PUSHING THE LIMITS

MAXIMISING LAW FIRM PROFITS THROUGH THE RIGHT IT

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About the company

DPS Software is one of the leading and longest established legal IT solutions providers in the UK, catering to the needs of law firms small and large across the country.

Serving over 600 practices and 15,000 individual users, DPS have built a strong and growing market position thanks to their

award-winning products. Our Case Management

Software covers Conveyancing, Crime, Personal Injury, Wills & Probate and is complemented by fully integrated Legal Accounts and Digital Dictation systems, hosted IT and client portal solutions. DPS Software is committed to developing products that meet the specific and changing needs of law firms and helping them

to move away from outdated work practices and the technology

underpinning them.

www.dpssoftware.co.uk Page 2

Chapter 1 Introduction

The legal profession is an important sector of the British economy, generating 23.1 billion per year or 1.8% of GDP, according to the Ministry of Justice and UK Trade & Investment. At this moment in time, more than ever, there is no place for complacency in the industry. As the UK emerges from a difficult economic period, domestic and global competition for legal services also intensifies. The

Industry trends
can open new avenues for financiallychallenged practices, enabling them to develop a new client base and keep talent in house.

Investing

selectively

in

legal

technologies Matter management and e-billing technologies were rated as one of the most popular IT solutions by the Corporate Executive Board in an article predicting the 9 efficiency trends to be embraced by law firms in 2013. Members express relatively high levels of satisfaction with those solutions the article continues, encouraging readers to adopt new technologies but not before understanding the workflow and management changes involved (heres

contraction in the demand for legal services of the past few years, coupled with

consolidation in the sector caused by mergers and acquisitions and the rise of new business models, poses a new set of

challenges and pressures to the modern law

firm. Here are what we consider to be the most important trends affecting the legal sector in 2013 and the impact of which is sure to be felt well in to coming years.

how to implement your case management

Mergers and acquisitions The Wall Street Journal signals the system in 3 simple steps).

prevalence of Mergers & Acquisitions in the legal industry, as law firms struggle to increase revenues and enter new markets. Partnerships with other law firms or with companies offering complementary services

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More business for smaller law firms As we all know, a law firms size is the main factor affecting hourly rates; the Corporate Executive Board even put it above partner experience, practice area, or even location (the second largest). As they look for cost savings more and more large companies are now turning to the services of midsized law firms (50-500 lawyers) that can provide high quality legal services at lower prices.

Industry trends
The multigenerational workforce The Business Insiders observation about the lawyers delayed retirement is backed up by Legalcareer s comment on the diversity of a law firms workforce in terms of age. Oftentimes, Traditionalists, Baby

Boomers and Generation X and Y staffers

share the same office space, a situation which poses its unique challenges and

Positive economic outlooks The Dow hasn't just recovered, it's up nearly 12% over it's pre-recession high notes the Business Insider attempting to

offers unique opportunities.

Law firms fail to give customer service enough importance

explain why lawyers avoid retiring. If money

is to be made in the legal industry, as in many others, it will be made from 2013 onwards as the economic crisis seems to become more of a memory than a reality.

As law firms compete fiercely for clients,

they cant afford to lose them after winning them. Yet, a recent survey of 30 British law firms conducted by Sherry Bevan Consulting and published in The

Page 5

The role of technology in the legal sector must be understood from an efficiency and cost-saving point of view- enabling fee earners to work more efficiently - spending less time doing admin work, more time on income-generating tasks and saving money in the process.

The potential of the technology for the legal sector

As well as affecting law firms, technology is also affecting the client, empowering him/her more than ever. Tools like the Internet and social media put the clients in control by giving them access to information and to a larger pool of legal service providers. This in turn means that they can switch suppliers There is a growing recognition that technology central role will in play the an increasingly legal

easier, know if youre not meeting service

levels, complain about you publicly and do so reaching a larger audience than ever (think Twitter and LinkedIn).

emerging

environment. notes global futurist and

information technology expert Rohit

Talwar in an article for the Raconteur.

