Canadian Lawyer InHouse

october 2014 8 INHOUSE News Roundup and was conducted to study law department trends and needs, as well as opportunities to increase effi ciency and reduce costs. Those who responded indicated they are most likely to start using software in the next two years for the following tasks: • monitor deadlines; • document management; • matter management; • legal research; • electronic billing; and, • collaboration. Of those who answered the survey, 48 per cent said they are using collaboration software, 44 per cent are using e-billing soft- ware, and 28 per cent have legal hold software. Automated software is certainly paying off in terms of col- laboration and investor management at Manulife Investments, says Jennifer Mercanti, assistant vice president and chief counsel for the Canadian division. "We are using it for our prospectuses and fund fact docu- ments," she says, noting Manulife Investments uses RR Donnel- ley in Canada and Data Communiqué in the U.S. "The automa- tion of these documents has signifi cantly improved our workfl ow process and created effi ciencies within the legal department and other departments in our organization." Mercanti says the department has saved time in the review of materials and it now has an automated sign-off process whereby internal and external sub-advisers, auditors, and outside legal fi rms can provide electronic comments and sign off through the software. "We currently produce multiple prospectus documents and over 1,300 fund fact documents; therefore the automation of these documents was necessary in order to keep up with current regulations," she says. The need to get contracts under control is something Lorne O'Reilly, associate general counsel at Superior Plus Corp. in Calgary, can relate to. He is currently helping lead the Superior Propane business unit implementation of a contract management solution, which will start with the procurement, legal, and IT groups. It will ultimately include all documents and assist in the document retention and sales processes. "We are only at the early stages in this game, identifying ex- ternal providers as well as internal requirements for the software. It is expected that we will implement our software this fall," says O'Reilly. The department uses practice management software to track litigation actions and legal spend. Amicus Attorney was imple- mented by O'Reilly's predecessor at Superior Propane. "As a practice management tool I do fi nd it to be geared toward the private practice market (and the litigation lawyers) and have found it diffi cult to mesh with the corporate legal requirements," he says. "Outlook and Excel seem to work effectively to track the same inputs so we are proceeding with the contract man- agement solution efforts and hopefully legal matter management bolt-ons." One of Superior's U.S. businesses, Superior Plus Energy Ser- vices, also utilizes ClearRisk, a risk management and incident- tracking program. Legal is able to utilize the information from the software for the purposes of identifying risk issues that need focus, and for insurance purposes, to track events, statistics, and claim progress (as they may result in a legal response). "Further implementation of the software for the entire energy business in the near future will help to provide a larger picture of the organization's issues," he says. IH Alternative firm gives clients chance to change the bottom line I t's not uncommon for clients to do a double take when they open a bill from their law fi rm, but for those who use Conduit Law Professional Corp., any shock and awe over their last invoice wasn't because of the amount due — it was probably about the line inviting them to change the price. When their invoices went out in July, al- ternative services provider Conduit Law in- cluded a "client value adjustment" line just above the "total amount due," which invited clients to change the amount of the invoice to refl ect their opinion of the value they re- ceived for the fi rm's services. Conduit Law president Peter Carayiannis says while he knows clients want consistency and transparency, he realized the third leg of the stool that was missing from his fi rm's of- fering was ensuring clients felt they received value — what is their perception of the value the fi rm is providing? Essentially, he wanted to emphasize value over price. "I wanted to fi nd a way to get the client to tell me if we gave them value," he says. "So this is our way of saying, 'Tell us if we gave you value.'" The response from clients has been mostly surprise about a law fi rm giving cli- ents the chance to change the amount of their bill. Despite the client value adjust- ment line, which lets them scratch out the billed amount and indicate their own price, no one has signed back an invoice request- ing a discount. "It's largely been 'Wow,' or 'Are you crazy?,' or 'Bold!'" says Carayiannis, who founded Conduit in June 2012. "Some have picked up the phone and asked, 'What do you mean?' The client response has been re- ally gratifying." Carayiannis points out there's also the opportunity for clients to adjust the value up and add a bonus if they feel the value was greater than what was billed. Some clients, like Ottawa-based tech company Momentous Corp. don't have in- house counsel and use Conduit for a range of > In-house contemplate software tools to improve productivity… continued from page 7

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