The Digital Associate of Law Firms and the Benefits for In-house Counsel

Helena Hallgarn, CEO, Consultant, Virtual Intelligence VQ AB, Sweden

The legal services market is at the verge of some momentous changes, with pressure from clients (especially the stronger in-house counsel) and new technological surroundings and demands for efficient use of IT. Technological developments resembling the computer Watson who could win the TV show “Jeopardy” based on a new kind of intelligent capabilities to understand complex information, will provide new groundbreaking opportunities to make efficient use of computers also in legal work. In this article you will find out how law firms can explore these new possibilities by the use of sophisticated IT tools and how they need to analyze and understand their core business in order to decide what parts of it that could be outsourced, standardized or even automated by the use of IT.

Helena Hallgarn holds a LL M and B Sc in Business Administration (Sw. jur kand, civ ek). Helena joined the law firm Vinge as their first Head of Knowledge Management in 2002. Prior to that, Helena spent two years at the law firm Gernandt & Danielsson (G&D) as their first Knowledge Manager. Before joining G&D Helena practiced law for some years at the law firm Mannheimer Swartling and also joined their newly founded Knowledge Management Group for a couple of years. In 2010 Helena left Vinge to found VQ together with Ann Björk.

Virtual Intelligence VQ (VQ) is a consultancy firm that operates within a new and unique niche, where the practice of law is combined with strong IT and knowledge management skills. VQ acts as strategic advisers to support knowledge driven businesses to grow revenue, to improve efficiency and to drive innovation and business change. VQ is founded by two of the most experienced knowledge management professionals in Scandinavia, Helena Hallgarn and Ann Björk.