Legal Current

Editor’s note: Guest blogger Andrew McLennan-Murray is an applications integrator for Thomson Reuters, Legal.

2010. Law firm clients are more demanding than ever. Every charge, from photocopies to the billable hour itself, is being brought into question.

Throughout the next decade, alternative fee arrangements are going to demand large increases in efficiency and productivity. This fundamental shift impacts all areas of your firm. You don’t just want value from the products you’re buying, you need it.

With library and IT budgets lean enough to be Jenny Craig-certified, one wrong software purchase could preclude you from obtaining other software crucial to your firm’s survival.

Here are some tips I’ve compiled on making sure you get the most out of your legal software:

*Purchase with a purpose

When considering a software purchase, enter a meeting with a solid goal in mind. Consider how this software will impact your firm’s bottom line. Alternative fee arrangements will drive for efficiency and productivity, so perhaps these are two solid questions to ask yourself before reviewing a purchase:

-Will this software increase attorney or staff productivity?

-Will this software increase attorney or staff efficiency?

Often overlooked is the importance of attorney confidence in work product. Confidence that they’re starting with the firm’s best brief template, for example. Confidence in the results a program has provided them with.

Make sure to bring this up:

-Will this software increase my firm’s confidence in the quality of work product?

*Make sure it gets installed!

This may seem like a no-brainer, but as a legal technology professional I’ve heard too many horror stories from firms that have purchased legal software but been unable to successfully install the product after purchase. Make sure the organization you’re buying from has solid post-sale support, so you’re not left high and dry after the sale. This is a good reason to get your IT department and a technology professional from the vendor involved before you decide to move forward.

Before a meeting, ask yourself:

-Does this product need to be installed?

-If so, does this product come with installation support?

-Who will install this product?

-Will live help be available after purchase?

*Build a user base

You’ve successfully determined you need and will be able to install this product. Now it’s time to get people to use it. If it’s a simple product, perhaps a firm-wide announcement might be enough to get people started. However, legal software is often complex, and the learning curves are steep. Make sure to identify the user base for the product and feel confident you’ll be able to train them to use the software.

Before you buy, ask:

-Will training be provided?

-Who will support the application after it’s installed?

*Determine a Cost Recovery Model

Often software purchases fall into the overhead expense category. If you aren’t going to write the cost to overhead, you know you’re going to have to track product usage. You’ll want sophisticated metrics from any product you purchase. Before you buy, make sure the product has cost recovery options viable for the legal market.

Ask yourself:

- Does the application provide client – or matter-centric usage tracking?

- Will we be able to recover our costs?

Put the software you’ve already purchased to the test. Does it hold up when you ask yourself the above questions?

Bring with you a checklist containing the above criteria and you can be confident you’re going to get the value you need from your software. What would you put on your checklist?

I’d love to hear your comments.

Andrew McLennan-Murray
Applications Integrator
Thomson Reuters, Legal

Posted by Andrew McLennan-Murray in: In Business | Industry trends |