Top 100 UK multi-disciplinary law firm Walker Morris is to swap out its in-house case management system for Lexis Visualfiles. Initially Visualfiles will be deployed in the firm’s mortgage repossession department, with a subsequent implementation to 100 users in the collections & recoveries and banking & finance litigation departments.
Rob Aberdein, a partner at Walker Morris, which has a staff of over 450 including 45 partners, gave an insight into the firm’s rationale and thinking behind the selection. “The great thing about Visualfiles is that it can be deployed in the business exactly as we want it to be,” he said. “At one end of the spectrum, it allows us the flexibility to develop new and innovative ways of working that will set us noticeably apart in the industry. At the other end, we can simply use the standard functionality for everyday operations such as time recording. With all of this, we can use the Visualfiles Robot technology to remove human interaction and automate processes to ensure that we are as efficient as possible; which is vital when managing large volume of transactions.”
He added: “Visualfiles is proven, but future-proof too. I have witnessed its journey over the years, and it has stood the test of time. It is as current today as it was when it first came to the market. The solution just doesn’t stand still. LexisNexis’ investment capability and commitment, combined with ongoing customer engagement, ensures that Visualfiles advances to meet the evolving needs of law firms. So, for example, when we look to leverage much talked about technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, we know that LexisNexis will deliver. This is a huge plus.”
As of 2016 business intelligence capabilities in the solution include a real-time data feed with the introduction of the Visualfiles Pro2SQL data repository.
Pro2SQL extracts the operational data from Visualfiles and transforms it into a Microsoft SQL database to support any data driven activities, including management information or integration with other data sources – all as an integral module within Visualfiles.
Firms are able to set up auto-refreshing dashboards that show users the current position of their aggregated data, facilitating an in-depth view of a firm’s business performance. A variety of customised reports are easily generated to meet the specific requirements of internal and external stakeholders, including clients.
However, as we wrote in March this year, when it comes to access to the best talent, the proprietary nature of many legal CMS including Visualfiles can be limiting, Speaking to Legal IT Insider while at DWF, Richard Hodkinson, then CTO, who has subsequently moved into that same role at Freeths, said: “We have trouble with access to talent. If you’re a programmer, why would you programme a proprietary system when you could programme Java, .NET or C Sharp? So, we’re looking at solutions to improve our speed to market and possibly to change to a low code or no code system that should be easy to mobilise. Whether that’s a pipe dream or not remains to be seen.”
Towards the beginning of 2019 we will publish an extensive report into the CMS market written by leading legal IT consultant Neil Cameron. We are just finalising the parameters of what the report will include – come on, it’s been a busy year! If you have yet to get in touch with regard to participating, please contact [email protected]