Aderant Success Profile - Aderant Total Office Integrated Case and Financial Mangement Case Study
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Transcript of Aderant Success Profile - Aderant Total Office Integrated Case and Financial Mangement Case Study
“Aderant Total Office has been great for
us. It is a very sophisticated system, and
is a marked improvement from what
we have used in the past. We may be
a 100-year-old law firm, but thanks to
Total Office we have a highly efficient,
21st-century case and financial
management system.”
Tracy Puritz , Executive Director
Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen
Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen (Allen & Allen) is one of Virginia’s oldest and largest law
firms specializing in personal injury and medical malpractice. The firm has seven
attorneys listed in Best Lawyers in America, and was named one of the Best Places
to Work in Virginia by Virginia Business and Best Companies Group in both 2011 &
2012. These honors and many others are a reflection of the experience, knowledge
and skills that the firm brings to personal injury cases. As of October 2012, the firm
had 120 employees including 25 attorneys.
While the firm has long looked to technology to help improve employee productivity
and streamline manual processes to better and more quickly serve clients, our
case and financial management software in particular, was in need of an overhaul.
Our first improvement in this area occurred in 2002, when the firm upgraded its
case and financial management software, purchasing two separate systems and
integrating them through a third-party interface that was customized and installed
by a software consultant. While this was an improvement over the firm’s old
DOS-based case management system and accounting spreadsheets, it wasn’t a long
term solution. Fast forward a decade … the firm has not only grown in sheer size,
but also opened new offices, and the demands of clients when it comes to knowing
how a case is progressing, collaborating with outside counsel, and having online
access to case details has grown exponentially.
Allen & Allen PersonAl Injury FIrm leverAges AderAnt IntegrAted CAse And FInAnCIAl mAnAgement
ADERANT SUCCESS PROFILEADERANT TOTAL OFFICE
A technology upgrade was definitely in order but not for the sake of
change or simply having new “bells and whistles” to play with. The
previous system interface severely limited the firm’s ability to upgrade
and apply a new version resulting in the firm’s use of outdated
versions of both our case and financial software. Ultimately, we
also lost ongoing technical support from our vendors and it became
abundantly clear that ‘ease of system and technology integration’
would be a major factor in selecting a new system that could support
the needs of a growing, innovative firm with multiple offices.
Before making the move to a new platform, we came to the
conclusion that any integration “challenges” in the future would
be severely limited by not only controlling the number of vendors
involved in providing the firm with case and financial, but by making
sure that everything worked with and complied with Microsoft since
Allen & Allen is what you would consider a MS “shop”.
mICrosoFt And true IntegrAtIon
While we knew what IT and Accounting wanted in a new system, we
formed a 20-member selection committee to get a broader firm-wide
perspective and evaluate all of our software options including the
existing technology. The committee reviewed nearly a dozen possible
solutions before selecting Aderant Total Office (formerly Client
Profiles Case and Financial Management) and it’s Plaintiff Financial
Package (includes T & B, AP, Collections, GL, and Reporting) and
Case Management Package (client-intake, full-text indexing, etc.)
Why Aderant Total Office? In a word, integration. Very few of the
vendors that the firm considered could provide both case and
financial management software. Among those that could, Aderant
stood out for its robust (aka easy to use but plenty of features) case
management tools and intuitive (aka easy to access, learn and train on)
user interface as well as its partnership with Microsoft. It was clear
to the firm that we needed to switch to a solution that integrated
with Microsoft so it was a plus that Aderant is a Microsoft Certified
Gold Partner which gives them direct access to Redmond’s legal
development and management team as well as various MS-sponsored
Technology Adoption Programs (TAPs). From an upgrade standpoint,
we knew Aderant would synch its technology updates with Microsoft
and as the software giant rolled out new legal-specific solutions,
Aderant and the Total Office team would be on the same page.
Furthermore, we faced a series of server upgrades and new purchases,
but knew even with the new technology, we would not be gaining
any new functionality from the archaic system. With Microsoft and
Aderant we would be able to leverage both vendors’ latest features
and upgrades, and thanks to their partnership, in a tightly integrated
fashion. Not only does Aderant offer complete front and back office
integration, but also an unmatched integration with the Microsoft
applications used by everyone within the firm. Another selling point
for Total Office was Aderant’s experience and track record with larger
and more complex law firms. The previous case management system
was primarily built based on small(er) firm requirements so we did
not have the confidence our case and financial technology could keep
pace with firm growth and expansion.
