Digital White Papers

Identify end goals at the start of the initiative. Knowing our objectives for sophisticated searching and reporting allowed us to make thoughtful decisions about the right platform and helped us set the framework for IT's ongoing configuration process. Plan a phased approach. This allowed us to focus on high-priority objectives first. The development of EXP was broken out into three phases: the configuration of globally required fields and must-have features, the addition of some practice-specific fields and more complex features, and longer-term, less critical components that will eventually add great value and visual appeal. Avoid being viewed purely as a technical solution or a marketing tool. Marketing, IT, knowledge management, finance and, to some extent, HR worked cross-functionally on this initiative. We hope many types of end users, including staff from a variety of departments and attorneys at all levels across offices and practice areas, will find some value in EXP. EXPERIENCE MATTERS AT DECHERT EXP will have three components: matter/ timekeeper experience, self-identified expertise and individual attorney skills. Matter/Timekeeper Experience: Most matterlevel experience available through EXP will pull directly from our Elite time and billing system. Going forward, the matter data will feed from Elite into EXP and be available to and searchable by EXP end users. Information about a particular matter will include, among other things, details entered by partners in the new matter form when a matter is opened (including client name, matter name, brief matter description, legal services and industry coding), as well as dynamic time and billing information on the matter. The relevant matter attributes will be connected to the timekeepers on the matter. So, for example, if a matter is classified as a corporate finance deal in the energy sector, those attorneys working on the matter will get tagged as having corporate finance experience in the energy industry. For matters deemed "significant" (i.e., likely to be highlighted in future marketing and business development materials), our EXP administrator will work to ensure supplemental information (e.g., jurisdiction(s) implicated, client role in the matter, closing date, up-to-date description) is populated by the relevant business developer, practice group administrator or attorney. EXP primarily will be a go-forward tool, so historical matters will not be detailed comprehensively. That said, for significant, well-organized and/or easily transferrable matters, efforts will be made over time to collect the necessary information to incorporate such matters into EXP. Lateral experience will be collected in a distinct way. When seasoned attorneys join Dechert, information regarding critical pre-Dechert matters will be imported into EXP to round out the application and ensure those attorneys' matterrelated expertise is captured and searchable. Self-Identified Expertise: While the matter classification system under development will be foundational to searching and understanding experience, we received feedback from many attorneys that it would be useful to build into EXP an option to self-select legal services in which they have expertise (at the timekeeper level), as well as to create individualized categories of expertise using an "other" field and corresponding free-form text box. With this, attorneys will be able to "put themselves on the map" to the extent they feel constrained by the matter classification system and/or want

• Cover