Project type
Consultancy, PMS selection
Scope
As part of an on-going IT renewal program and its Envision PMS going ‘end of life’, Capital Law looked towards a new ‘best of breed’ approach. Having already deployed iManage as a dedicated DMS, it engaged Baskerville Drummond to advise on its new PMS – effectively a binary choice between Aderant and Elite 3E.
However, after early discovery sessions on needs and wants and users’ working practices and day-to-day experience, Baskerville Drummond advised Capital to ‘reset’ its selection project.
The main driver for this was that there was no real evidence that ‘best of breed’ would align better with the firm’s requirements. Indeed, as long as the chosen PMS integrated with iManage, there was a far stronger rationale for keeping things simple. Something well-rounded, geared for SMEs, straightforward to deploy and good value, with first-rate support, that was argued for as a far more logical, prudent choice.
Approach
With the decision made to review its PMS option, lead consultant David Baskerville guided the Capital Law team through the selection process: he prepared the tender, conducted the interviews and advised the partnership during the final decision-making. He also devised a separate remedial project that would look to mitigate the worst of the fee earner issues being experienced while the firm transitioned between PMSs.
Capital Law ultimately selected Linetime, seeing a good fit in terms of functionality, value and vendor style, and was due to deploy in 2020 until Covid paused events. Baskerville Drummond will now be supporting the implementation during January 2022.
Outcome
Through serving as a ‘critical friend’ Baskerville Drummond helped Capital Law through a potentially tricky phase. With the advocate of the best of breed strategy having exited the business, the partnership needed an experienced and sensible steer on a critical business decision. With David Baskerville’s guidance, the firm was able to make a more measured evaluation of its technology choices while also addressing some legacy performance problems. As a result, it is now well set to build confidently around a Linetime/iManage core.
Client Verdict
“Having started my role at Capital mid-process, I had no prior experience of practice management systems. My fears relating to my lack of knowledge in this area were quickly allayed by the level of in-depth knowledge and the pragmatic approach David displayed as part of the selection process. This gave me comfort that we would select a system that could drive our business forward and meet its future growth plans.
We are looking forward to continuing our relationship with David acting in an advisory capacity, as we move closer to the go-live date. If you need high level assistance and strategic guidance on legal technology projects, then I would not hesitate to recommend him.”
