A Law Firm’s Recipe for Law and Order



On September 30, 2004, the widely prescribed pain medication Vioxx was recalled after studies indicated it might increase the risk of heart attack among certain patients. Within days of the shocking news, inquiries from people who believed they had been harmed by the medication started pouring in to Weitz & Luxenberg, a New York–based law firm that specializes in mass tort personal injury cases. Weitz & Luxenberg lawyers mobilized to sift through the claims and determine which were legitimate cases, and then file those cases before any time limitations expired. With 18,000 inquiries to review, the lawyers faced a Herculean task.

The first step in assessing any potential case is to obtain the patient’s medical records from the appropriate doctors, pharmacies, and hospitals—in this case, to confirm that the patient actually had been prescribed the medication and suffered a heart attack, stroke, or other serious complication. The firm’s paralegals had to get written authorization from all potential clients, send a letter to their doctors and pharmacists requesting a copy of the records, and place follow-up calls. Procuring just one set of records could take several weeks. When the physical records did arrive, paralegals had to log them into the system, scan them, bind them up, and file them.

“We had 15 to 20 people working on getting Vioxx medical records and we were just treading water,” recalls Glenn Zuckerman, a Weitz & Luxenberg attorney who oversees day-to-day management for Vioxx litigation. “We weren’t even making a dent.”

The medical records dilemma illustrates the reality at many law firms: Time is precious when filing cases, where statutes of limitation and filing deadlines are in effect. Weitz & Luxenberg had automated many of its own systems to improve efficiency, but it had little control over the third parties that it frequently deals with, from doctor’s offices and pharmacies to administrative trusts, the legal entities set up to pay claims on behalf of bankrupt companies. Rather than resigning itself to the bottlenecks introduced by others, Weitz & Luxenberg has worked with key partners and suppliers to make routine but time-consuming procedures more efficient for both parties. That has led to better working relationships and better results for clients.

“By using Microsoft Web services and helping others adopt it, we are able to hold down our own costs as well as the costs of others, and work more efficiently,” says Jonathan Jaffe, Manager of Software Development at the firm.

In the case of medical records, it was Zuckerman who led the charge. An attorney who had joined the firm straight out of law school in 1994, Zuckerman knew the firm needed a better way to get medical records. He did a little research and found Examination Management Services Inc. (EMSI), a Texas company that specializes in medical records retrieval. EMSI agreed to work with Weitz & Luxenberg’s IT staff to create a technological interface that would speed the process of ordering medical records.

The system, which took the firm’s IT staff just a few short days to develop, went live in December 2005 with great results. Instead of relying on a horde of paralegals to send requests, follow up with doctors, and file records, Weitz & Luxenberg staff can now request records with a few simple mouse clicks. The requests are tagged as XML files and sent to an FTP site, where they are automatically recorded by EMSI’s system and entered into its database. EMSI’s staff members obtain the medical records—something they can do faster because it is their core business—and once they have the records, put the scanned images on the FTP server. Back at Weitz & Luxenberg, a software program queries the server every few hours, checking for new files and downloading them. From there, new files are automatically logged into the firm’s system. If the request is marked “rush,” the appropriate people are automatically alerted.

“It frees people up to do more things around the office,” says Robin Parker, a paralegal in Weitz & Luxenberg’s Vioxx litigation department. The system also eliminates the need to file and store boxes of medical records. In the past, Parker explains, a lot of time was wasted searching for records that had been misfiled.

Most important, turnaround time for obtaining medical records has been cut from three weeks or more to as little as a day. “In the past,” says Zuckerman, “if you got the records back in 30 days, you were doing well.” Zuckerman and other attorneys can now sift through potential cases more quickly, reject claims without merit, and make more informed decisions. The firm has whittled the Vioxx litigation group from 18,000 initial inquiries down to 9,000 or so qualified cases, and the ranks may thin further. Weitz & Luxenberg will pursue trials for the remainder. “We tell our clients that we can’t turn back the clock and make them whole, but we can try and get some compensation to help tip the balance,” says Zuckerman.

As Weitz & Luxenberg geared up for its first major Vioxx trial, the medical records system proved its worth. In December 2005 and again in January 2006, the firm ordered more than 1,100 medical records. In February, the number rose to 1,500. The firm plans to expand the medical records ordering system to its other litigation departments. Zuckerman anticipates that will save the firm hundreds of thousands of dollars.

