Intelligent Office white paper: How do you measure up? Decision-making data at your command

Ever wondered how your firm compares with its peers? Want to know whether your billing process is costing you money or how your procurement skills stack up against the competition?

As the leading provider of PA and administrative services to the UK legal sector we are in a unique and privileged position. We have a wealth of data gathered from working with many of the UK’s Top 200 law firms.

By slicing and dicing this data, we can provide you with financial and behavioural information not otherwise available. Discover how you compare with other law firms and use this information to inform your decision-making, improve the way you do things and save money.

We’re going to take a close look at what firms spend on essential services like knowledge management and subscriptions, off-site storage and reprographics equipment. We’ll also share techniques for maximising the value of this spend.

For example, once a file has been archived and sent off-site, there is a cost involved in bringing that file back on site. At one client, we noticed that a single practice area – real estate – requested 80% of all file retrievals. The reason: fee earners needed to see the leases.

So, we suggested scanning all leases and saving them electronically so that they could be accessed whenever needed. This dramatically reduced the number of files coming back on site, saving time and money.

We will also review billing processes to see how these can be made more effective. PwC’s Annual Law Firm Survey identifies a real opportunity for firms to improve their cash position and reduce the impact of bad debts through robust and consistent WIP management from matter inception to invoicing. Does your current process help or hinder fee earners?

Benchmarking ensures that our clients stay one step ahead of the competition. It also allows us to review our performance across services and sites, helping us to identify opportunities to improve our practices.

If you have a niggling suspicion that you could be doing something better, then let us know. Our benchmarking project is all about helping law firms, so what information would be of use to you?