Changing Practices For Changing Times

21 June 2012

Resolution

Where people make the real difference

How IT is driving change across the legal sector

Richard RoebuckMD Accesspoint Technologies Ltd

Where people make the difference

Main Aims

•Provide some tangible ideas and provoke thought.

•How may the future look.

•What industry commentators are saying.

•Effects of funding cuts and ABS.

•What we can do right now to prepare for change.

•What are the current technology influences upon Legal sector.

•Where’s Legal IT heading in the future.

Sector comparisons

•Many parallels with the banking sector•We can make a better transition

•The banking profession has become the banking industry•The legal profession is becoming the legal industry.

•Profession: “A body of people engaged in a particular field founded upon higher education”•Industry: “A particular form or branch of economic or commercial activity”

•This is a fundamental shift. •A move from partnerships to commercial business structures.•Profession has clients, business has customers.

•The introduction of ABS will accelerate this transition.

Where people make the difference

Where people make the difference

Public funding cuts and ABS

•New protagonists entering the sector.•Will bring new approach and new thinking.

•Djanogly – “Introduction of the new bill will probably mean a reduction in lawyers and firms ‘doing’ Legal Aid”•Djanogly on ABS – “The commercial opportunity that it represents cannot be overstated”

•ABS! Doom, gloom and despair or real opportunity?

•Think opportunity and encourage optimism.•Move forward with new goals and a real purpose.

These changes will not pass us by. Change is coming and coming quickly.

Where people make the difference

How Do We Survive?

•Get quality IT systems into the heart of what we do.•Law and IT must be hand in glove. One is not possible without the other.•New entrants have access to exactly the same systems as you do.•Beyond doubt. New entrants will use to the maximum every IT based tool at their disposal.

•Quality in = Quality Management Information Out.

•A true unified well run platform has 3 main components.1. Case Management.2. Financial Management.3. Client/Customer Management.

How Do We Survive?

1ST ADVANTAGE

BIG SHIPS TURN VERY SLOWLY.

2ND ADVANTAGE

YOU ALREADY HAVE SYSTEMS IN PLACE.

3RD ADVANTAGE

EXISTING CLIENTS ARE YOUR FUTURE CUSTOMERS.

Where people make the difference

Where people make the difference

First and Foremost?

Look inwards. Assess how you are using your current Practice Management systems.

•How do you open new clients/customers and cases.•Record ALL necessary data.•Ask about email addresses and use them by default.•A potential customer who fails to convert this time around is a potential future customer.•Conduct your case via your Case Management System diligently.•Keep accurate time records.•Revisit case automation. Look at areas where B follows A and C follows B.•Can these steps be executed by more junior or administrative staff?•Re-focus efforts on areas requiring your expertise and knowledge.

Where people make the difference

First and Foremost?

•Take your thoughts and ideas to your IT department, software provider or support company.•Engage with software vendors, many will welcome constructive comments and system enhancement requests.

Developments at the LSC

•Online POA requests are quicker. 3 to 4 days not 12 or more.•Sir Bill Callaghan – “Planning to introduce more online mechanisms for online working”•Pilot scheme underway in the North East called “Client and Cost Management System” or CCMS

Where people make the difference

CCMS Expected Benefits

•The reduction of paper submissions saving time and money.•Reduction in duplicated submissions and errors within those submissions.•The system will pre-populate many forms-based data fields.•Facilitates the simple submission of such things as further evidence. •Will prompt you with an outstanding action•Once granted, notification to download certificate.•Submit requests directly to the LSC.

•LSC believe this will create a singular online processing environment.•Early indications are CCMS is ‘intuitive’ and ‘easy to navigate’

Where people make the difference

CCMS Preview

Where people make the difference

Engage and Take Part

•A great example of the benefits to be gained by interaction with your software vendor.•Ensure they understand what’s around the corner.•Have they planned for close integration with online systems like CCMS. Have they allowed for you to post documents directly from your PMS to CCMS at the click of a mouse.•Take part in your providers online forums and user groups. Garner support from other users to apply pressure for change.•Try and attend Legal IT conferences and tradeshows. These events showcase products and services aimed directly at you the lawyer (and not your IT department).•Understanding what’s out there will help you understand where to aim in the future.

Where people make the difference

Internal System Summary

•Help improve financial management and control from the production of high quality management information which will help you in identifying trends whilst assisting in managing your activities efficiently.•Help improve your ability to manage performance on both an individual and practice-wide basis.•It will greatly improve your ability to prepare documentation quickly, accurately and efficiently, whilst reducing cost and improving client or customer satisfaction.•Help improve your Customer Relationship Management techniques (or CRM to use the acronym), allowing you to take an active approach to managing your client or customer experience from end to end.

Where people make the difference

The Future Of Legal IT

•The answer is ONLINE.•Changed the way we interact.•Desk-based and portable email now a fact of life.•Blogs and chat-rooms.•The meteoric rise of Social Media. (Twitter and Facebook)•Transformed the way we buy goods from household items, through to technology and even groceries.

•We have become an ‘Always On’ nation.

•The next generation, our customers of the future know nothing else but online.

Where people make the difference

Influence Of Online Recommendations

•The online recommendation of products and services will become king.•Peppermint survey – One quarter of people will turn to the world wide web when researching a legal issue, product or service; second only to a personal recommendation.•Orange Business Survey - Twitter has seen a 663% increase over past 2 years for people seeking online recommendations for professional services.

