identified them, how can you benefit from their
advice?
A Collaborative Effort
Teacher versus consultant. A teacher imparts knowledge
that will enable you to do repeatedly in the future, without
assistance, something that you do not now know how to do.
A consultant, such as a psychologist or a career planner,
is a temporary partner with whom you discuss ideas during a
decision-making process, such as whether to switch
professions. The consultant exercises (as opposed to imparts)
his or her knowledge to assist you in making a decision.
Contractor versus Consultant. Let=s
say you decide to add a wing to your home for a family room.
You hire a contractor to do the job. The process undertaken by
the contractor has a result that (hopefully) was what you
envisioned when you hired the contractor.
How did you know what to tell the contractor to do? You
retained an architectural firm, sat down with architects and
designers, and told them what you had in mind. After getting
to know you, they suggested things you never would have
thought of on your own, such as products and materials you
never knew existed. The result: An entirely new and more
exciting vision of your new family room.
Salesperson versus Consultant. Your Wang word processor
just broke and document production is at a standstill. Your
secretary says, AWe
had WordPerfect at my last job. If you get me WordPerfect I
can get your motion out within an hour.@
You don=t need a
consultant. You need a new word processor. You go to the local
computer superstore, talk to a salesman for an hour, plunk
down $3,500 and walk out with a new Compaq computer, a
Hewlett-Packard laser printer, and a copy of WordPerfect. (All
high margin products). For an extra $150, the store sends an
installer to your office to hook it all up, load WordPerfect,
and show you where the power switch is to turn the sucker on.
You push the button, your secretary starts working on your
motion, and you begin dictating again. Life is good.
No consultant needed. Congratulations. You=re
keeping up with the rest of the profession. With the right
advice, you might have done it less expensively, but not
better. And the cost of the advice may have eaten up the
difference
Let=s look at
these three situations The first involved your career. No big
deal--just your entire future. You had a choice to make, and
it was an important one. You collaborated with an expert to
make sure you had the best chance of making the right choice
The second involved your living quarters. The family
room, to be exact. No big deal. Just $40,000 for the place
where your family will spend 50 to 75 percent of your leisure
time. Again, you had a choice. You could have continued to use
the living room. But you wanted something better.
The third involved your word processor. You did not
have a choice, at least with regard to the fundamental
question of needing a word processor. Any decisions to make,
(i.e. which manufacturer, which model, which word processing
program) were effectively made for you by the salesperson and
your secretary. All you cared about was getting your documents
out.
Your friend Harry works in the Dissolution Section of the
Domestic Relations Department of the local office of Big,
Cumbersome, and Unresponsive, PC, the famous law firm
headquartered in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He told you
about this fabulous computer program that permits him to work
just 3.5 hours a day, submit
Avalue bills@
to clients that would represent 14-hour days in your practice,
and own a BMW X-3, (the Aadorable@
little car your wife was looking at just the other day.)
On Harry’s recommendation, you buy it for "just" $10,000,
(not including installation, configuration, training, and
technical support). Uh Oh. You need a bigger hard disk, more
RAM, and a color printer (laser recommended) in order for the
program to work properly. You get them, (not the color laser,
just the inkjet model).
OK. You=re all
set. Loading the program was a snap. Just type
AD:setup.@
A box appears that says AEnter
User ID.@ You make a
guess and type in ABarney.@
Now it says AEnter
Password.@ You press
AEnter@
because you don=t
have or need a password. The box now says,
AYou MUST enter a
password." It goes downhill from there.
Does this saga want to make you laugh (or cry)? The point
is that by relying on the experience of others, you made an
expensive mistake.
Let’s assume you are convinced you will be more productive,
and your practice will be more profitable, if you purchase the
right technology and use it effectively (your vision). You are
willing to make a reasonable investment of your resources,
(money, time, and people), in order to realize your personal
vision. You acknowledge that your chances of realizing your
vision would be greatly enhanced if you were to retain a
consultant. And you have the capacity to trust a
professional in another discipline. What should you consider
when choosing a consultant?
Avoid conflicts of interest. Any consultant you
consider should be free of any conflict of interest, or should
inform you of any circumstances that could affect his or her
recommendations.
