Glad to post this new article from Bill Simon:
Download Simon Quality Movement
Abstract: The “Quality Movement” that originated in industrial production and has since influenced the professions prescribes standardized work, root cause analysis of errors, peer review, and performance measurement. While these reforms have transformed medicine and some other professions, their influence has lagged in the legal profession. This Essay reviews the limited progress of the reforms in law and assesses the cultural, institutional, and doctrinal obstacles they face.
Conclusion: "Despite some notable initiatives and the increasing use of quality rhetoric, the bar has lagged in the embrace of the quality reforms that have transformed other professions. The inhibitions on reform protect clients and lawyers from the dangers that reform might compromise client interests or lawyer morale, but they also preclude the benign potential of reform, including the fostering of service that is more reflective, adaptive, and transparent to clients."