The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50811
TECH SUPPORT management tools, MacLean is in a league of its own among small firms. It uses Microsoft Windows-based com- puters and a Microsoft Windows 2008 server running Amicus Attorney, the Canadian-developed legal practice management system. Amicus is acces- sible over the network to all comput- ers in both its Vancouver and Fort St. John offices. The other key back-end application is Worldox, a document management system (DMS). "You'd think everybody would be using some- thing like [Amicus] and the DMS," says MacLean. "But when I look at small firms, a lot of them don't. I find it appalling." It still shocks him when he encoun- ters practitioners who continue to do things manually — like the lawyer who admitted recently that he filled out time sheets with paper and pencil. MacLean says he believes fewer than 50 per cent of small firms are using basic computerized tools. But where his firm really shines is in its use of web-based tools, includ- ing blogging, Twitter (the always-on, short-message blog site), Facebook, LinkedIn (a business networking site) — and even online TV shows about family law that it produces and posts on its own web site (bcfamilylaw.ca). It's largely for marketing — nothing startlingly new there. But the web is also central to MacLean's innovative approach to client relations. It's a col- laborative approach in which clients become "part of the crew, not the cargo," as he likes to put it. The firm uses extranets, private web sites for clients, to manage the relationships. "Clients have all the facts in their head," MacLean points out. "They know the case so much better than we do. So we use them to help provide better results." Redwerks, the firm's web site devel- oper, recently redesigned and signifi- cantly enhanced the extranet system. It has now become integral to MacLean's practice. When a new client comes on board, the firm automatically sets up an extranet site for him or her. The site includes a calendar where clients ntitled-5 1 26 FEBRU AR Y 2010 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com 1/21/10 4:37:20 PM — and lawyers — can keep track of important events such as meetings and hearings. It includes a message board where lawyers working on the file, or the client, can post notes. Most cru- cially, it includes forms for the client to fill out and a list of tasks — MacLean refers to this as "homework." When the client submits a requested form or document, the system automatically sends an alert by e-mail to the respon- sible lawyer. If clients fail to meet dead- lines, the system automatically e-mails a reminder. The approach is partly a response to client pressure to reduce legal costs. "If you think companies can't afford legal services," MacLean says, "think of the individual." Enlisting clients to do the legwork saves them "a ton of dough," he says. As a nice side benefit, they also learn how detail- and labour-intensive legal work can be. Perhaps more importantly, the MacLean approach is part of a larger trend in the legal profession — and a conscious effort on MacLean's part — to shed routine tasks and concen- trate on more profitable "premium" services. Some firms are achieving this by outsourcing routine tasks. MacLean says he is, in effect, outsourcing this to clients. He estimates the use of extra- nets will allow him to handle 10-per- cent more files. The new second-generation extranet is just the latest initiative in MacLean's aggressive technology strategy. At its heart is a dynamite firm web site, also developed by Redwerks. When he first went out on his own in 2003, MacLean saw the potential of the Internet and invested in developing a web site at a time when even some large firms were still dragging their heels. That site won awards. Today, the revamped site has a fresh, clean look with eye-catching, sometimes edgy, photos of MacLean and his staff. It's one part of his web strategy where he spends money — many of the other tools are free — but he figures it's money well-spent. "The Internet is huge," he says. "The web site and the blog are where most of the new