This is not surprising at all given the Client satisfaction can no longer be assigned secondary importance and you cant afford to be complacent with regards to the quality of the service you provide. But while technology puts the client in control, it can also empower you to respond to these challenges better. We will show you how in the following chapters. critical Different support role of IT systems. law

technologies

benefit

practices in different ways and this is what we will focus on in the next sections.

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Chapter 2 The Right Technology for the Right Processes

Case management systems collate all the information regarding a case or a matter, making it available to all those involved and enabling them to track their progress online thus reducing the amount of time and admin work required.

Case management software

Manage work efficiently

A product of the 1990s, case management software systems have been developed to assist legal staff in their core functions, help them break away from the paper addiction and streamline processes. Even though no longer considered an innovative product, this type of software is still the backbone of efficient, profitable law firms that make the Integrated within Microsoft Outlook or provided as a separate product, DPS two decades Outlook Office is a fully scalable, modular system designed of according modern to the legal DPS One Office- a case management system and practice management

solution that serves staff at all levels.

most of their resources.

Weve spent the last

working with law firms to create IT solutions that answer their problems and meet their requirements. The first result of this endeavour is our flagship software -

requirements practitioners.

The system simplifies the conveyancing process and

instantly organizes and structures your case files. Simon David, Managing Partner at Thomas Legal Group One of the most convenient factors of implementing such a system is the fact that more than one person can view case documents at any one time. Ian Fretwell, IT Director at Tees Solicitors
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Manage

your

cases

straight

from

Case management software

Microsoft Outlook

If you want to work your way, using a familiar interface then Outlook Office is the case management solution for you. The use of email as a form of communication is growing rapidly. The vast majority of users already use Outlook as part of their daily work regardless of their IT expertise, many of them starting their day by checking their emails. With Outlook Office, legal practitioners inevitably comfortable with the Outlook interface, do not need to adapt to a different system to work on their case Legal software is most effective when it is files. Their familiarity with Outlook phone attendance notes, digital dictation and case workflows straight from their email platform.

almost

invisible

they

say,

so

we

reduces the amount of training required and eases the rollout of the solution, leading to a faster ROI.

incorporated ours into one of the most common work platforms for lawyers. Outlook Office case management breaks down unnecessary barriers and allows you to run case files from within Outlook, preview case documents just like previewing emails, automatically attach scanned documents and emails to cases.

Due to the fact that Outlook Office sits within Microsoft Outlook, users have access to case tasks, file history, template letters,
Our case management software works straight from Microsoft Outlook

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If you do not use the Microsoft Outlook platform and if youd prefer to manage your cases in a system that sits outside the usual email environment, then DPS One Office is the option for you this is our case management system in its standalone form.

Case management software

Both Outlook Office and One Office are provided with an integrated legal accounts

Provided

as

an

independent

software

package that offers a common user interface for both fee earners and

application, One Office gives you access to the same functionalities as Outlook Office and allows you to perform the same tasks:

accounts staff, giving them to ability to post time and view ledger cards in real time. We will present our accounts system

- Manage matters, cases and files; - Create and monitor To Do lists and reschedule tasks;

in the next chapter.

The use of a case management system enables fee earners to use their time more effectively, by eliminating timeconsuming, administrative tasks. Yet not just any case management software will do. You need to ensure that the product responds to your law firms to produce

- Get access to fully customisable, prepackaged templates

documents as well as ready-to use workflow template libraries for the most widely practiced areas of law: Criminal Law Conveyancing, Sales, Purchase & Remortgage Family Work Probate and Wills Personal Injury and Uninsured Loss Recovery Debt Collection Mortgage Repossession General Matter Management Page 10

needs, that it can be adapted to the way

you work and that it is scalable and can grow with your practice. DPS Outlook Office/One Office leverages our companys thirty year experience in building powerful, innovative, user-friendly software products for the legal market. Learn more about it here

www.dpssoftware.co.uk.

