Referred to as either Knowledge Management Lawyers or Practice Support Lawyers (and on occasion Precedent Lawyers), these are interesting and challenging positions that provide an alternate career path for lawyers seeking a non-fee earning legal role, and invariably some flexibility in terms of contact hours, whether part-time or office+remote (3+1, 3+2, or 4+1).
Our clients’ needs in this particular area are for talented lawyers who have solid training in a recognised firm (preferably large or national), as well as a penchant for drafting all things legal:
- developing and maintaining precedents and standard documents, ensuring they are of high quality and reflect best practice
- coordinating and driving fee earner contribution to standard document development and related knowledge development activity
leading process improvement projects to deliver refinements to key transaction processes, including review of policies, checklists and training requirements
- ensuring fee earners are kept aware of legal, regulatory and commercial developments and providing analysis of the impact of significant developments and how they will affect the business and the firm’s clients
- liaising with, and providing technical advice and guidance to, partners and lawyers in relation to systems, processes and broader service delivery and quality initiatives
- working closely and coordinating with the legal, risk and compliance teams to share and align best practice and ensure consistency
The demand for this skillset is typically from the larger private practice environments, with roles having a ‘whole-of-practice’ coverage, or multiple KML’s/PSL’s servicing 3 to 4 specific departments within his/her portfolio.
Traits normally sought for these roles include:
- outstanding communication skills and the ability to build strong working relationships
- the ability to work independently and collaboratively across functions and geographies
an analytical and logical mind, with an ability to develop best practice solutions in a clear and practical way
- the ability to drive change
- a high level of organisational skills as well as the ability to meet certain timelines
