Canadian Lawyer InHouse

39 canadianLawyErmag.com/inhousE august 2014 further and enter the name of the lawyer or judge: Are we winning cases before this judge? Are we losing cases?" During his time at Bell, the in-house team was asked for reports on any cases worth more than $1 million. All of these reports were manually compiled and would take one or two days to prepare. An assistant was then tasked with the job of aggregating all of the data. But with the LCM system, that process was automated and the same data could be accessed in about a minute. "That's where I think the rubber meets the road, being able to derive value from the information you're getting rather than see- ing an invoice as I have to pay X amount," says Jaar. There's a wealth of information available, he says, not only about financial matters, but also to find out who is efficient and who's not. Many corporate law departments are still attached to billable hours; right now, it's mainly banks and insurance companies that are forcing value billing on their outside providers. "I don't see a general movement in that direction," says Jaar. "It's really only a few that have done it." And it's typically in-house counsel push- ing their external partners into value billing arrangements or bringing them onboard LCM systems. "I seriously doubt that law firms by themselves have the incentive to move toward a value-billing approach — why fix something you don't perceive to be broken?" says Jaar. When there's a demand from clients, however, it's a different story. "It's very difficult for a law firm to say no and turn down the money," says Richard Stock, legal department management consultant with Catalyst Consulting. He agrees there still aren't many companies in Canada doing this — mainly banks and insurance companies. While he says e-billing systems are not yet common here, "matter management, if it's going to make any sense, has to include legal project budgeting, not just managing the number of matters," he says. If you're using dozens of firms around the world, it's essential to have systems like this, simply because there are thousands of matters on the go at any one time. These systems, over time, can provide incredibly detailed information. In-house counsel can see how much of their budget is being spent in various areas, which firms or lawyers are most efficient, and which aren't up to snuff. That's why some law firms are jumping on this and trying to better leverage the in- formation they have in their billing systems. "Don't wait for your clients to know more about your business than you do," says Jaar. Indeed, firms like Gowling Lafleur Hen- derson LLP have responded to this shift. Gowlings is piloting a legal project man- agement system called Gowlings Practical LPM, which is being rolled out in phases over the course of this year. The system is rooted in project manage- ment principles and collaboration tech- niques to help ensure matters stay on track, on time, and on budget — which the firm says translates into more efficiency, predict- ability, and value for clients. But, "there are no magic bullets here," says Mark Tamminga, leader of innovation initia- tives at Gowlings, who is spearheading the Legal Suite, leader in legal management solutions for legal departments, unveils GaLexy ® , its bold, new software to better manage enterprise legal activity. Designed by and for corporate counsel. More than 450 clients and 850 legal IT projects. Over 15 years of technological know-how and legal expertise. More than 25 000 users. Contracts Litigation General Matters Powers of Attorney Intellectual Property E-Billing Real Estate Insurance Corporate Entities NEXT GENERATION OF LEGAL SOFTWARE Unleash the Power of your Legal Department! 420 Notre-Dame West, Suite 602 Montreal, QC, Canada H2Y 1V3 Phone: 514 937 3533 contact@legal-suite.com www.legal-suite.com by Legal Suite New in GaLexy ® A comprehensive electronic billing solution to take full control, gain strong LQVLJKWVLQWROHJDOVSHQGDQGLPSURYHHIÀFLHQF\/HYHUDJH\RXUÀQDQFLDO LQIRUPDWLRQWRPDNHEHWWHUEXVLQHVVGHFLVLRQVDQGXQFRYHUVLJQLÀFDQW savings! ntitled-3 1 14-07-25 11:01 AM

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