One Source of Truth

Posted by: Karen Thompson

 

Without wanting to sound like an Oprah groupie, I remember my 'light bulb' moment when I got serious about formulating a tangible proposal to put to my Managing Director about going paperless.  It wasn't inspired by seminar rhetoric that it would improve productivity and cost effectiveness, although they are the Holy Grail for any legal IT team project.  It was when I realised that the 'dual' system we were operating under was inferior to the smoke-filled law offices of the 1950s and 1960s, where the most advanced technology was the kettle in the tea room.  I was shocked to realise that with all our technology, sophisticated systems and advanced processes, we were at a significant disadvantage to the 'Mad Men' type law offices operating 60 years ago with only a yellow legal pad, pen, phone and rolodex and all their files securely in a bank of filing cabinets behind them. 

Why? Because in all our wisdom we had created a rod for our back with a dual system, computer and paper based, operating side by side requiring double the workload to maintain and fraught with risk management issues and lengthy delays.  Even on the best day, when secretaries had all their filing up to date, it only took a single email to come in on a matter and the paper file was once again out of date, unsynchronised, thereby creating 2 sources of truth. 

John Clarke stated that sometimes you need to 'Go back a little to leap further forward' and that is what we did at Anderssens.  We looked back to the efficiencies of our senior partners' era and learnt a thing or two.  (Yes those smoke filled, male dominated times have something to teach us technological savvy, cerebrally advanced Gen Xs and Ys). 

We needed to return to the single system the legal profession had spent 100 of years perfecting, however converting it to an electronic only format.  

In our quest, we did find the Holy Grail (minus the nicotine stained paper files!).  Productivity and cost effectiveness have improved which has greatly benefited our service to clients as a result of operating from one source of truth, however unlike our senior predecessors our lawyers are no longer tethered to their desk, filing cabinets and typing pools.  They can operate from anywhere confident their information is secure and up to date and available in any format this modern day legal industry demands.

Anderssen Lawyers - Winner ALPMA Thought Leadership Awards 2013!

Posted by: Scott Thompson

I was very honoured to accept, on behalf of our firm, the inaugural ALPMA/Telstra Thought Leadership Award for 2013, presented at the ALPMA National Summit's Gala Dinner in Sydney.  The  Australasian Thought Leadership Awards 'shine a light on innovative projects and new initiatives being conducted by firms across the legal sector in response to the changing legal landscape and provide recognition for firms who have successfully implemented innovative projects and strategic initiatives'.
Over the last 12 months, Anderssen Lawyers have been engaged in 'unlearning' the way we practice law and 'relearning' exciting, highly automated legal workflows in a 100% paperless environment.  This environment is available to us 24/7 from anywhere in the city, country or globe and from any device.

For decades, the legal industry has been rewarded for its inefficiencies; the more inefficient you were, the longer the job took and the more the client paid and the harder the lawyer had to work.  Anderssens has always challenged this notion, firstly by quantifying any economical savings made by our innovative projects and passing those savings directly onto clients and secondly by living a culture & developing technology to support and promote a remote working model.  This provides staff with the ability to balance work and personal commitments, and results in healthy, contented staff and a firm with an enviable reputation as an employer of choice.
Thought leadership is predominantly preached as something we do, rather than earn or achieve.  By questioning the entire concept of how best to deliver professional legal services to clients battling a challenging economic climate and changing technological landscape, together with genuinely investing in the lives of our staff, thought leadership has emerged instead as a result of those actions and relationships.  I thank ALPMA, Telstra and the panel of judges for recognising this new way we do law. - Scott Thompson
The Firm has been requested to participate in an ALPMA Webinar detailing our project on 7 November 2013.  Please Click Here to learn more about that event.
Click Here to read more about the Firm's Awards.