Man drawing plan on the virtual screen.

My law school experience revolved around the concepts of critical thinking, black letter law and learning how to navigate procedure. While these are all very important to master and at the heart of what attorneys are tasked to accomplish, once I entered the workforce I quickly realized that I was not prepared with the necessary training relating to the technological and operational side of legal practice.

The transformative properties of new technology have altered the way today's attorneys handle day-to-day operations and created new demand for alternative skills. However, many attorneys still graduate from law school without learning the skills now needed to perform the operational functions of their job.

The response has been for law firms to develop new positions within their structure to make up for the operational experience gap. Positions like 'legal project manager,' 'knowledge management specialist,' 'pricing analyst' and 'data analyst' are becoming commonplace and all help to support attorneys as they navigate day-to-day operations. These positions (and others like them) will continue to play a big role in the industry, but some basic technological knowledge and operational preparation at the law school level would facilitate an easier transition for new attorneys.

Law schools would do well to include some basic teaching of database management, knowledge management, data analytics and project management into their curriculum to better prepare future attorneys for the technological and operational side of the business.

Database Management: Big data, in particular, is transforming almost every industry. A fundamental understanding of how software systems help to locate, collect and offer access to data would be very beneficial to attorneys who are just beginning their careers. Data management is critically important to an effectively run desk because it creates efficiency through the automation of billing activities, organization of client matters (contact information, tasks and vital deadlines) and streamlined procedure for legal research. Having more knowledge of data management can also help attorneys handle communications with clientele. The various software systems provide clientele instant access to their information or answers to their questions.

Knowledge Management: This is the idea of having immediate and useful access to the knowledge, data and technology that law firms have at their disposal. A class focusing on the thought methodologies behind knowledge management and the accompanying technology would really help a young attorney conceptualize the process prior to their first case strategy session or due diligence project.

Data Analytics: Harnessing actionable insights has allowed attorneys to improve client acquisition and retention, efficiency of case law study and, of course, enhance the e-discovery process. Creating a curriculum with options to study some of the basics of predictive analysis, mining data sets or just generally how technology is synthesizing information relevant to the industry would allow law schools to separate themselves from the pack.

Project Management: Whether it is waterfall, agile or a hybrid methodology, project management is part of the operational fabric of the new age law firm and law schools should begin to introduce these methodologies into the classroom. New positions like legal project managers are helping to bridge the gap across the various departments including IT, knowledge management and finance, among others. Today's attorneys must have the ability to identify scope, plan, budget and execute, in a short period of time. Those with proper project management training will allow themselves to become more proactive, efficient and creative.

Aside from curriculum, how can law schools encourage and expose students to the operational side of law? Implementing 'think tanks' and 'innovation hubs' or other extracurricular activities (maybe simulation groups in the style of a moot court or practice area societies) where students are given the opportunity to explore the various technologies and methodologies that will be framing their operational duties, would be a valuable use of resources. A lot of conversations involving technology, data analytics and artificial intelligence are focused exclusively around litigation and/or e-discovery, but these concepts are all intertwined and can be applied to any practice area (and if they haven't, they will be in the next five years). It would be easy to envision a high adoption rate of extracurricular programs because they would benefit everyone.

As in any profession, the real-world experience and effort to apply what is learned in school often comes as a shock to the system. Becoming a successful attorney does not rely solely on simply learning the letter of the law. The increasingly fast-paced nature of the industry, the changing dynamics of client interaction (and their demands for speed/efficiency/cost saving methods) and the ability to have massive amounts of data at your fingertips has created the need for technologically and operationally savvy attorneys.

The legal industry is notorious for lagging behind corporate America in the adoption of technology, but that tide has turned, and law schools have the first and best opportunity to expose attorneys to the cross-functional world that lies ahead.

Nicholas Grimm is the Director of Special Counsel's SCI Legal Technology division.