BigHand have announced that legal Top 200 client Coffin Mew LLP has streamlined working practices and experienced immediate return-on-investment following a formal efficiency assessment led by BigHand. Coffin Mew initially implemented the BigHand Digital Dictation system back in 2006 as a replacement for standalone equipment, but two years later Coffin Mew decided it was not fully exploiting the powerful workflow and service-orientated features of the award-winning BigHand3 system. The firm felt further leveraging of the sophisticated reengineering capabilities of the BigHand engine would enable them to more effectively withstand toughening economic conditions.

Sue Bowler, Partner at Coffin Mew LLP worked closely with a senior BigHand Consultant to conduct the review, and commented:

‘’Law firms are consistently reporting impressive return on investment as a result of installing BigHand software.  I was concerned that we hadn’t been ambitious enough with our workflow following the initial move over to the BigHand system, and that Coffin Mew hadn’t fully realised the scale of ROI that others have reported.  We therefore commissioned a BigHand Consultant to come in and undertake a comprehensive review of our BigHand working practices and workflow structure, in conjunction with the firm itself carrying out an internal review of all working practices in order to ensure the optimisation of the high level of investment in IT.

Following the review, BigHand made a number of practical recommendations which would enable us to simply and immediately increase efficiency. Those recommendations have now been implemented across the firm with enormous success; we now have the structure in place to ensure that we achieve the ROI that we wish to see. I am delighted with the results, and thoroughly recommend – particularly in the current climate - that other firms work with BigHand to analyse their system set-up and working practices to ensure they are maximising their return on investment.’’

The review undertaken with Coffin Mew LLP was based on the culminated experiences of over 620 law firms now using BigHand software, and followed a succession of firms reporting cost savings via BigHand over the last 12 months. Those examples have included:

· UK Legal aid firm Venters Solicitors saved £50,000 in only 12 months after installing the BigHand digital dictation system, savings that equate to over £3,000 per fee-earner, per year, at the firm.

· US firm Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin realised a reduction in document turnaround times of 300%, plus an estimated annual saving in administrative expenses of $1500 per attorney.

· Top 200 UK firm Bermans made savings by being able to recruit more lawyers without increasing the firm’s pool of secretaries, as well as having removed all document production backlogs.

· UK Legal Aid and Legal 500 firm Glaisyers increased its fee earning capacity with zero growth in its support team. The firm is forecasting further fee earner growth for 2008, without an increase in support.

· UK Legal 500 firm Shulmans has increased its work share culture and thereby facilitated an improvement in the fee earner to secretary ratio; recently the firm was able to absorb the loss of a secretary entering retirement, without replacing her.

South coast law firm, Moore Blatch Resolve, has selected Eclipse’s Proclaim case management software to help manage growing caseloads following its business restructure.

This year has seen Moore Blatch Solicitors create two separate limited liability partnerships; Moore Blatch Resolve LLP, which incorporates its highly successful Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence practice; and Moore Blatch LLP, which encompasses the firm’s professional services.

Moore Blatch Resolve now boasts the largest team of its type in the south-east region, and as a result selected Eclipse’s Proclaim software solution to manage its growing caseload. The firm selected Proclaim for an initial tranche of 60 users, and is also implementing the Proclaim Accounts system to provide an integrated Practice Management toolset.

Also one of the leading law firms in the Midlands, Harvey Ingram, has selected Eclipse’s Proclaim case management software solution for its Personal Injury team.

Harvey Ingram is ranked in the Top 150 of UK law firms, and provides a complete legal services portfolio for both commercial and private clients.

The practice has an expanding team of Personal Injury lawyers, dealing with all aspects of negligence and accident claims. Over 1,200 clients are represented at any one time, and the firm obtains more than £10million in compensation each year.

Expanding caseloads at Harvey Ingram necessitated the search for a suitable software platform, capable of high levels of automation in progressing claims. Eclipse’s market-leading Proclaim software solution was selected and will provide a complete case management solution for the PI department, providing data and document management, process workflow, task management and MI reporting.

Lawyers and secretaries at Dechert LLP use DocXtools to reduce document corruption and avoid 11th hour document crises.

Dechert and Microsystems jointly configured a DocXtools “Traffic Signal” for the firm’s end users that helps them avoid “11^th hour” document emergencies. Dechert rolled out the DocXtools “Traffic Signal” firm-wide to its lawyers, paralegals and secretaries.

“It is extremely beneficial for a user to be able to proactively check the health of a document and be directed  to the proper next step well in advance of a client or filing deadline,” said Gloria Webber, Development Engineer. “It puts our lawyers, secretaries and support staff at ease knowing that there is a quick document quality check that they can do. Since we deployed the ‘Traffic Signal throughout Dechert, our Word Processing and Help Desk groups are out ahead of document issues and their end users’ needs.”

“With the ‘Traffic Signal’ on their desktops, our lawyers can be confident that any problems will be caught and fixed early, no matter how many people are working on a document,” said Michael Shannon, Chief Information Officer for Dechert.

Dechert’s deployment and usage of the DocXtools “Traffic Signal” has reduced the number of document emergencies escalated to its support groups.

LexisNexis have announced that Bindmans LLP, a top ranking UK legal firm, has chosen to migrate to Axxia dna, a fully integrated and seamless practice management solution with document management, case management, reporting and business process workflow capabilities.

Bindmans, whose 14 practice areas are nationally recognised for being at the cutting-edge of legal developments, has selected Axxia dna over all other competing products, for its practical functionality, proven technology and ease of use.

Axxia dna will streamline workflow and business processes at Bindmans to deliver operational efficiencies across the firm, and an enhanced service to its clients. The solution encapsulates all the critical components - right from time recording and billing, through to knowledge management and resource planning - required for effective and efficient practice management. It will be used by all 110 staff across the firm's business functions including finance, marketing, human resources and the legal client teams.

Kambiz Jahanshahi, IT Manager at Bindmans LLP, commented, "When we were informed that our existing AIM practice management software was being discontinued, we investigated the market for a single integrated solution. Compared to all the other similar solutions, dna instantly ticked all the boxes - for fee-earners, secretarial staff and the finance team alike. It has been very well designed to enhance productivity in the legal business environment. We will be able to use all of the functionality and features offered by the solution."

Intended users of the solution including fee-earners, personal assistants, administrators and finance teams have been particularly impressed by the statistical and reporting features offered by Axxia dna. For example, fee-earners will be able to map their progress towards business and client targets; and the reporting options will automate and reduce the time it takes fee-earners, personal assistants and finance teams to produce accurate billing.