MBA Servicing & Technology Conference: New Uses of Technology - Outside Counsel As A Source For Legal Data And As A Free 24/7 Training Resource
(Blogging from or about the MBA Servicing & Technology Conference . . . .) (Day One blog) (Day Two blog)
On the first day of the conference, I had the pleasure of being on a panel with Bill Frazer (CBRE Capital Markets), Steven Bean (Situs Realty Services, Inc) and Catherine Rodewald (Prudential Mortgage Capital Company). Each is a leader and expert in uses of technology in servicing commercial mortgage loans.
The topic of the presentation was "Using Technology to Improve the Servicing Process." The panel was charged with (1) focusing on what’s currently working and what has revolutionized servicing and (2) addressing the changes technology has brought to the servicing sector, with a look at the technology tools that can have a dramatic impact on every step of the commercial loan servicing business for all levels of servicing - including dealing with distressed loans in special servicing.
And I was on the panel.
- What was a lawyer doing on the panel?
- How can lawyers use technology to improve the servicing process?
This topic, and variations of this question, have been a quest of mine for almost ten years. (And yes: 99% of the time I've more closely resembled Don Quixote than Steven Jobs.)
The answers to these questions are very simple:
- Lawyers need to deliver work product using the same technology tools utilized by the client
- My role on the panel was to give this startling message to the audience, and to "show" them one of the technology tools as an example
But first, here's some important back ground on the "need" for information (even legal knowledge)as data, and the role of lawyers as "producers" and conveyors of legal knowledge as data:
- Joseph Rubin with E&Y published a white paper (@ 6 years ago) on the impact of technology on operational efficiency and profitability in the commercial mortgage finance industry. The paper shows how better uses of technology will solve "points of pain" in loan origination\underwriting, closing and securitization. (Comment: it is no major leap to include dealing with distressed debt in this list). The paper is fantastic.
- The Mortgage Bankers Ass'n jumped all over these concepts and formed the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, which is tasked with creating "data standards" that will allow companies to seamlessly communicate or transfer data from one company to another (as "trading" partners). The members of MISMO are a "who's who" in the mortgage lending industry.
- Like Joseph Rubin, legal and technology thought leaders (such as Richard Susskind and Mark Chandler) all point to the changes that technology will bring to the delivery of legal services to clients
- Social networking tools (like this blog and our website where we give clients access to our papers and speeches on distressed investments) now allow lawyers to share knowledge - at no charge to clients (for free access to those materials, look at the "client resources" tab at the top of this page)
- Collaboration tools (such as Microsoft SharePoint, Realworkspaces and other "deal" or document "rooms") give the business community and their lawyers the ability to easily work together (if you are a lawyer, I highly recommend this book: The Lawyers Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technology)
- All of this supports the movement toward greater transparency, which I've blogged about in the past - including a blog on the proposed SEC rule for CMBS lending ("private is the new public")
Now, back to the reason to include a lawyer on a panel with technology experts (and leaders in companies built on sophisticated technology tools) like Bill, Steven and Catherine.
My presentation to the @ 100 people in the audience was very simple:
- Lawyers should be expected to use technology to generate legal knowledge as data - as a new legal deliverable. We're doing this right now for a large special asset group, where we collect status reporting on foreclosures and related litigation from outside legal counsel located across the nation. Our learning curve has been steep, but we're (finally) focusing on reporting functionality that has only a few "clicks" in it, together with a subscription service feature.
- Lawyers should be expected to use technology as a helpful training and knowledge sharing tool. Over and over again, General Counsel asks outside counsel for information - and at no cost. There are numerous technology tools for this knowledge sharing.
I'm very, very excited to see "how" all of this plays out.
Lawyers can face these changes with ignorance and fear; or jump in the fray and explore ways to use them in the same way as clients use them.
If you have you own story, please post it below.
