write access. If the case consists of numerous extensive files and many difficult legal issues, several participants can research in parallel and fill in the relational table. Since it is on SharePoint, all team members always see the entire content. Duplicate entries are immediately noticeable and can be corrected. Against this background, the use of the relational table on SharePoint is not simply a departure from analogue work. SharePoint is rather the entry ticket for an integrative teamwork in the legal profession. Only with the “relational table” on SharePoint does it become possible for several lawyers to work on the same case at the same time. The threat to involve “my lawyers” instead of mandating a lone fighter finally receives its foundation. With the relational table on SharePoint, the team can quickly and effectively process extensive facts and legal findings into briefs. It is obvious that this can be of decisive importance for achieving success in litigation. Can Agile help avoid mistakes in legal work? It is of essential importance for the programming of an IT system that in how to ensure that all aspects of the factual situation are adequately considered and all legal issues are fully researched in complex litigation. How can several team members work on the same case without producing patchwork? After some experimenting with tools from the IT world, we realised that for us the happy medium lies in a very traditional legal method, namely the “relational table”. During the traineeship, every German lawyer is introduced to the relational table and many keep using it when they later work in the judiciary or the legal profession. The facts and issues are prepared in a two-column table from the perspective of plaintiff and defendant and the solution is entered in a third column. The relational table becomes the basis for the design thinking process by placing it on SharePoint and giving all team members the professional groups involved. Scrum meetings are always conducted with all department members. They are led every month by a different member. This “acting editor” ensures that crosscutting topics, such as the expansion of knowledge management, do not get lost in the daily business. What else did you learn from IT-agile? Indeed, agile promises more: With the agile approach, the production process should also become faster, more efficient and cheaper. Our legal “product” consists of briefs and opinions, among other things. How can we move away from the lone fighter mentality and towards real teamwork? Design thinking with the “Design thinking” relational table was one of the methods that was introduced to us in the coaching sessions. All aspects of a complex factual situation should appear before the mind’s eye and be projected onto a graphical surface. This should make it clear to the team members what matters. We were also interested 84 LAWYER MONTHLY MARCH 2024 Agile is fun. Teamwork is fun. The agile work structure gives selfefficacy to every team member.
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