The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/448505
PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 20 DECISIONS BY COMMITTEE As with any large-scale migration project, we had countless decisions to make. These decisions would dramatically affect how our attorneys and staff worked. We knew it was critical that end users be involved in the decision-making process. We actively interviewed both attorneys and staff to determine requirements and desired goals, and then formed an upgrade committee. The upgrade committee was tasked with assessing both the current and future needs of the firm. They started by outlining problems that needed to be solved and efficiencies they were seeking. IT provided possible solutions; IT and the committee made final decisions together, with the committee focusing on non-technical aspects. Setting up this committee was an important step in gaining backing from firm leadership and, ultimately, the entire partnership. This backing is critical to the success of any rollout. A NEW MATTER-CENTRIC DMS One decision was to replace our current document management system (DMS) with a matter-centric DMS product. A matter-centric DMS assists attorneys in organizing their cases and transactions. It suits the attorneys' workflow and mindset. A matter-centric system provides for related information, including email messages, to reside in one easy-to-access, logical location. Storing email messages and documents separately is counterproductive and inefficient. Relating documents to email messages is paramount to keeping track of the progression of a case, and it assists when substantiating billing. A matter-centric system also allows for better collaboration between attorneys and results in greater guidance and direction for their staff. It facilitates a teamwork environment. We spent several months researching and reviewing different DMS products. We took advantage of several resources, including ILTA, colleagues, product demos and industry publications. All the products we reviewed provided similar functionality at close to the same cost. We selected Autonomy's iManage FileSite due to their reputation, integration capabilities and high adoption in law firms. DESIGN BY COMMITTEE As with the earlier phase of the project, we knew that decisions involving the matter- centric design needed to include firmwide user input. This would be their system; it had to be designed to work for them. The design process started with a small group, mainly lawyers, familiar with all the different practice areas in the firm. We educated them on the functionality and goals of a matter-centric design. They were tasked with coming up with a firmwide, generic base template. The plan was to create a workspace design that could be refined by a larger planning group, which would include CASE STUDIES About the Author Philip Sultan is the Director of Technology at Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald. He is a seasoned IT professional with more than 20 years of technology management experience, encompassing daily helpdesk support through complex system implementations. Philip has been an ILTA member for many years. Contact him at psultan@wthf.com. Converting to a Matter-Centric DMS At Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, we have over 100 attorneys in seven offices around the country. We had limited IT staffing, our computers were four to five years old, software was outdated, and we needed greater efficiencies. It was time for a major system upgrade.