Peer to Peer Magazine

28 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | SUMMER 2017 CASE STUDIES Turning the Conventional Law Firm Structure on Its Head partners discovered a more cost-effective vendor to manage international trademark billing issues and proposed the idea, a commiee of technology advisors who are partners at the firm reviewed the soware and implemented it with great success. This newer technology permits the firm to eliminate costly wire transfer fees and currency exchange charges, resulting in a direct cost savings for the firm's clients. Supporting the Vision: How It Works Because Culhane Meadows comprises aorneys and entrepreneurs who are keen collaborators, for most professionals who join the firm, the collegial environment gives them autonomy yet support as needed to provide a positive seing for themselves and to offer beer client service. Aorneys set up their own computers with step-by-step onboarding documentation provided by the firm. Additional assistance for those who need it is provided by an approved IT vendor familiar with Culhane Meadows' operations. Culhane Meadows' chief technology officer and chief information officer work closely with onboarding aorneys to be certain they have the systems in place to ramp up quickly. Biweekly, 15-minute supplemental Join.Me tech support sessions cover "how-to" topics to help partners become more efficient in their daily practices. These sessions are recorded and archived so the aorneys can access them 24/7. Security and Compliance Maintaining a secure environment, especially in a cloud- based operating system, is key. Culhane Meadows relies on the high level of cybersecurity offered by Worldox document management for keeping client documents safe, readily accessible, searchable and indexed for all partners at the firm to use and securely access 24/7 from any location. Instead of trying to become an expert in managing the required security protocols to maintain the integrity of servers that house all the firm's client data (especially in light of all the recent malware aacks), the firm allows the experts at Worldox (and their hosting provider, Rackspace) to manage these issues, given that they are certified compliant with ISO 27001, SSAE 16 and ISAE 3402, and PCI DSS and have fully redundant backup systems when issues arise. This is important to clients and builds confidence in the firm's ability to protect sensitive documents and communications. Aorneys can focus on the practice of law and leave security concerns to expert vendors who stay on the cuing edge of technology. The firm also has a detailed security policy that all aorneys must follow. This helps ensure that systems are configured properly to protect sensitive files and that encryption is used. Encouraging Collaboration Fostering a collaborative environment among a geographically dispersed partnership requires effort. Once a month, Culhane Meadows hosts an all-firm conference call as well as in-person meetings for each aorney at the office with which they are associated. As needed, aorneys who are traveling may also aend the monthly meeting at an office not in their home city. Not all of these meetings are work-related. To build esprit de corps, office members frequently get together for a community service activity or recruiting happy hours. In addition, the firm holds an annual three-day partnership retreat for meetings and social events. Benefits for Clients Clients quickly learn that when their aorney joins Clients also benefit from having attorneys who control their billing rates and fee structures.

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