Peer to Peer Magazine

WWW.ILTANET.ORG 65 About the Author Howard Russell is the Co-CEO at RBRO Solutions. As the driving force behind RBRO's suite of offerings, Howard leverages the company's software tools and service capabilities to help law firms gain the greatest value from their content. Recognized for his legal technology expertise, Howard was the 2011 recipient of ILTA's Consultant of the Year award. Contact Howard at hrussell@rbrosolutions.com. they deliver services in the face of shrinking margins. Some firms are attracting business by building new models that offer white-label services to corporations. • Underpin Innovations with Technology: Once you have clear, established workflows that work and processes in place that determine how each incoming matter is going to be handled and by whom, it's time to turn to the technology piece of the equation. The challenge here is that many technologies used address firms' issues and needs as they currently exist — including accounting based on billable hours — but not for the future. Changing the way firms operate and handle matters means the technology used to support those processes must be different. It's time to look at developing systems that focus on efficiencies and incorporate various aspects of innovative workflows, like direct feeds from clients, mobile access, data acquisition and integrity, collaboration, and document assembly and management — all integrated through a common platform. By investigating technologies used in other industries successful at automating workflows, law firms might get insight into the functionality, interface and platform that will be the most effective for the long term. UNTAPPED POTENTIAL Implementing the kind of comprehensive change that will enable firms to turn a transactional law practice from a loss leader to a profit center is something akin to getting an ocean liner to change direction midcourse. However, though it might seem unwieldy, it's not impossible. And there's too much at stake to not try. person can be consulted for their existing expertise. An "expertise system" can allow you to incorporate your HR data with your ERM, with a feedback loop that continues to reinforce the system so component parts of cases go to the right people more and more of the time. And if the U.K. example bears any weight, external collaboration will also become more commonplace as firms must become more creative in the ways will result in the delivery of a cheaper, faster and better product to clients. Plus, lawyers will be able to focus exclusively on those tasks that require their expertise. • Make Collaboration a Priority: Both internal and external collaboration have the potential to increase your firm's profitability. For instance, if you gain enough information about everyone in your practice, the right The Co-operative Group is the U.K.'s largest mutual business. It's owned by nearly eight million members and operates 4,500 retail outlets, including food, funeral arrangements, insurance, pharmacy — and now legal ser vices. Members can turn to The Group for assistance with ever ything from family law and wills and estates to real estate and personal injur y claims. co-operativelegalservices.co.uk Parabis was the first private equity-backed organization to be granted an ABS licence in the U.K. It changed the way legal and non-legal professional ser vices are delivered to the insurance sector. Car ving out a niche in the transactional law marketplace, Parabis generates more than £100 million of revenue in personal injur y work alone. parabisgroup.co.uk The Co-operative Group Parabis Group

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