Beyond the Microsoft “game changer”, we identified other Aderant
Total Office automation features that swayed the selection committee
in Aderant’s favor:
• AutomatedSettlementprocessing: Total Office offers a
settlement processing solution that takes the gross settlement
value, deducts firm fees, referral fees, firm costs, liens and
letters of protections medicals (with reductions) and produces
a net figure payable to the client(s). This document includes all
necessary waivers and is client signature ready cutting our firm’s
time spent on producing a settlement from several hours to less
than five minutes
• Modularintegration:All application modules integrate with
each other. For example, when writing a check for a client cost,
the costs gets posted to the matter automatically
• Accountingintegrity: All though it might be considered a ‘no
brainer’, Total Office has the proper accounting controls are in
place to ensure firm data is not corrupted, either accidentally or
intentionally. This relates in particular to trust accounts but is
true across all bank accounts.
true vAlue oF CustomIzAtIon
The firm was also drawn by the level of customization that Aderant
offered. Again, this is something other systems also offered but
not to the extent we were looking for. The true value of software
customizations is in the time saved to perform work on behalf of clients
while not having to re-train users on how to work the new software
but instead molding the technology to accommodate the way the firm
works.
ADERANT TOTAL OFFICEADERANT CASE STUDY
Case in point. The firm has eight different law types with detailed
and unique screens, pick lists and to-do packages attached to each.
In addition to the screens provided by Aderant at the outset, the
firm created six new tabs to identify, monitor and track crucial case
management information. As different elements are identified or
there is a new ruling or change in the law, the firm is easily able to
design new fields, checklists and pick lists that pertain to the change.
Any information then generated through these new fields can be
tracked through a written report.
Customization is particularly important to the firm’s intake process,
which uses custom screens to capture data relating to the nature of
the call. Those data fields correspond with a specific merge document
that attorneys can use to print a report prior to meeting a new client.
In addition to developing fields that apply to the individual and cause
of action, the firm also created fields to capture marketing and referral
information. The subsequent reports enable the firm to track the
types of calls received, the number of calls taken during a particular
time frame and who took the calls.
trAInIng (PrACtICe) mAkes PerFeCt
A successful implementation depends on good training. Allen, Allen,
Allen & Allen chose to centralize training, bringing everyone to the
headquarters in Richmond over the course of two weeks. A bank of
computers was set up in a conference room and customized training
sessions were held for management, intake and administrative teams,
as well as all of the attorneys and their direct legal support.
Our goal was to implement without dramatic impact on the
employees. We wanted to make sure that we had good training
in place, and that we implemented the software at the right time
for the right people. During the first two weeks, we moved at a
measured pace, slowly adapting to the new software. During this
“trial period”, the firm didn’t cut any case-related checks or close any
cases, affording us time to adjust to the new system and make sure
that everything was operating correctly. Allen & Allen also did a lot
of advanced planning, especially on the accounting side, working
closely with Aderant’s technical support team, to confirm the system
was properly configured.
the PAyoFF
Today, three years into our initial Total Office implementation, the
case and financial management technology has not only met the
firm’s expectations, but in some cases, greatly exceeded them.
All-in-one. The aforementioned front/back-office integration has
been a god send, providing increased financial accuracy for billing
and accounting. Our controller has reported no more double entries,
balanced trust accounts, smooth printing and check handling and
better cash flow.
Reporting. Total Office’s reporting capabilities as well as the ease
of report writing, has enhanced firm management’s ability to
quickly and efficiently address staffing issues and better balance
individual case management needs. Customized reports provide our
management team with a snapshot of case status; top 50 cases, top
valued cases, cases in litigation, an active case inventory by value
class, and case intake comparison to prior periods, among others.
A consolidated case information report has been developed that
provides attorneys with a quick view of pertinent case information
without the need to query various screens and tabs. All told, our IT
department has developed more than 200 custom reports within Total
Office over the past few years, saving the firm a significant amount of
time and effort compared to systems that require the software vendor
to develop the reports.
Collaboration. The new technology has made it easier for our
attorneys to share case responsibilities even if they are located in
different offices. All case information can be reviewed simultaneously
by computer rather than relying on the physical file. The Parties
tab lists everyone involved with the case, including the plaintiff,
defendants, insurance companies (and their coverage), witnesses
(and their deposition dates) and more. All the documents and
pleadings are stored in the Worldox DMS tab, which is attached to the
case. The “Scheduled Events” tab houses all important appointments,
hearing and deposition dates. Everything the attorneys need is
instantly available, no matter where they are located.
Beyond these benefits, Total Office is vastly more stable than the
previous configuration, which would often crash and leave attorneys
and support staff with no access to critical case documents. Overall,
Aderant Total Office has been great for us. It is a very sophisticated
system, and is a marked improvement from what we have used in the
past. We may be a 100-year-old law firm, but thanks to Total Office we
have a highly efficient, 21st-century case and financial management
system.
ADERANT TOTAL OFFICEADERANT CASE STUDY
AbOUT ThE AUThOR
Tracy Puritz has been Allen & Allen’s executive director since 2002 and active
in various law firm operational leadership roles since 1988. His areas of focus
include finance & budget administration, strategic planning, and broader HR
and firm operations. He can be reached at [email protected] © 2012 Aderant Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. www.aderant.com | [email protected] | +1 888 604 2366