Sometimes a conflict is unavoidable. In such cases, the
consultant should disclose the conflict, and advise the client
to seek another opinion if there is any question in the client=s
mind about the efficacy of his or her recommendations.
If all other aspects of the consultant/client relationship
have proceeded without friction or stress, and trust and
confidence are unshaken, then the client can assume that the
recommendations are close to optimal. If there is any question
in the client=s
mind, he or she should seek out an expert in a competing
product, and compare sales pitches before making a decision.
However, if it comes to this, the relationship probably will
have broken down for lack of trust.
Find an experienced consultant. The consultant should
have experience assisting other law firms of a similar size
and/or type of practice. There are four key variables that
govern a consultant=s
recommendations:
The size of the firm.
The degree of specialization.
The volume, or caseload, handled by the firm.
The resources, (money, time, and people), of the firm.
A firm should seek the best fit when choosing a consultant.
While there may never be a perfect fit, a little investigation
can narrow the field to those consultants who would operate
comfortably when working with your firm.
Obtain references. Third, you should obtain references
from other law firms with similar needs. Quality, not
quantity, of references is important. Remember Harry? He
provided a great reference. If Harry had been your direct
competitor, occupying a similar size office on a different
floor in your building, and catering to similar types of
domestic relations clients, then his recommendation might have
been appropriate.
This is also the stage at which you can identify, and weed
out, the Atechnicians.@
You may end up retaining a technician on a consultant=s
recommendation, but remember, no matter what the label, he or
she is a technician, and may not speak your language. For
example, if you asked about the
Astyle@
of a case, this person might think
AGucci.@
If you were to mentioned Alitigation
support,@ he might
think of Abridge
trusses.@
Get to know your prospective consultant.
Invite the prospect to meet with your partners and staff.
(It is very important that your staff be involved in
the process, since they will be the most affected by any
changes.) Ask the consultant to present his or her credentials
and some ideas. What you really want to find out is:
How accessible and responsive is the consultant?
Do you, or the people who will be working with the
consultant, get any Abad
vibes?@ In other
words, is a personality conflict going to interfere with the
project?
Is the consultant interested in creating a technical
work or art, or is he or she interested in the success of
the project from your point of view?
Ask for a draft proposal. Optionally engage the
consultant to provide you with a draft of specifications and
recommendations. You should expect to pay for
such a document, for it will represent a substantial amount of
work by the consultant on your behalf. You will obtain
valuable information, if not a fairly definitive "blueprint."
It will make you aware of some of the possibilities, and
provide you with something against which you can compare other
submissions.
The thoroughness and clarity of such a document, as well as
its presentation and appearance, will tell you a lot about the
candidate=s sense of
professionalism.
Every situation is unique. There are many other things you
can do to insure a wise choice of consultant. You may want to
consider a written agreement. However, if you go through these
steps, the realization of your vision will be within your
reach.
The Consultant’s Role
A legal technology consultant=s
expertise is grounded in his or her knowledge of what types of
software that are available for lawyers, which of those types
or classes can benefit a given client, which programs are
appropriate for a given practice, and what equipment is needed
to run the software. This knowledge is supplemented by the
consultant=s
experience in the field.
The independent consultant can exercise this expertise on
your behalf in three ways:
Preparation of "Specifications and Recommendations."
Preparation of a "Request For Proposal," and evaluation
of responses and respondents
Implementation or Project Management
You should retain a single consultant for these functions.
You should not split the functions among multiple consultants.
If you are considering handling items 2. and 3. yourself, but
are open to considering retaining the consultant for one or
both of them, ask the consultant to provide you with an
estimate of charges for the additional services.
Specifications and Recommendations
The preparation "Specifications and Recommendations" is by
far the most important and valuable service the consultant can
provide. This should be an interactive process. . . meaning
you should be involved in the process. Typically, this phase
of the automation project consists of:
A needs analysis, during which the consultant
interviews members of the firm and staff to learn as much
as possible about your practice, the capabilities of your
staff, and the priorities to be assigned to the different
technologies that might be implemented.
