Law firms depend heavily on their computers but many have still not really grasped the advances they have brought. Far too many small and medium-sized firms still use theirs essentially as “typewriters with storage”. They produce documents and store copies, but the files are still on paper.

And yet computers can do so very much more. In tiny fractions of seconds they can find, process and insert data, keep records, and issue reports on what they have done, all with perfect accuracy. Quite simply, they make the human processing of many types of routine work look pointless, inefficient and wasteful.
 
Now, of course, this ability helps us more in some areas of practice than in others. Where cases are rarely the same twice, such as in complex litigation or major commercial property work, standardised workflows are seldom possible. I doubt that Fiona Shackleton or Anthony Julius would find software of much help in their current battle over the McCartney millions. But even if document production rarely follows the same pattern twice, there will always be the need for standardised procedures for such as conflict checking and money laundering, and the supervision and reminder setting facilities are always of enormous help.

But with conveyancing, for example, it is a very different matter, as it can be with debt collection, PI litigation, most routine family work and probate. With a workflow that can be defined precisely into steps, each of which requires a specific action such as a standard letter or form, computers really come into their own.

I will deal here with conveyancing as it is such a perfect candidate for this treatment. There are some ninety identifiable steps in a purchase and seventy or so in a sale and a program can deal with most of these in moments. Not every step will be needed in every matter but those that are not can simply be skipped.

The process can start with the quotation. The program will present you with a screen that prompts you to obtain all the necessary information on the transaction: Buyer and seller, prices, mortgage lenders and balances for redemption and the new advance, and so on. The system already knows where to go for searches, or will integrate with online companies such as SearchFlow or OneSearch, and it also knows the calculations for Stamp Duty and for your own fee structure (although this is easily altered case by case if you should wish). Once the necessary information is gathered a quotation is calculated instantly, giving two immediate benefits. The call handler can concentrate on winning the instruction rather than on the arithmetic and the matter details are saved ready to start work, complete with any variations that might have been agreed such as a non-standard fee. A printed quotation letter is automatic, although I always encourage (and train) fee earners to work towards an instruction before the call ends.

When a new matter is started there is only a little more to do. The details already captured are reviewed and added to as necessary and work begins immediately. I have watched a secretary do this and produce the first bundle of letters, all ready to mail, within ten minutes. And, of course, your quotation performance is all stored. With the reports it generates you can work on how to win more new instructions.

All client details are stored on the file or on the central accounts database as appropriate and files draw on whatever they need as matters progress. Fee earners of course have instant access to all accounting information.

We now can work through the matter. Each step is called up by a fee earner, reviewed, confirmed or skipped as appropriate, and completed. Many of these can easily be done by competent support staff, saving your fee earners’ skills for those steps that really need their expertise. All the original information is drawn by the system into whatever letter or form is being produced so that staff only need to activate the step, review and if necessary amend or add to the document, and move on. Documents are printed for sending and, of course, everything is safely filed in the system.

Each step has a time interval allocated to it. The default settings are fine most of the time but managers can change them if necessary, and in individual cases staff can amend them to fit. This brings a huge advantage. No file or action can ever be overlooked. Reminders will flag up overdue steps and these can be set to escalate on to managers. Someone suddenly away ill? No need to do anything; simply let the system remind you if it becomes necessary. Departmental heads will never again have anxiously to trawl through absent fee earners’ files, trying to ensure that nothing is nearing a deadline. Instead they can relax, simply dealing with it when the system tells them they need to.

The bottom line is that the tedious repetitive work is done for us, accurately and at very low cost, leaving fee earners to concentrate on the parts of the work that need their skill and judgement. Productivity shoots up and their time is used far more effectively.

There are further sophistications available as well. Clients and estate agents can access progress information with some systems using password-protected internet access to your system (an “extranet”) and emails and text messages can be sent out automatically, all of which reduce the endless phone calls that can so interfere with productivity. Features to assist with marketing may also be available, and an extranet can mean rapid and highly effective communication with regular referrers such as estate agents.

So, what do we get? The advantages are frankly enormous. Case management gives us:

Speed – Users report time saved per matter of between 30% and 40%. The production of standard letters and forms (which are integrated and automatically completed) is automatic and it takes moments to check, print and sign them, far less time than to have a secretary complete them one at a time, even from good precedents.

