Firm eyes IBM Watson partnership and new software products
Six months into the role, Clifford Chance (CC)’s head of innovation and business change, Bas Boris Visser, has moved to re-establish the firm’s reputation as a pioneering business, partnering with IBM Watson, and forming innovation committees.
Appointed to the newly created role by global managing partner Matthew Layton in January, Visser has invited applications from all parts of the Magic Circle firm, regardless of seniority and including operations, for a place on the committees, which will be spread across CC’s offices. A pilot has already been launched in Amsterdam to assess how best to structure future groups and is currently looking at partnering with start-ups and improving CC’s digital strategy.
Visser has also been pushing forward his own ideas and, following a series of meetings in New York in February, has been working with IBM Watson to see how the Magic Circle firm can use the technology for carrying out e-discovery and investigations work. Moreover, intent on exploiting IT further, Dutch lawyer duo Thijs Lommen and Judith Edixhoven have been hired to develop software to help staff improve technical skills. Plans are in place for the firm to then enter the growing legal product market and provide licences of the software to clients, touting its potential to boost in-house efficiency.
‘It was important to establish a structure,’ said Visser. ‘I sent out an e-mail to the firm and deliberately opened it up for anyone to apply. The rate of response was overwhelming – a huge number of people want to be involved in this kind of business.’
‘You can’t do this from the centre and expect the firm to follow.’
Bas Boris Visser, Clifford Chance
Amsterdam-based Visser is keen to open up the committee and include not just management figures but a diverse mix from across business services, to ‘make sure innovation can actually flourish, because you can’t do this from the centre and expect the firm to follow’.
Having historically been at the vanguard of law firm change, Visser’s agenda to revitalise the firm’s pioneering streak mirrors the strategy of managing partner Layton, who this year also appointed strategy consultant Caroline Firstbrook as chief operations officer to co-ordinate with the innovation chief.
Visser added: ‘The challenge will be looking at how we have an innovation culture in each office. It’s easy just to say we need to create the energy in those offices. It’s crucial that innovation is part of the overall firm strategy.’
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk