Tiger Eye will shortly announce that leading Middle East law firm Al Tamimi & Company has become one of the first firms to adopt Blueprint – Tiger Eye’s knowledge management add-on tool for iManage that has been in development since 2016.
Blueprint is a KM workflow tool that enables lawyers to submit their documents to professional support lawyers with ‘one click’, streamlining the submission and approval process and encouraging lawyers to ensure their knowledge finds its way into a curated platform.
Documents are classified by the KM team and can be annotated with notes with Cerys Burcher (pictured right), Tiger Eye’s strategic programme manager, commenting: “It’s not just a document repository.”
Al Tamimi, which recently hired former Linklaters head of business development and strategy for the Middle East, Allison Hosking, as its head of knowledge management, has been instrumental in developing the software and Burcher says: “We have other projects on the go with big international law firms.”
She adds: “The surprise for us is that we thought it would be a tool for firms of 3-500 lawyers but as I got into the market it became clear that the small firms either didn’t have the budget or were able to manage in other ways, but big firms have a problem with this problem. I’ve spoken to some of the top firms globally and they say they’ve tried sophisticated and complicated KM platforms and people don’t use them: they are too complex, and people don’t engage; they want something simple.”
Initially the user interface was a challenge and Burcher says: “We’re getting there now, but in terms of the process of submitting a document, all the lawyers have to do is one click to submit, and the document appears for PSLs to tag, add metadata and publish. It’s all in iManage and we’re just adding the workflow.”
The product has been built with feedback from multiple heads of KM and Burcher says: “We’ve developed the product in conjunction with clients who have given their feedback and we’ve then taken it back to the developers. We haven’t gone for funding, so it was a slower, organic approach. We’ve built up the team to support it.”
Commenting on the recent adoption of Blueprint in a statement, Al Tamimi & Company’s chief operating officer, Patrick Earl (pictured left) said: “We are very excited to be one of the first law firms to adopt Tiger Eye’s knowledge management software. In a market where our clients demand value and efficiency, having a reliable knowledge management platform is essential. With increasing technological advancements and evolving client needs, it was important that we invested in a system that had a user friendly interface and supported our internal knowledge strategy. It has been a pleasure working with Tiger Eye and with the launch of Blueprint we expect to see more exciting initiatives over the coming months.”
Hosking will help lead on the KM rollout across the firm