Accuracy – Supervisors know that the work is being done to a defined standard. Changes can be made easily and when done will apply immediately across the department. When required, the updating of forms is virtually automatic and a good software supplier will ensure that you are never using out of date versions.

Supervision – Departmental and Team Heads can easily look into the progress of any matter being run by any fee earner and reports will provide a complete overview. Delays and exceptions will flag up on their screens so that action can be taken before any damage is done and individual fee earner’s performance is easily and unobtrusively monitored. (Indeed, it never ceases to amaze me how little checking of fee earners’ work is actually done in most firms).

Proper Control over Workloads – Something that few firms do at all, let alone with any kind of a system, new instructions tend to be picked up randomly by fee earners, often due solely to past client relationships. As a result fee earners get overloaded, yet are reluctant to admit to what may be seen as weakness, while others may not be fully occupied. Besides, you hardly want an inexperienced paralegal taking on a complex, expensive purchase. With case management, all new matters can be reviewed and allocated by supervisors, who have access to complete current matter lists for every fee earner under them and so can make logical judgements as to who should take the work forward. Indeed, with the best systems this review can be made a requirement.

Risk Management – We are checked upon at every turn by auditors these days, whether they be Lexcel assessors, the Law Society Practice Standards people, or simply our own managers concerned about meeting indemnity insurance terms. Conveyancing gives rise to higher indemnity insurance claims costs than any other work type. In September 2006 some insurers were actually declining to quote at all where firms had more than 50% of their fee income from this work. To be able to demonstrate really good, tight control of the work done in this department may well become essential if cover at sensible cost is to be available. Good, tight but unobtrusive risk management is the holy grail of the practice of law today and is not at all easy to achieve. Fee earners can feel as though they are under a microscope and there is a heavy cost in terms of supervisors’ time, but case management provides everything you need and has a brilliant, failsafe element to it.

Reduced Cost – When such a system has settled in you will find, as users report, that matters are taking between 30% and 40% less fee earner time to complete and that support staff are handling many of the routine steps, leaving fee earners to concentrate on the parts that matter, including networking and the development of the department’s business. With document production so automated you could easily go down the route of reducing the ratio of support staff to fee earners but you will also find that competent secretaries become paralegals, processing many of the routine steps themselves and so freeing up fee earners. This all reduces cost so that you suddenly have options. With case management you can either handle current workloads at lower cost or you can be more aggressive with your pricing and thus win more instructions. Your break even point for each case will have fallen; how you use that is up to you. Few conveyancing departments are particularly profitable. Imagine being able to report with pride on your department’s results at the next partners’ meeting.

Backup – I still find firms that confidently tell me how they carefully put a backup tape in the safe every day. After a fire, with all paper files gone and a safe that has reached several hundred degrees, they will have nothing. But, if backups are taken proper care of you could be back in business in hours. We should all have a disaster plan (although few of us do). Replacement hardware can be obtained quickly and our entire accounting and case management systems could be back in action rapidly. Without case management and with your files in ashes you would face a nightmare. (Make sure also that you have backup copies of all your software discs and licenses somewhere safe)

Return on Investment – You will have spent around £1,000 per user setting up a decent case management system. This might equate to perhaps £7,000 for a medium-sized department with four fee earners. This department could easily be billing around £360,000 p.a. It is not difficult to see how, with the productivity gain of even only 25% you would see your investment recouped totally in a matter of weeks.

Conclusion – Is this what they call a “No Brainer”?

To get real value from our computer systems we have to begin to work them harder and to make better use of their abilities. Case management is just one way but I know, from experience, that it really does work. So form a small project team, let them see the demos, and use their views in making your selection; that way they will feel involved in the process from the start and will work hard to get it going. Then set aside a specific number of hours each week to work on training and setting up your workflows and avoid interruptions until it is done. You will be glad you did.

I will leave you with one last thought. Getting this installed and working does take some effort. You will want to tailor the documents to your own style and may easily want to make adjustments to standard workflows and time scales. But don’t be put off! The effort will prove to be worthwhile. Remember the time a few years ago now when you got your very first computer on your desk? Remember that slight feeling of fear, of doubt that you would ever know how to use it properly? How do you feel about it now? Could you imagine having to hand it back and manage without it? No, of course not, and in only a few weeks you could be feeling exactly the same about case management.