Taking Lessons from SeyfarthLean

Nearly 10 years ago, Seyfarth Shaw blazed a trail as the first major law firm to apply Six Sigma and Lean process improvement methodologies to better serve the needs of their clients. Starting with process improvements in law firm operations, Six Sigma and Lean thinking have become pervasive throughout the culture of Seyfarth and changed the way Seyfarth’s legal teams deliver services to clients. Seyfarth used these process improvement methods to drive value for their clients through more efficient delivery of legal services, better quality of services, lower cost and greater budget predictability. Spurred by overwhelming demand from their clients, Seyfarth is again breaking new ground with the formation of SeyfarthLean Consulting, a dedicated team of 30 technologists, legal project managers, data analytics specialists and process improvement professionals who work with clients and law firm partners to improve the delivery of legal services. James Kittle spoke with SeyfarthLean Consulting directors Kim Craig and Andrew Baker to learn more about their efforts. (Read the article in the Summer 2015 Peer to Peer)