Legal Research and Writing - Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management

Knowledge management (KM) is an important aspect of law practice. The Wikipedia entry describes KM as a collection of methods relating to "creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization" and "refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge."

One common way to think about managing knowledge is categorizing it into two basic types: explicit knowledge (information that is written down) and tacit knowledge (hidden personal learning).

In a law firm setting, explicit knowledge tends to be precedent or sample business agreements or litigation pleadings, checklists, research memos, opinion letters, and "how to" guides. Equally – if not more important – is the tacit knowledge, being what legal professionals know, their experience and their professional judgment. Capturing and organizing explicit legal knowledge can be relatively straightforward and involves a combination of technologies (internal document management systems, search and tagging technology, and intranets). Capturing and organizing tacit legal knowledge can be more challenging. In most law firms, tacit knowledge is transferred through mentoring, training and encouraging a knowledge-sharing culture to flourish within the organization.

Depending on the law firm, legal knowledge management can potentially involve a wide array of activities, including:

Document management
Records management
Precedent development
Legal research
Business or competitive intelligence
Continuing legal education and professional development
Intranet deployment
e-Discovery support
Project management
Client support (virtual deal rooms)
Document automation and the creation of smart systems for clients

Anyone interested in law-related knowledge management should consider the books listed below (otherwise, consult the ILTA KM bibliography of resources on knowledge management for a more detailed list).

Selected books on law-related knowledge management

Abbott, Stephanie, ed. Legal Knowledge Management: Insights and Practice. Ark Group, 2013.

Apistola, Martin, ed. Practical Strategies for Effective Law Firm Knowledge Management. Boca Raton: Universal-Publishers, 2012 (book details here).

Apistola, Martin & Petter Gottschalk. Essential Knowledge and Management Issues in Law Firms. Boca Raton: Universal-Publishers, 2012 (book details here).

Battersby, Karen. Know How in the Legal Profession. Edited by Caroline Poynton. London: Ark Group, 2006 (book details here).

Boake, Barbara & Rick Kathuria. Project Management for Lawyers. London: Ark Group, 2011 (book details here).

Gawande, Atul. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2010 (book details here).

Gottschalk, Petter. Knowledge Management Maturity in Law Firm Business. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2012 (book details here).

Hassett, Jim, ed. The Legal Project Management Quick Reference Guide. 3d ed. Boston, MA: LegalBizDev, 2013 (book details here) (my SLAW book review on an earlier edition is here).

Lamb, Patrick. Alternative Fee Arrangements: Value Fees and the Changing Market. London, UK: Ark Group, 2010 (book details here).

Levy, Stephen. Legal Project Management: Control Costs, Meet Schedules, Risks, and Maintain Sanity. Seattle, WA: DayPack Books, 2009 (book details here).

Levy, Stephen. Legal Project Management Field Guide: Five Tools for Busy Professionals. Seattle, WA: DayPack Books, 2014 (book details here).

Parsons, Matthew. Effective Knowledge Management for Law Firms. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004 (book details here).

Raridon Lambreth, Susan & Michael Walker. Project Management for Lawyers, [annual]. New York, NY: Practising Law Institute, 2017 (details here).

Rusanow, Gretta. Knowledge Management and the Smarter Lawyer. New York: ALM Publishing, 2003 (details here).

Susskind, Richard. The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services. London: Oxford University Press, 2008 (details here).

Susskind, Richard. Tomorrow's Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future, 3rd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 2023 (details here).

Weinberger, David. Everything is Miscellaneous. New York: Holt, 2008 (book details here).

Selected recent articles (most recent first)

Priti Saraswat, “Coded in Bias in AI: Identifying and Addressing Challenges in Legal Knowledge Management: How Law Librarians Can Shape Fairer AI Systems” (July/August 2025) 29 AALL Spectrum 15.

Vera Krmpot et al, “Knowledge Management in the New Knowledge Economy” (Dec 2024)14 Int J Econ Law 61.

Editors, “Nurturing Success: The Crucial Role of Knowledge Management in Law Firms” (March 2024) 167 Sol Jl 44.

Guy Adams. “Has Knowledge Management’s Moment Finally Arrived?” (March 2023) 42:3 Legal Mgmt 29.

Phil Mullen, “Knowledge Management—Is That All There Is?” (2023) 31Aust Law Libr 24.

Sue Ann Yap,“The Search for Perfection: The Journey of Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Management” (2022) 30 Aust Law Libr 15.

Editors, “Document Automation & Knowledge Management” (May/June 2022) 26 AALL Spectrum 7.

Erin Breteton, “Maximizing Your Knowledge Management Reserves” (Jan 2022) 41 Legal Mgmt 16.

Virginia Ginnane, “Empowering Innovation in Legal Knowledge Management, Now and in the Future” (2021) 29:4 Aust Law Libr 329.

Richard Tomlinson, “Selecting and Implementing Knowledge Management Technology in Law Firms” (Dec 2020) 20:4 Leg Inf Manag 199.

Selected conferences papers by me on knowledge management

Ted Tjaden, "Project Management in Law Firms: A New Role for Librarians?" (May 2011)

Ted Tjaden,"The Evolution of Law-Related Knowledge Management in North America – Opportunities for Law Librarians" (May 2010)

Ted Tjaden,"The 7 Faces of Legal Knowledge Management" (November 2009)

Ted Tjaden,"Effective Litigation Knowledge Management" (November 2008)

Ted Tjaden,"Moving Beyond Technology: Assessing Your Firm’s Focus on a KM Culture" (May 2007)

Ted Tjaden,"Innovator, Fool, I Dream: Deploying Effective Knowledge Management Principles to Combat Information Overload in Law Firms" (April 2007)

There are also a number of good blogs relating to legal knowledge management:

3 Geeks and a Law Blog
Above and Beyond KM
Adam Smith, Esq
AvoidAClaim.com (Ontario LawPro)
Dennis Kennedy Blog
International Legal Technology Association: ILTA Blogs
LawSites