Six Sigma In Legal Services

We have had discussion on this topic earlier on Yahoo Groups. I am pasting the content here to take it further.

FOLLOWING TOPIC PASTED FROM YAHOO GROUPS DISCUSSION

ORIGINATOR: Vijaya Mair

DATE: Thu Sep 4, 2008

Hi one and All,

Can any one tell me about using Six Sigma and its tools in Law field or explain the relation of Six Sigma & Law.

Thanks - Vijaya

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FOLLOWING RESPONSES WERE POSTED TO YAHOO GROUPS

I don't believe there is any direct relationship between 6 Sigma and the Law. However 6 Sigma processes could be applied to Law to reduce the chance of errors - especially in the null hypothesis analysis of an error/cause. It is here that we want to minimize the chances of Type - I errors (or Alpha - which would reduce the chances of an innocent being convicted for a crime).

My 2 cents worth ...

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Sir,

The concept is not about a particular field. The whole thing is centered around defects if any and available random data.

Regards

Anubhav gupta

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Hello Vijaya,

We can use it ina any field, but you need to tell about the scope of work you are engaged with. Based upon that, I can suggest the appoach. Basically, Six sigma can be used to reduce the process variation or the defects in the process. Any process will have either defects or high lead time. We can focus on either, based upon the importance & feasibility.

Regards Santosh E

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hi Vijaya.. Six sigma can do wonders in law...finding the staistical relations can lead to accurate judgements...and Lean can help mistake proofing in many areas..its very detailed...

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HI Vijaya,

I can relate Six Sigma to Law field easily in the following directions. May be it is useful to you. But it is really worth doing Six Sigma in the field of Law as it would solve the problems of lakhs and lakhs of people....and Indian Constituency / Pending cases / Pending files can get cleared. Automation can come in the right departments of Law. I am just throwing my thoughts by putting myself in the shoes of a person in the Law & Order.

1. Timeliness in completion of a case

2. Automation in Data Collection / Information

3. Improving Communication within the department.

4. Reducing the man hours in completing one single case thereby others (reducing the utilization time of lawyers)

5. Cost reduction

6. Improving Employee satisfaction (satisfaction of lawyers)

7. Removal of waste (LEAN methodology that can be linked here)

8. Removal of redundancy (again LEAN)

9. Removal of non value added tasks in the Law field

and so on.......

Thanks and regards,

Badhrinath .S

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In my opinion if, by the term 'Law field', one is referring to providing legal services

to clients (as done by an individual lawyer or a law firm) then Six Sigma can be

related like any other service industry.

However if one is referring to the entire judicial process, right from the inception of

a lawsuit to it's adjudication, then the process becomes too vast, subjective and

dependent on a horde of external factors, to be analyzed & controlled by any single

set of objective techniques.

On the lighter side... I am sure some enthusiasts can easily relate to usage of Six Sigma techniques even in the fields of politics as well.

Regards

Vishal Shakher

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HI Vijaya,

Please throw some light on the specific areas of Law where you wanted to do a project or improve i.e. Pain areas. (Also state if it is Private / Public / Govt related stuff). The discussion points / forum gets to generalistic ideas instead of provoking the thought process. i.e. Brainstorming.

As Vishal mentioned Law & Order constitutes a lot. We might not even find a Champion to promote especially in Govt./ Public enterprises. The Six Sigma awareness is very less in the industry. Even if we do not get to improve the present situation by LAUNCHING a project, we can still use all the possible TOOLS of Six Sigma and invite a Champion by showing improvements. Hope you have some extent of power to take decisions in a smaller horizon where you can implement the basic things mentioned in my earlier mail...

Thanks and regards,

Badhrinath. S

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Team,

If a project on Law & Order has to be done, we need to identify the jurisdiction of the prevailing laws and states. Well, a six sigma project to improve L&O situation means the entire nation has to be involved, right from POLICE, politicians, Bureaucrats, General Public and in some cases the Armed forces. The project would be mammoth in the true sense of the word. The resources required for this would be numerous.

If the project is limited to a legal service firm, then it becomes easier and feasible from resources stand point. As a GB project legal firm is better.

May be a group of MBB holders need to plan and do the project for L&O improvement in the nation.

Regards,

Arun.

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Hi, I was heading Quality for QuisLex Legal Srvices (LPO) , operating out of Silicon Towers, in Hitech city. I was one of the first ones, to implemenyt six sigma in LPO. I have handled; 1. Contract summarisation, 2. Litigation support, 3. Legal Research, 4. Mergers & Acquisitions. I could use all tools for the legal scenario with ease. We can even calculate sigma value and find out the root causes. Take corrective actions, improve processes like any other processes from service industry. There are no seperate tools for LPOs.

Regards, Eunice.