Ideal Case Management Implementation

Legal case management software is a valuable tool that law firms use to efficiently manage legal cases. However, while the application provides attorneys with a convenient method of effectively managing client and case information, there is a clear disconnect in many law firms that occurs at the point of implementation.

A great illustration of this disconnect is the data from the 2004-2005 American Bar Association Legal Technology Survey. It found that while 41% of respondents reported having case management software available, only 18% personally use it. (Editor's Note: See our exclusive Special Report on the ABA Tech Survey inside the January 2006 issue of Legal Tech, available to online subscribers at www.lawjournalnewsletters.com/pub/ljn_legaltech/23_10/pdf/145854-1.html.)

The fact that legal case management software implementation can run into difficulties should not serve as an indictment of the technology. Instead, the way a firm goes about implementing the solution deserves attention. Firms that choose to trudge forward without the necessary planning and leadership are destined to end up with case management systems that fail to provide any substantial return on their technology investment.

A Helpful Technology Tool

With applications such as centralized calendaring, contact management, task management, document assembly, and electronic access to case data normally held in paper files, a successful implementation of a case-management system will potentially increase the profitability of a law firm, improve client reporting and decrease the level of stress an attorney endures during the process of managing a case. It enables staff and attorneys to share information thereby helping prevent duplicate data entry.

Additionally, many programs link with personal digital assistants (PDAs) so that calendars and schedules are always handy and up to date. Some case management packages are Web-based, with more on the way, allowing anytime access to all features.

Many types of legal case management software systems are in the market, ranging from off-the-shelf to highly customizable products. For the purposes of this overview, we will focus on those situations in which a higher-end product would be needed for a large firm or a specific practice area.

A great example is Hays, McConn, Rice & Pickering, P.C., a Houston-based law firm of 42 attorneys and a total of 110 employees. The firm specializes in many areas of general civil litigation. Due to the high volume and well-defined work processes, the firm's toxic-tort practice area was identified as an ideal practice area to automate.

Three critical ingredients to a successful implementation of legal case management include: top management support, project planning and the modification of work flow process.

Support of Top Management

The very act of introducing case management to a law firm affects how people work. Therefore, case management implementation is significantly more likely to be successful if the initiative is supported and championed by a key partner.

'Top-management buy-in was the key to the successful implementation of case management for the toxic-tort practice area.' says Brandi Kendziora, Hays, McConn, Rice & Pickering, P.C., who has been a leader in integrating case management into their processes. 'Employee cooperation increased dramatically once the management committee stood behind the decision to implement case management.'

If management is not pushing the change then the staff will not use the software and will continue to use their tried and true methods for getting their work done. Specific steps to take include:

• Informing everyone affected by the new system of the goals;
• Getting all members of the management committee on the same page and building consensus for the decisions that are made. There will be pushback from this type of change and unless management enforces the new policies the entire project will fail; and
• Engaging top management to be the champions of the project. They must understand the goals and be able to sell the rest of the firm or practice area on the ideas.

This top-down approach sets the tone throughout the organization. Recognizing that a central goal of a non-billing staff member is to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible, it's not surprising that many resist case management implementation. After all, learning a new system or way of working slows down their work in the short term. They might not consider the long-term benefits.

A case management implementation will face significant obstacles if the law firm expects the non-billing staff members to embrace change without encouragement. Therefore, if the attorney they work for does not share the firm's long-term goal for case management, the staff members will continue to do their job the old way.

Planning

As Ross Kodner stated in Case Management Systems: Practical Tips for Implementation Success: 'Failing to plan is like failing to prepare for trial ' walking in the day of trial without knowing the facts, without having any witnesses, with no questions to ask and never having met your client. A total disaster.'

It is critical that the firm plan well in advance of actually purchasing and installing a specific piece of software. Planning typically focuses on the following major categories:

• Defining the goals for the project;
• Establishing the project team and setting clear assignments; and
• Creating a training curriculum for everyone in the firm.

Since law firms do not specialize in the implementation of case management software, it is recommended that a professional consultant be retained to help in the planning, purchase and implementation process. A consultant will help keep the law firm on track and focused on the goals of the project.

One of the first decisions that must be made is to determine the goal of the project. Ultimately, the goal for most firms is to increase profitability. However, this is typically not the driving force behind such a major change.

That driving force usually is the client.

Many law firms are being strongly encouraged to provide their clients more information about their cases in a shorter time period. In fact, some corporations are requiring that law firms use case management software before they will retain that law firm's services.

Are the goals to improve productivity, client reporting or just improve data management on the cases? Whatever the reason for this need for case management the goals must be documented.

Next, assemble a team of firm employees to manage the project. An appropriate cross-section of the firm should be involved in planning the implementation of a legal case management system.