For EMSI, the benefits are equally dramatic. The company also saves time and labor by using the automated system, and has one central point of contact with Weitz & Luxenberg instead of dozens. Billing is also simplified: EMSI puts its invoices on the same FTP site used to process requests.

The medical records application is the most recent in a string of successful projects that have streamlined Weitz & Luxenberg’s dealings with key vendors and partners.

Another area that benefited from streamlining was shipping. Weitz & Luxenberg sent and received thousands of documents and packages a month via overnight mail, so a little automation went a long way. Working with its shipping vendor, the firm created a shipping system based on Web services and XML schemas to translate between the two companies’ business logic. Each party can use its own security and authorization rules without affecting the other. That was critical to winning over the vendor: By using XML schemas, the shipping vendor could use the system with other clients as well.

For Weitz & Luxenberg, the solution translated into immediate savings. Every paralegal or lawyer can send a package from any location. The system uses a question-and-answer format to identify the correct mailing address, and enables users to search by different variables, such as name or client number. It populates the shipping label and fills in the client number, eliminating human error. When a package is shipped, Web services return tracking information and a notification of delivery. Finally, when the shipping invoice comes in, the system automatically allocates it among the appropriate clients.

“We always strive to save time, effort, and resources,” explains Alla Swanson, Director of IT at the firm. When dealing with third parties, she explains, Web services are a great solution because the technology allows data to be exchanged without either party having to compromise its security.

The firm’s most challenging effort, however, was with administrative trusts, which are set up on behalf of bankrupt companies. Trusts are common in asbestos cases because many asbestos manufacturers went out of business after the substance was found to be harmful to human health.

The entities are set up with a certain amount of money to pay settlements, which is reduced over time by administrative expenses and pay-outs to plaintiffs. The last claimants in line are often left with just pennies, so accuracy and speed are critical.

The problem was that the trusts were notoriously technology averse, and paper filing was the norm. The less efficient the trusts’ processes were, the more money was eaten up by administrative costs, instead of going to plaintiffs. If Weitz & Luxenberg could help the trusts be more efficient and keep their costs down, there would be less waste and more money left over for victims, says Jaffe. A few trusts accepted electronic claims, but each had its own filing system.

Wouldn’t it be great if electronic filing could be standardized across the trusts? Jaffe asked. He and his team set out to convince the trusts of the wisdom of electronic filing. They provided XML schemas that the trusts could use to develop their own Web services. That way, each trust could still use its own unique process, and Weitz & Luxenberg could map the firm’s business logic to the trusts’ various business rules. “We’ve been able to persuade some of them,” says Jaffe.

Weitz & Luxenberg can now file electronically to a large number of trusts. The ability to send data electronically speeds up the process, eliminates human error, and cuts costs, which translates into more money, delivered more quickly, for clients.

For plaintiffs suffering from asbestos exposure, “that means a lot,” says Karen Sylander, Manager of Weitz & Luxenberg’s asbestos bankruptcy department. “Clients say, ‘I realize I’m dying now, and I want to be able to take one last trip or know that my spouse will be taken care of.’ They’re no longer just a claim. They are people.”

After receiving a payment from an asbestos defendant, Sylander says, clients often call to express gratitude that they were able to get that one last wish granted, however bittersweet. “Those are the moments you live for,” she says.

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“By using Microsoft Web services and helping others adopt it, we are able to hold down our own costs as well as the costs of others, and work more efficiently.”

—Jonathan Jaffe, Manager of Software Development, Weitz & Luxenberg

Weitz & Luxenberg is a New York–based law firm that represents clients harmed by corporate negligence, medical malpractice, or pollutants, as well as handling significant personal injury cases. From offices in New York, New Jersey, and Colorado, its 250 employees handle tens of thousands of clients.

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“We had 15 to 20 people working on getting Vioxx medical records and we were just treading water.”

—Glenn Zuckerman, Attorney, Weitz & Luxenberg

Turnaround time for obtaining medical records has been cut from three weeks or more to as little as a day.

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A Law Firm’s Recipe for Law and Order

Web services eliminate bottlenecks and help get better results for clients

By Amy Cortese

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