Digital White Papers

18 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER POTPOURRI Maer Budgets Maer: A Case Study You Can Take to the Bank communicating changes to the client through their maer management system. The SWAT evaluated the standard onboarding process for new maers and identified the points at which the budget templates would be prepared, modified and then routed for approval. Due to the time constraints imposed by the client, the new workflow had to occur within 48 to 72 hours of maer assignment. The SWAT accomplished this objective and developed a comprehensive process map to help educate the client team on the new workflow. The budgets, statements of work and budget approval framework were all incorporated into a team training program. The training program is being conducted on a quarterly to semi-annual basis to keep the concept of controls and efficiency fresh in the minds of the team. This will also afford us the opportunity to present data and best practices, which creates a continuous feedback loop. In addition to accomplishing the client's goals, the firm developed a model that will provide consistent results and spend across offices. Our initial results indicate that we have improved the firm's key performance indicators with the client, while also reducing write- offs and write-downs for these maers. Proactively Evaluate and Improve This approach required an investment of time by both the firm's lawyers and administrative personnel. This investment, however, will yield dividends in the form of improved service delivery, reduced write-offs and write-downs, client resiliency and the opportunity for expanded business with the client. This client-driven initiative has laid the foundation for a repeatable and scalable framework that can be implemented for other teams to proactively improve performance metrics with clients. It has also taught us that more clients are making use of phase and task billing data to measure and compare firm performance, and it is only a maer of time before clients use this information to weed out underperforming firms or demand improvements. Firms should proactively evaluate and improve their performance before being asked to do so by the client. ILTA SCOTT PETERSON Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Scott Peterson's role is focused on driving growth and efficiency within the firm's financial services department. He has over 25 years of project management, consulting and operational experience in multiple industries, including financial services, health care and IT. Scott is a Project Management Professional and completed his MBA at Emory University. Contact Scott at speterson@bakerdonelson.com. DAVID RUEFF David Rueff is a practicing attorney and Legal Project Management Officer at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, where he works to implement the firm's legal process excellence initiatives. David is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and in the Toyota Production System (Lean). He can be contacted at drueff@bakerdonelson.com. Filmed on location at ILTACON 2016, these captivating interviews discuss innovative projects and strategies, important issues the ILTA membership will face in the next year, and provocative thoughts from some of ILTA's thought leaders. ILTACON TV see more interviews » Jeff Brandt discusses keeping up with trends, security, IT leadership – "it's not about the technology" – and his next big projects, including moving away from an on-premise system. Ross Forgione speaks about strategies for driving innovation in law firms. He urges us to understand the firm's culture and to communicate the value of innovation across all levels and departments of a firm for adoption and success. Michael Guernon discusses risk management and compliance trends, upcoming challenges, best practices, responding to client pressures and meeting and managing outside counsel guidelines.

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