As argued by Litchfield et al. (2021), knowledge workers invest heavily in developing their human capital for work in the form of knowledge in addition to skills and abilities. This demands engagement and creativity, which in turn encourages lawyers to define themselves through their work. Knowledge represents the fuel that feeds the engine of creative idea generation (Mannucci and Yong, 2018).

Knowledge is often defined as information combined with interpretation (understanding), reflection (thinking), and context (situation). Knowledge is a reducer of uncertainty and complexity or relation to predict and select actions (Mofokeng, 2021). Knowledge is a meaningful organization of information that expresses an evolving understanding of a subject and establishes a basis for judgment and the potential for action (Ntsoereng, 2021). In a hierarchy, data are at the bottom moving into information and knowledge, and finally to wisdom. Data are numbers and letters that do not make sense. Put into a reference that makes sense, data transform into information. Information refers to facts that can be understood, stored, and transferred (McIver et al., 2013). When information is combined as stated, then it becomes knowledge. Accumulation of knowledge over time in the form of learning becomes wisdom.

A simple example is the number 60 for a person. It might be the person’s weight or the person’s age. When it is determined that the person is 60 years old, then data is turned into information. Reflecting on the person’s age depending on gender, nationality, and other age-related factors, the person can be considered old or not so old. In some countries, the average life expectancy is below 60 years, while in other countries, the average life expectancy is above 60 years.

1. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF KNOWLEDGE WORK

McIver et al. (2013) distinguished four types of knowledge work practice based on underlying knowledge characteristics involved in doing the work. Knowledge work practice refers to the way in which work gets done and knowing how to do it. Knowledge work practices are the actions engaged in by lawyers as knowledge workers to accomplish the ongoing work of the firm for its clients. The four types of practice derive from the dimensions of tacitness and learnability.