Digital White Papers

I L T A W H I T E P A P E R | M A R K E T I N G T E C H N O L O G Y 20 E X P E R I E N C E M A N A G E M E N T : A T A L E O F T W O F I R M S Integrating Existing Data Sources One of the critical steps of standing up a new platform is populating it with existing sources of data. We inventoried my former firm's various sources and prioritized which to bring in first. A data loader imported experiences from legacy spreadsheets, while the CMS was identified as the first automated integration to continuously pull updates from Sitecore. When implemented, it will keep lawyer bios up-to-date in Foundation. The next step will be to integrate with the financial system. Blank Rome has added integrations for several years, automatically pulling in data from a half dozen systems. New insights are uncovered in the platform as this information is mapped, cleaned, and normalized. For example, the team recently launched a client dashboard to help improve client service. We also syndicate updated data out to other systems, for example maintaining lawyer bios in Foundation and automatically pushing changes out to our website. One of my first projects will be to better integrate lateral hires into the firm. While their open experiences will automatically flow to Foundation via time and billing, laterals can also edit Excel spreadsheets of their prior closed matters identified during the intake conflicts process. Once loaded into Foundation, easily surfaced lateral experiences ensure that we include laterals when putting forward our best teams to pitch and deliver legal services. Adding Meaningful Context Much of the helpful context around matters, clients, and people doesn't currently reside in existing systems. Business development can take the lead in profiling, but some very salient details exist only in the lawyers' heads. At Blank Rome, we are involving lawyers in the process, whether helping to curate their own expertise, or adding meaningful information to matters to improve usability. There are a few keys to getting lawyers to contribute what they know, starting with making sure they know how it helps them in the end. < F R O M I N T E R N A L T R A I N I N G C O M M U N I C A T I O N S > How does this help me? Simply put, the platform will help us: • Identify internal experts • Find relevant experience • Strengthen Chambers and other ranking submissions • Capture key information about our matters • Transform pitch and proposal development • Improve the impact of lateral hires • Enhance pricing and data analysis Next, request the minimum information required — that's not available from any other sources. Ask lawyers once for a piece of data, then store it where it's accessible. We use short targeted surveys to make it easy for lawyers to contribute. Automating Pitches, Proposals, and Submissions My former firm launched this project to have easier, global access to experiences, standardized boilerplate content, and to minimize manual effort. Giving the team powerful tools to search for and select what goes into a proposal, and the ability to easily generate their output using firm branded templates they can build themselves, will make the process more efficient and effective. Farther into this process, Blank Rome puts significant emphasis on profiling as a key to creating on target proposals, improving their ability to deeply search for relevant experiences and expertise. Moreover, profiling for proposals and the web builds the foundation for submissions as a byproduct. The team can identify potential Chambers candidates throughout the year, taking into account which clients and matters are available for disclosure. At submission time, it's easy to curate candidates to review with attorneys, and generate the submission documents themselves. Leveraging Best Practices and Trends Both firms are putting an emphasis on data and using a centralized platform to leverage their investment for a variety of uses. It's important to take a measured

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