Likewise, the team assembled to work with the technology consultant should include people from a mix of disciplines within the firm. This group might include a partner, associate, legal assistant, legal secretary, firm administrator, and technology manager. Each of these people brings a different perspective to the table and it is important to consider their needs or concerns.

'Our firm assembled a team that included a partner, associate, legal assistant, internal technical support and an outside consultant,' says Kendziora. 'It was very helpful to hear the perspectives of each of these individuals. This process insured that the new system would benefit everyone using it.'

Training is another important element that needs to be included in the plan. Before the software is installed and implemented it is important to train the project team. Once the project team understands how the software works, they can make better decisions regarding the customization the software to fit specific practice areas.

Work Flow Process Review

The last critical step in implementing a case management system is reviewing the workflow process of the practice area. Of course, changing the way lawyers work is always a touchy subject.

Regardless, reviewing the firm's workflow process is an opportunity to examine and, if necessary, update firm policies and procedures. The last thing you'll want to do is automate your firm's dysfunctional manual case management system. Doing so will simply lead to more problems.

Modifying a business practice will benefit the law firm whether or not they ever implement a case management system. Specific steps include:

• Documenting the 'flow' of the practice. Identify what steps are followed administratively through the life of a matter;
• Deciding how to streamline the practice's procedures. This step provides the opportunity to eliminate unnecessary or duplicative processes; and
• Implementing the newly streamlined procedures. The new procedures should be tested using the firm's existing applications or
  software before carrying that process over to a new system.

'The long-term effect of reviewing and modifying the workflow process of a practice area can be significant,' says Kendziora. 'I'm convinced that with or without case management, this step would have improved the efficiency of the entire practice area.'

The future of case management lies in continued integration with other critical applications ' legal or otherwise. As case management software continues to develop, there will be more demand for integration with applications such as legal accounting software and Microsoft Outlook. Tighter integration with these types of applications will make case management even more appealing to law firms.

There will also be increased interest in sharing case management databases either with co-counsel on a case or with the client. This type of collaboration will cut down on many client-related expenses such as reproduction of documents.

Implementing a case management system can be a daunting undertaking but ultimately it can save a law firm a lot of money by increasing the productivity of the attorneys and staff. Proper planning for the implementation project will insure a higher level of success in the short-term and long-term. Case Management will become more popular as the products become more robust. More law firms will begin to use some type of case management software even if it is for the most basic tasks in their practice.

Legal case management software is a valuable tool that law firms use to efficiently manage legal cases. However, while the application provides attorneys with a convenient method of effectively managing client and case information, there is a clear disconnect in many law firms that occurs at the point of implementation.

A great illustration of this disconnect is the data from the 2004-2005 American Bar Association Legal Technology Survey. It found that while 41% of respondents reported having case management software available, only 18% personally use it. (Editor's Note: See our exclusive Special Report on the ABA Tech Survey inside the January 2006 issue of Legal Tech, available to online subscribers at www.lawjournalnewsletters.com/pub/ljn_legaltech/23_10/pdf/145854-1.html.)

The fact that legal case management software implementation can run into difficulties should not serve as an indictment of the technology. Instead, the way a firm goes about implementing the solution deserves attention. Firms that choose to trudge forward without the necessary planning and leadership are destined to end up with case management systems that fail to provide any substantial return on their technology investment.

A Helpful Technology Tool

With applications such as centralized calendaring, contact management, task management, document assembly, and electronic access to case data normally held in paper files, a successful implementation of a case-management system will potentially increase the profitability of a law firm, improve client reporting and decrease the level of stress an attorney endures during the process of managing a case. It enables staff and attorneys to share information thereby helping prevent duplicate data entry.

Additionally, many programs link with personal digital assistants (PDAs) so that calendars and schedules are always handy and up to date. Some case management packages are Web-based, with more on the way, allowing anytime access to all features.

Many types of legal case management software systems are in the market, ranging from off-the-shelf to highly customizable products. For the purposes of this overview, we will focus on those situations in which a higher-end product would be needed for a large firm or a specific practice area.

A great example is Hays, McConn, Rice & Pickering, P.C., a Houston-based law firm of 42 attorneys and a total of 110 employees. The firm specializes in many areas of general civil litigation. Due to the high volume and well-defined work processes, the firm's toxic-tort practice area was identified as an ideal practice area to automate.

Three critical ingredients to a successful implementation of legal case management include: top management support, project planning and the modification of work flow process.

Support of Top Management

The very act of introducing case management to a law firm affects how people work. Therefore, case management implementation is significantly more likely to be successful if the initiative is supported and championed by a key partner.

'Top-management buy-in was the key to the successful implementation of case management for the toxic-tort practice area.' says Brandi Kendziora, Hays, McConn, Rice & Pickering, P.C., who has been a leader in integrating case management into their processes. 'Employee cooperation increased dramatically once the management committee stood behind the decision to implement case management.'

