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The right legal software is the key to a successful and profitable practice. High quality systems give you the ability to track, organise, manage and report caseloads, billable hours, individual client cases and company accounts. They deliver measurable efficiencies and ensure you’re always in control.
In early 2009 Cartwright King Solicitors, a top 250 East Midlands and UK number one defence law firm, decided it was time to change their legal software. Rupert Hawkes, Finance Director at Cartwright King explains how they chose LAWFUSION™ as their new case and practice management software.
Cartwright King are a large, fast-growing business with offices in Nottingham, Birmingham, Leicester, Derby and Sheffield. They are one of the UK’s largest and most successful legal practices, specialising in business and corporate defence, criminal defence and motoring law. They have an established mental health team and associate departments dealing with immigration work and claims and complaints against public authorities.
Having a growing practice, it was important that Cartwright King managed their business more effectively. They required a system that would help them record and document their cases and manage their workloads more efficiently. This was especially true for their crime, mental health, immigration and actions against the police departments.
The speed of the market changes and advances in technology mean that those firms with integrated, automated, practice management software now have the edge. But change can be painful and if you don’t choose the right system first time, it can be a costly mistake.
Rupert Hawkes says: “Because of the size of our firm and the breadth of client work, we needed a system that was easy to use and gave us complete control. As every firm will know, choosing legal software can be a complex business and you need to make the right decision. If the software performs poorly it impacts on your ability to manage the whole business effectively. We looked at a number of systems in detail and the one that offered the flexibility, scalability and control we needed was LAWFUSION™ from Select Legal.”
Finding a responsive, experienced software partner you can trust is vital to the success of any new system. Rupert says: “Right from the start I found Select Legal very easy to work with and they fulfilled every expectation including undertaking a thorough test transition and rolling out the system on time. They are highly attentive, offer a personalised service and they took time to listen and learn about our culture and the way we work. The service we’ve received has been first class. It’s a great team, all their staff are knowledgeable and enthusiastic and with Select Legal I know we’re not on our own – when we need any help, there’s always someone there online or on the end of the phone.”
After a thorough site survey of IT requirements the decision was taken to deploy the LAWFUSION™ Practice Management, Accounts & Case Management system for 120 users, using a Microsoft SQL Server database, onto two Microsoft Remote Desktop (formerly Terminal Services) Servers and a Database Server. Full project management was provided by Select Legal Systems throughout.
After a successful data conversion from Cartwright King’s existing accounts system (Peapod STRONGBox Legal Accounts), training commenced on creating workflows for criminal, mental health, immigration and other areas of Legal Aid work with Cartwright King’s own internal training team. Full legal accounts training and practice management training was provided.
The right legal software delivers measurable results. It adds value by enabling firms to control and manage caseloads and profile the performance of fee earners. Rupert says: “LAWFUSION™ has given us the ability to manage fee earners based on performance – provide Heads of Department with comprehensive data reports on the results of each individual. It has transformed the way we view, control and use data and I have total confidence in the system. Before we decided to take on LAWFUSION™ we tested it with real data over an extended period, we challenged the system and it passed all our tests with flying colours.”
“With LAWFUSION™ we can now make decisions based on system reports and the software allows us to cut data in whichever way we require to give a full picture across the firm and down to individual level. It has made a significant difference in terms of how we manage our business on a day-to-day basis – we can measure profit quickly, on a daily basis if needed, keep a tight rein on projections, see problem areas at a glance and control productivity on an individual basis. The reporting side and accounts side are both excellent and it gives you the ability to drill down to provide exactly the information you need.”
“For Cartwright King, LAWFUSION™ is the perfect software solution,” says Rupert. “And from a personal point of view, I love it! It really does make my job easier. I can manage and control, cut data and produce the reports I need to do my job effectively. The bottom line is that I can get all the information I need to make important decisions with confidence. I would recommend LAWFUSION™ to any firm regardless of size. I do believe that it would add real value to any firm. It is user friendly, has the functions you want and need, and it does the job it’s designed to do – it works. I think it’s brilliant.”
We pride ourselves on our friendly, open approach to business and our emphasis on quality and customer care. We’ve been successful because we build long-term relationships with clients. We don’t just install the system and disappear! Our software is designed to be easy to use from one simple interface and we work extremely hard to ensure that all our clients have the support they need. We have a dedicated Helpline and offer a wide range of online support including knowledge bases, support services, manuals and customer forums.
Voted number one for Customer Satisfaction and Best of the Best of Breed in the Law Society Software Guide, Select Legal advanced software automates all your processes, centralising them around one database, reducing operating costs, and increasing turnover and profit.
The LAWFUSION™ Practice Management System is a 100 per cent Microsoft Windows compatible product, fully compliant with the Law Society Solicitors Accounts Rules and the LEXCEL standard. The software also meets the LSC requirements to provide a comprehensive legal accounting suite and can be implemented as a stand-alone or integrated solution, suitable for any size of legal practice including small firms, high street practices or larger regional multi-branch law firms.
If you would like to know more about LAWFUSION™ Practice Management, please contact the Select Legal Systems Sales Department on 01482 644334 or complete our information request form.
Select Legal is a leading provider of legal software solutions. We are a Law Society-accredited software supplier and a member of the Legal Software Suppliers Association (LSSA).