•More than half of UK pensioners are now on Facebook•37.4 million UK adults use Facebook regularly•32.1 million UK adults use YouTube regularly•15.5 million UK adults are on Twitter•7.9 million UK adults are on LinkedIn•6.7 million UK adults are on Flickr

Where people make the difference

Influence Of Social Media

•Must consider how we tap into this market space.

•Social networking is the latest means of human interaction.

•Social networking forums are the modern day soapbox. Used extensively to ‘spread’ by word of mouth.

•Free communication tools with unprecedented market reach.

Where people make the difference

Influence Of Social Media

•You will become the online ambassadors and sales people for your chosen organisation.•Play a much greater role in winning new business and customer retention via the use of internal CRM systems and social networking platforms.•A future where we are paid in ‘alternate currencies’.•Facebook Credits. Facebook pushing the idea hard in a bid to sustain its share price by adding value.•Imagine delivering online advice and being paid in part or in full by Facebook Credits.•Reinvest online credits in online marketing to gain market share and drive up real world, real paying clientele.

Home and Mobile Working

•Flexibility in the hours and the way we work.•Consider the notion of the virtual firm. A group of self-employed individuals paying a premium for central support services.•Already seeing the rise of BYOD; ‘Bring Your Own Device’•Imagine providing outreach workshops in your local high street. Perhaps sharing with an independent insurance broker.•Connectivity is cheap. Consider all of these options.•The internet brought the age of the ‘Freebie’

•Freemium = basic model, product or service offered free of charge, and advanced options unlocked for a Premium. •Advanced options = Qualified, specialist advice.

•Use your PMS reporting tools to understand in detail your price points.

Where people make the difference

Where people make the difference

Cloud Computing

•Cloud is not new.•Cloud is the Internet.

A collection of computers and servers all interconnected around the world delivering software based services such as the world wide web to its consumers.

• Software as a Service, Utility Computing, Infrastructure as a Service, Hosted Solutions.

• Outsourcing = Making use of specialist service providers who had invested in specialist IT equipment and software.

• Cloud computing = Outsourcing.

• Cloud has become the front end, or public facing Accesspoint to private or corporate IT systems.

Where people make the difference

Cloud Computing

•We are using the infrastructure of the internet, to pass traffic from our network to the banks systems.

•The web (web browser) being the chosen interface to achieve this.

•In the simplest of terms this is cloud computing.

Notably………

We serve ourselves. We do what the bankers used to do, more efficiently

………..and the transactions these days are usually instant!

Where people make the difference

Cloud Computing

• Tough economic times meant budget cuts in Facilities, HR and most notably IT and Telecoms.

• Some firms built stronger systems, reinvested in more robust connectivity to the online world, refined or re-defined Case Management systems.

• The reward for this today, improved flexibility, improved service delivery, greater financial control, agility.

• IT Strategy = Think Ahead and Plan Now.

• This an absolute must as we tackle funding cuts and the impact of ABS.

Where people make the difference

Cloud Computing

•The Cloud is a great leveller.

•Allows small and medium sized enterprise access to hardware and latest release software platforms.

•May consider this as a Hosted Solution.

•Benefiting from a hosted solution requires a shift in mind-set. A distinct move away from ‘business-as-usual’ thinking.

•Data protection and system security must be a number one priority.

•High profile examples made of firms in breach in recent times.

Where people make the difference

Cloud Computing Benefits

•Providers spend tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds in hardware. •They house their platforms in purpose built data centres with unprecedented levels of physical security. •Dual independent power sources.•Multiple inbound and outbound fibre connections to the internet via multiple telephone exchanges. •Servers are fronted with fully monitored and managed firewall systems.•Storage platforms are mirrored across multiple devices in multiple locations. •Client servers which fail can be restored and brought back online in minutes.•Larger data centres are classed as part of UK infrastructure.

Where people make the difference

Cloud, Words Of Caution

•Select your (PMS) software vendor and Hosted platform providers independently.•Your connection to the online world becomes of paramount importance. •It becomes your umbilical chord to the online world. •Standard broadband is not a business tool.•New fibre-based broadband is a step forward on this. BT Infinity.•Look for a dual solution with guaranteed service levels.•Make the move towards business based connectivity products such as Ethernet.

•Consult and consider all options with your ISP and Specialist Cloud Vendors.

Where people make the difference

Software As A Service (SaaS)

• Now possible to make use of the latest software such as Microsoft Office.

• No capital outlay and little if no upgrade costs.

• Software as a Service (SaaS) = Software that we consume and pay for at fixed intervals, delivered as a service.

• Successful cloud migrations take time to plan. Don’t wait until your servers die. Think ahead, plan now.

•The statement or belief that the cloud is cheaper, in general terms is not always true.

Where people make the difference

In Summary

•Start by looking inwards, and start now.•ABS is going to bring about rapid change.•Keep a close eye on LSC online developments and use these services to the maximum.•As lawyers, get involved with your IT systems.•Consider the Cloud as a viable alternative to onsite hardware.•Ensure your connection to the online world is robust and use it to it’s fullest extent.•Social media, make an emphatic start.

“Think ahead, plan now. To fail to plan is to plan to fail”

Where people make the difference

www.theaccesspoint.co.uk

Changing Practices For Changing Times

21 June 2012