“We can keep growing”: how a small firm navigated buying new tech

The firm

Isaacson & Partners started out life in 1982 as a successful high street firm. With managing partner Sergio Weingarten now at the helm, the firm has expanded its residential and commercial conveyancing footprint, as well moving into corporate and commercial law. It now has a team of around 20 legal professionals, with offices in Prestwich and Bury.

The challenge

The growing firm has built up a great reputation but felt that its technology was holding it back. “It wasn’t in line with modern expectations”, says Sergio.

The firm’s case management system worked for the conveyancing department – but was not so well suited to other practice areas. “It was fine from a transactional perspective, but it wasn’t a practice management system. We couldn’t keep track of work in progress, which team member was working on matters, or new files that had been opened”, Sergio explains. “We needed to bring in a paperless management system that would work for us all.”

It was also important that the firm’s new practice management system was cloud-based – so that its team could access its core functions while working remotely or on-the-go.

The approach

Cost was a key priority in evaluating new solutions. The existing system charged per case, which meant it was getting more expensive as the business grew. The firm knew it wanted to move to a user-based license model, that could handle as many transactions as they needed. It also needed to serve multiple practice areas.

The firm also wanted to make sure they picked a supplier that had well-established training partner links to ensure everyone was supported through the switch.

That’s crucial because often lawyers are risk-averse, under pressure, and understandably daunted by the prospect of changing technology while managing their normal workloads, Sergio notes. “When people are getting up to speed on a platform, things can take longer. It can be frustrating because they’re just trying to get updates to their clients as quickly as possible”.

A few technology conferences later, Sergio and the team evaluated all their shortlisted options before putting the final choice on a new system to an internal vote.

“Everyone saw three software demonstrations from different companies and was involved in the decision-making process”, says Sergio, “because once you commit to a contract, you commit – and you’re stuck with it.”

The solution

The firm opted for a cloud-based case management system with legal accounting services included – choosing a vendor it felt had a robust infrastructure behind it and the resources to regularly update the system and enhance it with new features.

“Now that we're 12 months in, we are seeing the benefits”, says Sergio.

The initial transition to the new platform brought challenges: the data migration was not completed on the agreed date, which caused some accounting headaches.

No fresh insights could be gleaned from the data in the first year of operation because the previous data was being stored on a different system.

The need to consider two systems – the old and the new – during the transition to the new software was “difficult from a cash management perspective, and an accounting perspective”, explains Sergio.

“But now, I can quickly compare our latest business data insights to those of the same period a year ago and see our progress. It’s good, it’s working, it’s fit for purpose.”

Reflecting on the difficulties during the transition, Sergio highlights the importance of making sure you speak to people who have managed the same software implementation in legal practices, not just its users, before you go ahead – whether that be by attending customer events or reaching out directly to firms. “I spoke to many helpful salespeople and happy legal professionals who liked the platform. But in hindsight, I did not speak to the people who had overseen the transition period itself.”

The impact

“What we’ve done brilliantly is transform this firm from a high street firm into a boutique firm that’s now punching well above its weight”, Sergio says, crediting the new case management system with giving the LLP the flexibility to expand. “We can keep growing. Our trainees pick it up immediately, and the team has everything they need at their fingertips – whether they’re in the office or working remotely.”

Clients have also seen the impact of efficiency gains across the board and now have a seamless onboarding experience. “They don’t have to come to the office with passports and paper. The process is fully digitised, and it can be done via a smartphone. It’s better for clients, and it’s better for compliance.”

Advice for small firms

Sergio says investing in continuous training for your staff is key – and that might mean going beyond the initial standard training supplied by the vendor.

It’s also crucial to understand that a sales department is primarily there to acquire new clients – and won’t be your point of contact once you’ve signed a contract, he adds: “Once you get past the sales team’s pitch, often the reality is quite different. The initial demos were quite broad in scope – it's worth drilling down on these as much as you can before signing the contract. To some degree, it’s only by using the technology that you can identify any issues, and only with targeted training for every lawyer can it be smoothly embedded into workflows.”

Including everyone in the initial software selection meant that the firm was committed to seeing the transition through, despite some initial challenges.

“You will inevitably experience teething problems in the early days”, Sergio says – but 15 months in, everyone at the firm has settled into the new workflow.

His prior transformation knowledge helped prepare him and the team for the ups and downs of the journey. “I'm quite realistic and I'm experienced enough to know that these things are never plain sailing.”

“But if you’ve just been practicing law in the same way for 20 years, it can be a pretty scary prospect.”

There is support available if you are unsure how to approach the process, adds Sergio. “The Law Society’s new guide to buying new technology will help support small and medium-sized firms like mine. It gives you a heads up on what to expect, potential road bumps, best practice, and what to consider when navigating your way through switching a system.”