Preparation of a working draft of the "Specifications
and Recommendations" to be discussed with the client and
refined.
Education of the client regarding any aspects of the
technologies with which the client is not familiar.
Discussions with the client, during which the client
can make informed decisions regarding any issues that are
raised.
Refinement of the document into a final, presentation
copy that is submitted to the client.
Often the consultant will have a staff capable of
implementing the recommendations, or will have a
Ateam@
of independent contractors on which he can call to do so.
Furthermore, many consultants can build the computers to the
specifications they recommend, or can obtain them, and other
items of hardware and software, at dealer prices.
In order to protect yourself against the obvious conflict
of interest in such circumstances, insist that the estimated
cost of the individual components be detailed, and that any
charges for implementation be stated separately.
If the consultant can implement the recommendations, he or
she may offer a discount for a
Aturnkey@
job. In order to protect yourself against the obvious conflict
of interest in such a case, insist that the estimated cost of
the individual components be detailed, and that any charges
for implementation be stated separately. You can then compare
the Aturnkey@
cost against the Aa
la carte@ cost of
having the recommendations executed by a third party of your
choosing.
Request for proposal. The preparation of a "Request for
Proposal" is called for only if you don=t
know who will be implementing the consultant=s
recommendations, and the job is of a sufficient scale that a
formal step is warranted.
The actual preparation of such a document should not be a
very expensive proposition, since it is often no more than a
rewording and reformatting of the original "Specifications and
Recommendations."
The value of the consultant=s
services lies in his or her ability to evaluate the bids that
come in, and his or her knowledge of the players in the area.
The consultant also will know when you should spend extra for
highly specialized skills, and when you should settle for a
less expensive but competent contractor.
Project management. Finally, you can retain the
consultant either to implement the recommendations using his
own staff or team, or act as a project manager in overseeing
the implementation of the recommendations.
The latter choice is especially advisable if you don=t
know the contractor who is going to implement the consultant=s
recommendations, or if the consultant can=t
give you reasonable assurances that a recommended contractor
knows what to do. Of course, if you select the consultant to
implement the plan, you will have taken the necessary
precautions to guard against the obvious conflict of interest.
If you decide to retain the consultant in either capacity,
you should provide your consultant with both a lawyer contact,
and an administrative contact. The lawyer contact should be
responsible for, and have authority to make, strategic
decisions. The administrative contact should be responsible
for, and have authority to make, tactical decisions.
Furthermore, the consultant should not have to contend with
others for this person=s
attention.
Remember, you are dealing with another professional. Treat
him or her as you would expect to be treated. The practice of
law and computer consulting have in common a heavy reliance on
logic--often very complex logic--that cannot be handled in a
piecemeal fashion.
The consultant’s demands on your employees’ time should be
scheduled in a businesslike manner. Your employees should not
have to deal with constant, ad hoc demands.
Be as specific as possible about the scope and nature of
the assignment. It is important to establish objectives and a
schedule for completion of the project. In doing so, there
must be an element of flexibility. You should be able to agree
with your consultant regarding the overall objectives of the
project, and the consultant should be able to make reasonable
estimates regarding the time required to meet those
objectives.
Request a monthly, detailed bill for all consulting fees
and costs so you can review the consultant=s
activities. You should expect the same, businesslike approach
from you consultant as your clients expect from you.
Even if the consultant is working under a fixed fee
arrangement, a detailed account of the consultant=s
time let=s you know
whether your project has been put on the back burner. It is
important that your consultant keep you informed regarding the
progress he or she is making towards completion of the
project.
Immediately inform the consultant of any concerns you
have regarding the project and its progress. This is merely a
restatement of the need for open communications between your
firm and your consultant. One of the surest ways to torpedo
your project is to wait until
Athe straw that
broke the camel=s
back@ before
confronting your consultant with your growing dissatisfaction
or unhappiness with his or her work. By this time, the
consultant may have expended considerable effort in the wrong
direction without an inkling that there is anything wrong.
At the same time, you may have drawn adverse conclusions
about the consultant=s
abilities that are not justified, merely because of a lack of
communication.
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