Will This Big Law Firm’s ‘Innovation’ Strategy Have Legs?

It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot: innovation.

In the legal industry, its use is often followed by a fair degree of skepticism. As Matthew Fawcett, general counsel of NetApp, told me last week: “I can’t see anything interesting developmentally that’s happening out there.”

With sarcasm, he recalled how more than 15 years ago law firms launched Y2K practices in hopes to land business, noting that he didn’t necessarily blame them for trying.

“I feel that world is almost remote to me,” said Fawcett, of law firms’ business innovations, having spent the past six years at the helm of a Fortune ...