Many law firms and legal departments are facing challenges such as excessive workloads, understaffed teams, decreased productivity, and unsatisfactory outcomes despite hiring high-level professionals, investing in technology, and implementing motivational measures.
Seeking advice on how to address your team’s tiredness?
The lawyer Leandro Gonzales faced this firsthand during his time leading the legal department of Brazil’s largest private bank for over ten years. Upon taking charge of the internal labor law division, he identified a crisis within the department. In response, he restructured the work framework, transitioning from a conventional model focused on speed to one emphasizing transparency, autonomy, and innovation among the team, leading to improved outcomes for the company.
Agile Management: Definition and Benefits for the Legal Industry
Agile methodologies have been developed for over two decades in the software sector to increase flexibility and reduce bureaucracy, fostering innovation and enhancing the efficiency of deliveries for both customers and development teams. This approach, credited as a crucial element in the success of major companies like Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, emphasizes values like teamwork, openness, dedication, ongoing enhancement, adaptability, and prioritizes delivering value to customers promptly and progressively.
Other industries are adopting agile management practices as an alternative to traditional models that struggle to keep up with increasing workloads and rapid technological changes. This shift is evident in sectors like law, which are gradually embracing technology and design to cultivate healthy, efficient, and innovative work environments.
Below are two successful instances of agile management implemented in the legal field under the guidance of attorney Leandro Gonzales.
Agile management is being implemented in the legal department of Brazil’s biggest bank.
When Leandro joined the internal labor law office of Brazil’s largest private bank in 2016, he faced various challenges. The office, originally intended to set an example for good practices and performance, was at risk of closure due to issues such as poor performance, internal conflicts, lack of employee engagement, long working hours, and low trust from internal clients.
The legal manager suggested that the issue was not with the lawyers or the company’s conduct, but with the work structure itself. This structure was based on the traditional taylorist model, emphasizing command and control, hierarchy, and functional division, rather than promoting fluidity in work, communication, and continuous learning.
Leandro conducted experiments to validate his theory. Initially, he introduced Scrum, an agile framework that had not been previously utilized in the legal field. They believed that by fostering radical transparency, unwavering dedication, and an empirical working approach, significant outcomes could be achieved quickly.
In half a year of implementation, this agile method showed significant results: the legal team’s efficiency improved, climate issues were resolved, employee involvement increased significantly, and customer trust reached record levels. And all this was achieved without the team having to put in any additional hours.
In 2018, the lawyer assumed full responsibility for overseeing the internal office and implemented Scrum across the organization to enhance team development with a smaller team. This shift to agility led to a rapid improvement in performance metrics within a short period.
The first law firm to adopt agile methods worldwide
Leandro aspired to establish a leading law firm that could provide exceptional service to clients and offer a conducive work environment for lawyers. He aimed to create an organization that would serve as an innovative management hub, incorporating modern practices to revolutionize the legal industry.
In 2022, Leandro Gonzales Advogados was established with a streamlined Scrum-based structure. On its first day, the office took on the task of managing over a thousand processes for one of the world’s largest banks. Leandro, now the CEO, relied on Scrum methodology to tackle significant management hurdles and establish a fully operational office from day one.
By working experimentally and continuously improving productivity while maintaining high quality and sustainability, the office quickly became a top performer, even in its first semester.
Now, after a year of operation, this flexible framework continues to develop, with more experimentation and results, becoming an example of modern legal management.
We will offer a course on how to incorporate agile methodology into your legal practice, highlighting the benefits and challenges it can bring to your professional routine. Find out more through this link.
The author’s background