Adopting an Innovative Approach to Legal Research - Ledlin Lawyers

Background

Established in 2014, Ledlin Lawyers is a boutique legal firm operating from Sydney CBD in all areas of commercial law. By concentrating on a number of different specialisations in the commercial environment, they are able to help clients from a variety of backgrounds with a diverse range of concerns.

The forward-thinking team at Ledlin Lawyers is focused on finding new ways to deliver the best possible service to their clients. By empowering their clients to make informed decisions about their legal matters, this family firm with a combined 50 years of experience provides a legal service with a difference through their innovative approach.

Challenge

In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, it can be a challenge to identify practical solutions that provide fundamental assistance to their practice, as well as improve value and experience for their clients.

Father-daughter team Natalie and Terry Ledlin wanted to deliver a modern approach to the provision of legal services in order to keep up with and exceed the expectations of their increasingly sophisticated clients. Their principle of collaborative partnering was born out of the desire to allow clients to have proactive involvement in establishing the value they expect to receieve and a platform through which to maximise value creation.

With Ledlin Lawyers being a small firm, Natalie and Terry sought to find a way to conduct high-quality legal research in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible, without compromising on the value they delivered to their clients.

The Solution

Ledlin Lawyers needed to find a solution that would enhance research efficiency and provide identifiable and clear results for their clients, who would be expecting an innovative approach from their firm of choice. Natalie Ledlin took it upon herself to find a way to satisfy these requirements. “We wanted the best for our clients – the best technology, the best procedures, the best resources. We knew that this would require us to choose a research platform that was comprehensive and innovative, yet still easy to use.”

Lexis Advance® fitted the brief perfectly.

The decision to proceed with the Lexis Advance legal research platform was straightforward: “We did consider other similar platforms, however initially we were drawn to the simple and easy-to-follow layout of Lexis Advance. Once we became aware of all the extra features available to us within the platform, we knew that Lexis Advance was the right solution for us.”

The simplicity of Lexis Advance appealed to Natalie, and its features allowed her flexibility while conducting legal research and during her work day. “Research takes time, and is not always able to be completed in a designated time frame. The ability to log into Lexis Advance at any time and view the history of searches, documents and publications means we can easily pick up where we left off, and locate research that perhaps didn’t seem relevant at the time, but on reflection, may be exactly what we needed.”

Furthermore, the ability to actively and clearly communicate to clients their findings and how their time was being spent was important to Ledlin Lawyers; the history tools and graphical research maps of Lexis Advance have become invaluable to the firm. “Our clients like to be provided with specific details of what research has been undertaken and how we came to various legal conclusions. This is invaluable in providing a value-added service to our clients.”

"We wanted the best for our clients…We knew that this would require us to choose a research platform that was comprehensive and innovative, yet still easy to use."

The Result

Lexis Advance has become an integral part of Ledlin Lawyers’ business. The platform has delivered its promise of Simplicity, Clarity, Flexibility and Efficiency: “Lexis Advance has simplified the way we conduct our legal research, and has reduced the time we spend sifting through pages of results.”

Natalie is particularly pleased with the way Lexis Advance has managed to save her valuable time when conducting research. “It can be frustrating when you spend hours researching a topic and still are not able to find what you are looking for. I have always been able to find a useful case, commentary or precedent whenever I have used the platform. Lawyers are time poor, and it’s always a challenge to fit as much work into the day as possible. The ability to easily identify the most relevant results means that we can provide our advice to clients more quickly and with more precision.”

Lexis Advance has become essential not just in the day-to-day areas of law where Ledlin Lawyers regularly conducts research, but has proven its efficacy and value in more complex matters as well. “We were recently involved in a litigation matter that required some complicated and unusual pleadings. Using Lexis Advance, we were able to locate various precedents that formed the basis of our draft pleadings. This not only saved us time, but saved us costs in being able to provide our Barrister with fully drafted pleadings that only required minor amendments.”

For a small firm like Ledlin Lawyers, Lexis Advance is like having a peer ready to assist you at any time. “Being a small firm, there isn’t always a colleague available at all times to discuss ideas or share resources. Lexis Advance has become our research partner, and the ability to have this resource available online and at our fingertips has not only benefited our firm, but is a direct benefit to our clients as well.”

"Our overall experience with Lexis Advance has been very positive. It has been great to be able to take advantage of all of the features of Lexis Advance."

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