| August 27, 1999 | 03 00050 61 99082701 |
Mr. David Buoncristiani, Esq.
dbuoncristiani@thelenreid.com
Thelen, Reid & Priest LLP
2 Embarcaderro Center, 21st Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
| Subject: | Communication Metrics |
Dear Dave,
Can Communication Metrics support goals to expand service to your clients reported in the August issue of the Thelen Reid Register?
On May 27, Morris Jones, suggested Communication Metrics should be used for legal work, rather than helping engineers, because lawyers do a lot of writing, and engineers don't like to write. You met Morris at the Asilomar Conference in July 1996, when he spoke representing Chips and Technologies, which has since merged with Intel. At that time, there was consideration of presenting a paper on Dialog, Documents and Human Memory, a Legal Perspective, which explains technology can support management to avoid mistakes that lead to loss, conflict and litigation.
You and I have discussed using this capability in the business community; however, cultural resistance has not been solved. Another path to add intelligence to management is through the law. Indeed, as things stand, the law is the only source of "intelligence" in management, as explained in the New World Order... paper. Somewhere, I read, heard at a seminar, or maybe you made the point that CPM became accepted because of legal rulings that it provides strong evidence of causation. Alignment in SDS provides similar evidentiary weight by showing chronologies of events, including dialog and documents. Denis Henmi, whose firm is on the design team for the Moscone Convention Center Expansion III project, said today that Communication Metrics needs to be specified, like CPM, because otherwise design professionals and contractors won't use it to save money.
This background indicates Communication Metrics may fit your firm's interest in expanding service to clients. One application would be construction practice; however, any field of law should benefit from better management of details. Another advantage is using web mail for clear, concise, complete communication, which we discussed on Apr 19. This saves money, as well as improves service, by reducing copying, fax and handling documents.
How can this capability be applied to strengthen Thelen Reid & Priest? The proposal to the National Science Foundation provides a research incentive to discover how technology can expand legal service. Experience over the past 15 shows this method would bring an advantage for your firm and its clients.
Sincerely,
THE WELCH COMPANY
Rod Welch
rowelch@ibm.net