Not being the sexiest of topics, Clifford Chance's (CC) publication last week of a white paper on 'continuous improvement in the legal sector' probably escaped most people's notice. 

But before you switch off completely, it is worth considering that the magic circle firm's five-year efficiency drive has cut client bills or the amount CC writes off by 15% – more in some cases. The paper, which summarises what CC has learned over the course of the programme, also claims the firm has sped up some projects and processes by 50%. These are the kind of numbers that grab the attention of cash-strapped clients.

Of course, many firms have been looking at how they can be smarter about resource allocation in more straitened times. Addleshaw Goddard, for example, has put a lot of effort into mapping out the processes it uses in various types of work, clearly defining its lawyers' responsibilities throughout the course of a deal and making it easier for clients to monitor progress. Another advantage for the firm and its clients is that it can more accurately predict the final bill at the outset.

This is not about commoditising legal work, nor about producing a cookie-cutter model for everything that lands on a lawyer's desk. Instead, the common thread in these initiatives is trying to squeeze more from existing resources. And with the large pools of juniors accounting for a hefty proportion of law firm costs, the proper management of associate ranks is an essential component.

It is certainly an area that CC is trying to improve further, as was seen with the recent hiring of several resource managers to help allocate workloads in busy practice areas. With partners often reaching for the security blanket of using the same associates again and again, it is not easy to make sure that junior lawyers' workloads are spread evenly and that everyone is getting broad exposure and experience.

As our feature looking at the lead associates on 2013′s biggest deals shows, being assigned a role on a high-profile transaction can be career-shaping. Not only does it help raise junior lawyers' internal profile and give them experience of new legal concepts, it also introduces up-and-coming associates to important clients at critical points in their companies' development. It is this kind of thing that kindles the long-term relationships essential to a law firm's succession planning. 

So while discussions about 'internal processes and procedures' may sound deadly dull and seem a long way from the pizazz of working on deals or high-stakes litigation, this is a debate to which everyone should pay close heed. The firms that get this right will be competitors to fear.