Any casual onlooker can see “Innovation Labs” popping up within the profession, new Innovation Committees being formed within an increasing number of law firms, and all sorts of new innovation roles and job titles being created…

But what exactly do these professionals do? What capabilities do they bring to their jobs, and how do they best serve their firms within an environment that often seeks to maintain the status quo?

Your firm is eager to foster a culture of innovation, but innovation involves human and capital resources. How do you make sure that your efforts are focused where they need to be? How do you prioritize which innovation projects to pursue and invest in, and how do you build a business case for your new initiatives, whether they be processes, technology, or other projects?

One of the reasons that well-intentioned law firm innovations sometimes fail is that they struggle to align with the needs of their clients. The most successful innovations are client-focused, but what does that really mean?

Ark Group’s 2nd annual Legal Innovation Summit has been developed around the premise that innovation needs to begin with process, and not technology. Certainly, technology is one of the drivers and enablers of innovation, having the capacity to open-up new avenues to delivering advice and services in real time, with greater efficiency and at a lower cost. But innovation isn’t innovative if no one is using it. These efforts must start by clearly identifying a specific need, and then moving forward in the direction of a solution—which is most often a process that leads to relatively simple technology.

After a decade of debate, there is no question that the legal market is poised for significant transformation. But how does one begin the process of driving innovation?

This year’s two-day conference (taking place in Boston on November 13-14) will once again bring together leading-edge examples of law firms aspiring to challenge some of today’s commonly accepted thinking. Through case study and interactive discussion, we will focus on some of the structural elements that can help best identify, select and manage innovation projects, while hearing from firms that have taken some risks and pushed some boundaries—doing something genuinely different that clients have taken note of.

Unlike the majority of events addressing the subject of Innovation (in terms of what might be accomplished with technology), this conference endeavors to go beyond the enabling technology—focusing more so on the “people and process” aspects of law firm innovation—shining a light on several innovative endeavors where the “innovation” may in fact be the service offering itself—or perhaps an element of the business model impacting the manner in which the firm communicates and collaborates with its clients.

We hope you will join us this November in Boston, as we collectively discuss practical strategies for legal professionals to put innovation into practice, identifying new ways to improve efficiency and drive profitability within our respective organizations.