Speak Your Clients' Language
Executive summary of "Six Sigma in the Legal Department: Obtaining Measurable Quality Improvements in Discovery Management," (KPMG Advisory) from the Corporate Library; See also KPMG's A Revolution in e-Discovery: The Persuasive Economics of the Document Analytic Approach
There are two reasons for th[e Six Sigma] report.
First, the issue of discovery, especially "e-discovery" and the importance in litigation of computer files, has become one of vital importance for corporations as even one wrongly or carelessly provided document can have devastating consequences.
Second, legal departments are increasingly being expected to measure themselves along the same lines as operating divisions, and the "six sigma" management tool for setting goals and measuring progress has been proven to be particularly useful.
"The Six Sigma philosophy has had broad application across industries and has equal relevance to the legal profession. Corporate law departments—often viewed as a necessary cost of doing business—can benefit from measuring such important functions as ‘process management,’ ‘efficiency,’ ‘process improvement,’ and ‘cost savings.’ These issues resonate in the minds of GCs, CEOs, chief financial officers (CFOs), and other officers of Six Sigma–influenced organizations.
Outside counsel can benefit from understanding and adopting the Six Sigma approach to help their lawyers speak the same language as their clients from a problem-solving perspective, provide higher-quality deliverables, and improve customer service."
Six Sigma is a very stringent standard, allowing for no more than 3.4 defects per one million "opportunities" (tasks or decisions). This report uses Six Sigma to examine the elements of discovery production and ensure that the material provided is thoroughly understood and evaluated, and board members will find it useful in managing litigation risk.
My step-daughter, Julia Goldberg, who is in her second year at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, has the following to say about Six Sigma:
Six sigma is a quality control standard -- requiring that sub-standard products occur only .001% of the time, or six sigmas away from the mean in terms of mathematical deviations. Six sigma became all the rage in the 1980s or early 1990s, and is basically used for manufacturing processes.
There has been some backlash in applying six sigma for non manufacturing processes -- because it is VERY expensive. Companies have to get people certified in six sigma practices (people become certified and are called black belts) or bring in consultants. At the end of the end of the day, the benefits are not always worth the costs, particularly in the case of, say, a bakery.
Thanks Julia!!
