Law Firm Sees $2 Million Productivity Savings from Instant ...



“Clients are becoming more demanding of their law firms, wanting to share more information more easily. The 2007 Microsoft Office system is all about improved communication and collaboration, so it’s helping us stay ahead of our clients’ needs.”

Scott Causey, Litigation Technology Manager and Business Systems Analyst, Willcox & Savage

Willcox & Savage is a Virginia law firm that understands the power of technology to help meet customer demands. Recently, the company used the 2007 Microsoft® Office system to streamline its matter intake process and improve team collaboration. Willcox & Savage expects initial efforts to return more than U.S.$2 million in annual productivity savings and serve as a model for automating additional business processes for even greater savings.

Business Needs

Founded in 1895, Willcox & Savage of Norfolk, Virginia, is steeped in history but not at all stodgy. The 185-person firm focuses on corporate law and is a savvy user of technology to better serve clients. In the last three years, Willcox & Savage has upgraded its IT infrastructure, replacing a Novell NetWare network with the Windows Server® 2003 operating system, moving to the latest Interwoven document management system, and implementing a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony system.

The firm was eager to expedite dozens of manual, paper-based bureaucratic processes that ate up valuable staff time and money. One of these was the matter intake process. Every time a new case is launched, Willcox & Savage staff members fill out a 4-page new-client form and a 10-page matter form. The forms were Microsoft® Office Word 2003 documents stored in the document management system. Employees would download and print the forms, fill out the required information, make two photocopies, and then circulate them for review.

“Though the forms were standardized, the way in which attorneys completed them was not,” says Scott Causey, Litigation Technology Manager and Business Systems Analyst at Willcox & Savage. “There were open-ended fields and no data validation. About 30 percent of these forms had to be redone or corrected, wasting approximately 300 hours each year. Plus, the forms were photocopied twice for distribution, eating up still more time and money.”

Staff members also lost time each day searching for case-related information. Although employees used the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 messaging and collaboration client for calendars and e-mail messaging, trial calendars were in a separate system, case documents in Interwoven, and contact information in still another location. “Tracking down people and information consumed hours a day firmwide,” Causey says.

Solution

When Causey and his team learned about the 2007 Microsoft Office system, they were eager to harness the Web-enabled forms, built-in workflow, and integrated team sites to their paper processes. They started with the matter intake process because it consumed so many hours and could serve as a template for improving other sluggish processes.

Willcox & Savage engaged Microsoft Gold Certified Partner SyCom Technologies of Richmond, Virginia, to build new matter intake forms in the Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 information-gathering program and an automated workflow process in Office SharePoint® Server 2007.

“Forms are very easy to build in Office InfoPath 2007, and we can use Web services to autopopulate forms from the back-end database,” Causey says. Willcox & Savage uses Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 to show the InfoPath 2007 forms in a browser, minimizing client computer requirements and broadening access.

Staff members now access Office InfoPath 2007 forms from a Microsoft Windows® SharePoint Services site and complete them online. InfoPath 2007 automatically populates the forms with client information taken from the Interwoven application and accounting information from the time and billing application, speeding form completion and increasing accuracy. Workflows based on Windows Workflow Foundation automatically route the forms to the right people for approval. The Active Directory® service, part of Windows Server 2003, validates user identity. Each time a form is submitted, it’s written to the Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 database, from which Willcox & Savage can run audit reports.

Willcox & Savage will create a new SharePoint site for every new case, where team members can provide links to all pertinent documents in Interwoven using XMLaw Web Parts, review client financial data using the SharePoint Server 2007 Business Data Catalog, share a case calendar, learn about new developments, and participate in discussion threads.

Benefits

The new automated forms and sites have streamlined service delivery management at Willcox & Savage, returning time to staff members to spend on higher-value activities and saving the company millions of dollars annually. Benefits include:

■ U.S.$2 million annual savings through collaboration efficiencies. “We estimate that collaboration-related efficiencies will save the firm $2,100,000 annually,” Causey says. This figure is based on estimated savings of an average of 20 minutes per employee per day now spent tracking down people and information. That time can now be spent on billable work.

■ $13,000 annual productivity savings. Through the use of automated forms, Willcox & Savage can enter new matter easily, accurately, and once, automatically forwarding forms to internal departments for review and validation. The new process promises to eliminate approximately 500 hours of administrative time annually, valued at $13,000. The firm will save an additional $2,000 each year in photocopy costs.

■ Improved client service. With Office SharePoint Server 2007, attorneys have a single place to find and share information so they can speak intelligently and accurately about a client’s case. “Clients are becoming more demanding of their law firms, wanting to share more information more easily,” Causey says. “The 2007 Microsoft Office system is all about improved communication and collaboration, so it’s helping us stay ahead of our clients’ needs.”

■ Foundation for more automated processes. Causey estimates that Willcox & Savage has at least 30 other paper-bound processes that can be overhauled by using the 2007 Microsoft Office release, ranging from time-off requests to regulatory compliance requirements. “We may net small amounts of time for each process, but they add up to huge timesavings for our firm,” Causey concludes. “That translates into more billable hours.”

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Customer: Willcox & Savage

Web Site:

Customer Size: 185 employees

Country or Region: United States

Industry: Professional services

Partner: SyCom Technologies

Customer Profile

Willcox & Savage is a midsize law firm specializing in corporate law and litigation. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, the firm was founded in 1895.

Software and Services

■ Microsoft® Office

− Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007

− Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007

− Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007

− Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007

■ Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

− Windows Server® 2003

− Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000

■ Technologies

− Active Directory®

− Windows® SharePoint Services

− Windows Workflow Foundation

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