The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/4983
www.iltanet.org 34 Peer to Peer the quarterly magazine of ILTA 35 Peer to Peer Our firm uses a secure, externally hosted wiki for collecting and sharing all the accumulated knowledge of our IT Department. It is external so it is available in the event our systems are inaccessible. It is a huge help for team members when someone needs to find out how to do something because the primary resource isn't available. It allows us to look up how we've solved past problems, and provides a place for keeping checklists, etc. We are also using internal wikis for a variety of purposes. One wiki is used for colllecting and sharing all the detailed information about a particular client's many transactions. Another is used for communication and collaboration among a group of attorneys focusing on an initiative for marketing certain types of expertise applicable to businesses affected by the economic downturn. name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shirley Crow company . . . . . . . Farella Braun + Martel LLP Number of Attorneys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Number of Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 We Utilize an Externally Hosted Wiki name . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cheryl Green company . . . . . . . . . . . LeClairRyan Number of Attorneys . . . . . . . . . 280 Number of Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 We Implemented a Managed Network and Desktop Solution LeClairRyan is able to get more, and do even more, with fewer resources under a managed IT services solution delivered and supported by managed services provider (MSP), mindSHIFT Technologies. We get improved network reliability and system performance because the MSP continuously monitors our network and desktops. Their broadly skilled engineers proactively identify potential system complications and troubleshoot them before they occur, thus liberating our internal IT staff members from routine IT burdens, including patching, hardware and software upgrades and round-the-clock system monitoring. We're able to reap all of these benefits with less investment needed from our end in areas such as office and data facility space, redundant technology equipment, power and air conditioning; and our IT costs are now more predictable. Our firm is also able to leverage the MSP's technical expertise to assist with various one-off projects. During our three-year growth surge between 2005 and 2008, we relied on the MSP to complete complex document management migrations when LeClairRyan merged with two-100 employee law firms. CASE STUDIES CASE STUDIES What technology has your firm implemented in order to do more with less? Our trainers are providing more targeted Word training to empower document authors and make them more self-sufficient. We use Microsystems Skills Assessment Module to assess Microsoft Word skill levels and provide targeted training. We measure the legal-specific Word knowledge of staff and potential hires, and then provide training to ensure they have the level of Word expertise needed to meet the requirements of the firm. Not every Word user has the same Word skills; because of the Microsystems Skills Assessment Module, we know who needs training and on what specific Word skills. The assessment results provide a targeted training plan for each individual. As a result, we have increased the effectiveness of our training courses and the efficiency and self-sufficiency of our Word Processing staff and document authors. We have also been able to eliminate unnecessary course offerings and focus on and schedule only the courses that are needed. name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janet Waldon company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cox Smith Number of Attorneys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Number of Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 We Provide Targeted Word Training Our partners, associates and paralegals experience quality problems with documents on a daily basis. These problems, including documents not printing, failed document comparisons, and broken or inconsistent numbering, are commonly a result of copying and pasting from Web pages or other documents, document collaboration with clients and co-counsel, and the round-tripping of documents between different versions of Word. To avoid and circumvent these problems, we provided our lawyers and paralegals with a way to check a document's health. We worked with Microsystems to develop a DocXtools "Traffic Signal" to proactively check a Word document's health in the effort to reduce both document corruption and "11th hour" document emergencies. As a result, we reduced our overall document corruption. The DocXtools "Traffic Signal" provides users with an early warning system that prevents downstream problems and the peace of mind of knowing that they are working with a good document. name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gloria Webber company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dechert LLP Number of Attorneys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Over 1,000 Number of Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 We Have Our Lawyers and Paralegals QC Their Documents In the next Peer to Peer Professional Development What are you doing to further your own professional development or that of your staff? Send your case study to editor@iltanet.org. 34-35 click, flip, zoom and print only the pages you want videos and other interactive content accessible anytime, anywhere REAd OuR dIGITAL PubLICATIONS AT www.iltanet.org WE'RE kEEPING TREES VERTICAL