The money link. How One/Outlook Office can help you enhance your profits

Case management software

At this point you probably want to discover the direct connection between the use of a case management software solution and your firms profitability. Here is how our product can help: Actionable statistics. What doesnt get measured , doesnt get managed. process flows. Simplifying the administrative side of the matter/case progress, our case management system allows fee earners to focus on legal work and complete tasks more efficiently. Never be out of touch with your money. The automatic time recording feature within our system allows you to

One/Outlook Office offers supervisor and

user

dashboards

showing

real-time

business and fee earner-based KPIs (key performance indicators) such as profit costs and number of cases opened over a period of time so you can quickly grasp the financial state of your firm at any moment in time and make informed

accurately track the amount of work done on a case or matter and compare it against the money brought in to ensure that resources are allocated wisely.

decisions.
Less effort, more rigorous compliance. By incorporating risk processes (i.e. conflict checking & risk analysis) into the file opening procedure seamlessly, the

Monitor the work being done

Track the

Measure and manage profitability

money coming in

amount of work required to ensure compliance is diminished while the quality of the outcome is improved. Automated processes and ready-to-use templates, precedent libraries and Page 11

Chapter 3 Conclusions

The traditional law firm is bound to change. The different expectations of

Conclusions
Its all about the money The purpose of this white paper is to give you an overall understanding of the technology solutions available to you and their potential impact on your firms profitability. The only reason why you should invest in

clients, the changing economic climate and the new Generation Y staffers coming through the ranks makes it impossible for law firms to operate in the same way as 20 years ago.

The emergence of new legal models, the growing use of medium sized firms by commercial clients and the slightly improved economic outlooks all affect and threaten to reshape the legal sector as we know it. While technology is not a panacea for all of a firms troubles, it does allow you to

technology is to enable your firm to operate as a robust business and become more profitable. Unless a particular IT solution has a direct effect on client satisfaction and income, then the

investment is not worth considering.

systemise

and

deliver

services

in

Case management software products are one of the few technology solutions with a real potential to increase the efficiency of your staff and the profitability of your law firm.

particular way which is highly efficient as explained by Andrew Loach, COO of the Transaction Services Team at Addleshaw Goddard.

Part of the problem is that people now have

fabulous IT at home or in their palms- but at work, if theyre in a law firm, its a world apart. Richard Jones, Wragge & Co, Briefing Magazine, October 2013

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Different law firms across the UK are enjoying the benefits of best-in-class IT solutions from DPS Software. Discover the stories and motivations behind using our products and how they feel about their decisions years after making these choices.

Conclusions

Bailey Nicholson Grayson- Saving time and money with DPSCloud

Here is a selection of our clients:

Thomas Legal Group- Making progress with DPS Software

Birds Solicitors- Working on the move with DPSCloud

Levenes Solicitors- Clocking up one million

dictations with TeamTalk

Biscoes-

Building

business

using

technology foundations

Ersan & Co- Achieving success with DPSCloud and Outlook Office

Virtual Law- Move their practice to the Cloud

EquilawSoftware

New

beginnings

with

DPS

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To learn how our different solutions can benefit your law firm please contact us by phone or email. Our representatives will be happy to assist you.

Conclusions

Request

FREE,

no-obligation About DPS Software DPS Software is one of the leading and

demonstration of any of our products by using the contact details below:

Phone: +44 020 8804 1022 E-mail: info@dpssoftware.co.uk

longest

established

legal

IT

solutions

providers in the UK, catering to the needs of law firms small and large across the country. During the past three decades we have put every effort into developing best-of-breed

case

management
to help law

and

accounting
improve

software

firms

efficiency and customer service.

In the past few years, we have enlarged Postal Address our offer by the addition of new legal IT solutions that facilitate the management of law firms, fee earners and their workload. To learn more about our companys history and products please visit our websites: www.dpssoftware.co.uk www.dpscloud.com www.mylegalspace.co.uk Page 15

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