DENVER, CO. - The first annual global search for lawyers, law firms and other deliverers of legal services who have invented and successfully applied totally new business practices to the delivery of legal services was launched this month by the College of Law Practice Management. The InnovAction Award, sponsored by the College in concert with Edge International, will be presented in four categories:
Client service - Client Service Virtuoso
New market creation - Market Disruptor
Knowledge management - Knowledge Star
Leadership- Leader Ship
Information about the awards can be found online at www.innovactionaward.com. In a recent US survey of Chief Legal Officers, when asked about the most innovative practice proposed or instituted by their outside counsel in the past year, only 23% of respondents were able to identify any innovation at all. Yet, in an earlier UK study of FTSE-100 companies' perceptions of the legal profession, innovation was ranked amongst the most important factors in choosing a law firm.
'We're interested in new ways of thinking about the provision of legal services wherever they may be," said College Vice-President Merrilyn Astin Tarlton. "While the philosophical underpinnings of the legal profession have traditionally driven law firm managers to rely on precedent in decision making, we know a good deal of exciting thinking is now at work to solve the business challenges of law practice with little or no concern for the restrictions of tradition. We want to focus thinking on these extraordinary achievements and, hopefully, inspire more."
The award recipients will be selected by a blue-ribbon panel of judges in July of this year with the actual presentation of the "NOVA" awards occurring in September at the Annual Induction Meeting of the College in Chicago. Entries will be judged on the basis of four primary criteria:
- Absence of precedent (never been done or done quite this way before.)
- Evidence of action (the innovative idea was transformed into action and not merely reflective of best intentions)
- Effectiveness of innovation (there is some measurable outcome that would indicate that the innovation is accomplishing what it was intended to do)
- Action must have taken place within no more than three years prior to this entry.
"The goal is to demonstrate for the profession what can be created when passionate professionals with big ideas and strong convictions are determined to make a difference," Patrick McKenna, Principal of Edge International explained; "Too often we hear lawyers saying things like "We've never done it that way!' or 'Who else has done this?' It is our intention to help the College seek out and identify those rare few whose fearlessness has created a business advantage."
Any lawyer, law firm or entity providing legal services to clients anywhere in the world is eligible and encouraged to enter this competition. Further information about the awards, eligibility restrictions and nomination forms is available at www.innovactionaward.com.
For further information contact: Sandra Geist, College of Law Practice Management, 303-232-3355, s.geist@comcast.net
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