Survey of information and knowledge management in South African law firms

Abstract

Knowledge is one of the most important assets of a law firm; yet, traditionally, many have taken an ad hoc approach to managing this asset, resulting in work duplication, inconsistent work practices and loss of important organizational knowledge when lawyers leave or retire. This article focuses on what the concept of information and knowledge management (KM) in a law firm entails and what the current information and KM trends in South African law firms are. It also reports the results of an empirical, explorative study identifying the extent as well as some barriers and concerns with regard to the utilization of KM systems and related IT applications in South African law firms. (Original abstract)