deliver: virtual roundtable WITH NETDOCUMENTS

DELIVER is the last in our series of webcasts with our friends at NetDocuments, under the banner of Work Inspired. Briefing’s deputy editor Kayli Olson and Guy Phillips, VP international business at NetDocuments, talked to leaders across professional services firms to discuss about how they can improve productivity and deliver better value to their clients. We’ve looked at key areas each session to see how firms can ‘Protect, Organise Deliver, Plan and Learn’ from work. 

For this session, we looked at how firms can harness the power of collaboration, innovation and technology to better coordinate teams and improve service delivery. Big thank you to those who joined us for this discussion: Elizabeth Benegas, general counsel, NetDocuments; Kate Stanfield, director of knowledge management, Collas Crill; Kelly Clay, global eDiscovery counsel and director of legal technology strategy, GSK; Lucy Dillon, chief knowledge officer, Reed Smith; Mabel Harvey, IT director, Fieldfisher; and Richard Robinson, director, legal operations and litigation support, Toyota. 

Overall the series uncovered, challenges and solutions around key business areas:  

• Collaboration – Collaboration tools and technology has changed working habits and is connecting dispersed teams – however it’s human connection that’s the key here. 
• Experimentation – Firms have really started to lean in to trying new things and are understanding that the new normal isn’t set in stone; we’ll most likely have to stay agile in more ways than one.  

• Joining up experiences across platforms – The pandemic has shown just how important it is to create a unified and clear experience across the firm both internally and externally.  
• Security and risk – Risk and compliance and IT teams are closer more now than ever as well. And cybersecurity remains a high priority as teams learn to work from home, stay compliant and keep client data safe.  
• Culture – Ultimately it comes down to people and culture. No successful technology or strategy roll out can be made possible without the full engagement and support of staff.  

Watch the discussion now to see how our guests’ firms compare to yours.  

Webinar time: 55 minutes. Take a look at the YouTube page for specific timestamps, so you can find content more easily.

Kayli Olson investigates the effect of 2020 on law firm risk management

No one person – nor perhaps business continuity plan (BCP) – could have foreseen or prepared for the amount of change and risk involved in 2020. Andrew Coates, the partner responsible for managing risk and compliance at law firm Kennedys, says it has had to focus on three main areas – data security, employee welfare, and making offices Covid-19 secure.

“On the data security front, we undertook a careful analysis of our workflows to ensure there weren’t any weaknesses in our processes,” he says. “With employees now working in a wide range of environments at home, we have had to be very aware of how people are using and transferring data, and ensure that those environments don’t compromise data protection or client confidentiality.

“From an employee welfare point of view, all people have had a thorough homeworking assessment to ensure their safety and wellbeing, and we had to ensure that our offices provided a Covid-19-secure environment for employees, as and when they could return to the office.”

From a legal and regulatory perspective, Claire Larbey, general counsel at Trowers & Hamlins, says the big challenge approaching lockdown was making sure people were aware of how they could work from home most effectively. “Confidentiality, in particular, was a big focus,” she says. “Where are people working from, and who could overhear them? Supervision was the other big thing.

“There was some practical advice, such as having a reminder in the diary to maintain comms, but there were also more complex areas of process that we looked into – such as the use of electronic signatures, Power of Attorney, and how the wills team was going to work if a will needed to be signed in person.”

This article was taken from ‘At home with risk’, from Briefing November/December 2020 – Alert to change. Read the full publication here.

PLAN: virtual roundtable WITH NETDOCUMENTS

The next in our series of webcasts with our friends at NetDocuments, under the banner of Work Inspired is PLAN. Briefing’s deputy editor Kayli Olson and Mike Creffield, business manager – EMEA at NetDocuments, were joined by leaders in top-tier UK law firms to discuss how firms are delivering wide strategic value. Specifically, we looked at how firms can harness the power of collaboration, innovation and technology to better coordinate teams and improve service delivery.

The biggest takeaway – how can you make your services as easy to use as possible for your clients? When looking at client portals, those in attendance agreed that they need to be more than just a client onboarding tool. It’s easier for a client just to email you the information rather than log onto a portal to do that. To truly leverage the benefits of a client portal it must also update the client about their matter(s) in real time, making it easier to track the progress of their work instead of rely on fee earners to send an update.

Not only did we discuss about the client experience and collaboration thereof, but the importance of having robust but flexible communications internally. Innovation is still thriving despite impact from the pandemic – watch now to hear more about how law firms, and those in the wider professional services space, are maintaining momentum.

Big thank you to those who joined us for this discussion: Ahmad Yamak, senior legal project manager, White & Case; Alicia Hardy, director of professional support, White & Case; Jane Challoner, head of tech innovation, CMS; Jeff Westcott, director of service management and strategy, Akin Gump; Kylie Grant, director, Time Peace Advisors; Laura Hofmann, chief legal tech officer, Clarius Legal; Richard Tomlinson, consultant (ex-BCLP), Kaaspi; Sophie Wakenell, global head of operational projects and change, Clyde & Co; Simon Ferres, CIO for legal, Deutsche Bank AG; Warrick McLean, chief executive officer, Coleman Greig.

Watch now! And keep an eye out for the next in the Work Inspired series.

Webinar time: 1 hour. Take a look at the YouTube page for specific timestamps, so you can find content more easily.