If management is not pushing the change then the staff will not use the software and will continue to use their tried and true methods for getting their work done. Specific steps to take include:

• Informing everyone affected by the new system of the goals;
• Getting all members of the management committee on the same page and building consensus for the decisions that are made. There will be pushback from this type of change and unless management enforces the new policies the entire project will fail; and
• Engaging top management to be the champions of the project. They must understand the goals and be able to sell the rest of the firm or practice area on the ideas.

This top-down approach sets the tone throughout the organization. Recognizing that a central goal of a non-billing staff member is to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible, it's not surprising that many resist case management implementation. After all, learning a new system or way of working slows down their work in the short term. They might not consider the long-term benefits.

A case management implementation will face significant obstacles if the law firm expects the non-billing staff members to embrace change without encouragement. Therefore, if the attorney they work for does not share the firm's long-term goal for case management, the staff members will continue to do their job the old way.

Planning

As Ross Kodner stated in Case Management Systems: Practical Tips for Implementation Success: 'Failing to plan is like failing to prepare for trial ' walking in the day of trial without knowing the facts, without having any witnesses, with no questions to ask and never having met your client. A total disaster.'

It is critical that the firm plan well in advance of actually purchasing and installing a specific piece of software. Planning typically focuses on the following major categories:

• Defining the goals for the project;
• Establishing the project team and setting clear assignments; and
• Creating a training curriculum for everyone in the firm.

Since law firms do not specialize in the implementation of case management software, it is recommended that a professional consultant be retained to help in the planning, purchase and implementation process. A consultant will help keep the law firm on track and focused on the goals of the project.

One of the first decisions that must be made is to determine the goal of the project. Ultimately, the goal for most firms is to increase profitability. However, this is typically not the driving force behind such a major change.

That driving force usually is the client.

Many law firms are being strongly encouraged to provide their clients more information about their cases in a shorter time period. In fact, some corporations are requiring that law firms use case management software before they will retain that law firm's services.

Are the goals to improve productivity, client reporting or just improve data management on the cases? Whatever the reason for this need for case management the goals must be documented.

Next, assemble a team of firm employees to manage the project. An appropriate cross-section of the firm should be involved in planning the implementation of a legal case management system.

Likewise, the team assembled to work with the technology consultant should include people from a mix of disciplines within the firm. This group might include a partner, associate, legal assistant, legal secretary, firm administrator, and technology manager. Each of these people brings a different perspective to the table and it is important to consider their needs or concerns.

'Our firm assembled a team that included a partner, associate, legal assistant, internal technical support and an outside consultant,' says Kendziora. 'It was very helpful to hear the perspectives of each of these individuals. This process insured that the new system would benefit everyone using it.'

Training is another important element that needs to be included in the plan. Before the software is installed and implemented it is important to train the project team. Once the project team understands how the software works, they can make better decisions regarding the customization the software to fit specific practice areas.

Work Flow Process Review

The last critical step in implementing a case management system is reviewing the workflow process of the practice area. Of course, changing the way lawyers work is always a touchy subject.

Regardless, reviewing the firm's workflow process is an opportunity to examine and, if necessary, update firm policies and procedures. The last thing you'll want to do is automate your firm's dysfunctional manual case management system. Doing so will simply lead to more problems.

Modifying a business practice will benefit the law firm whether or not they ever implement a case management system. Specific steps include:

• Documenting the 'flow' of the practice. Identify what steps are followed administratively through the life of a matter;
• Deciding how to streamline the practice's procedures. This step provides the opportunity to eliminate unnecessary or duplicative processes; and
• Implementing the newly streamlined procedures. The new procedures should be tested using the firm's existing applications or
  software before carrying that process over to a new system.

'The long-term effect of reviewing and modifying the workflow process of a practice area can be significant,' says Kendziora. 'I'm convinced that with or without case management, this step would have improved the efficiency of the entire practice area.'

The future of case management lies in continued integration with other critical applications ' legal or otherwise. As case management software continues to develop, there will be more demand for integration with applications such as legal accounting software and Microsoft Outlook. Tighter integration with these types of applications will make case management even more appealing to law firms.

There will also be increased interest in sharing case management databases either with co-counsel on a case or with the client. This type of collaboration will cut down on many client-related expenses such as reproduction of documents.

Implementing a case management system can be a daunting undertaking but ultimately it can save a law firm a lot of money by increasing the productivity of the attorneys and staff. Proper planning for the implementation project will insure a higher level of success in the short-term and long-term. Case Management will become more popular as the products become more robust. More law firms will begin to use some type of case management software even if it is for the most basic tasks in their practice.