Lawyer Software Implementation Best Practice For Legal Operations Manager

Procurement of lawyer software solutions in the legal department requires more than just saying yes to the buy. There’s a process that adds a “success” bow to the lawyer software customer experience beyond the immediate horizon. A legal operations manager often leads the hands-on purchase decision and works with the procurement department and the chief legal officer or general counsel to ensure that the lawyer software selected is the right fit.

In tandem with selecting lawyer software, there’s a critical component for all the leaders in a law department, mentioned above, to consider: Which technology vendor is the best for our needs?

Evaluating Lawyer Software Technology Providers

Assuming internal parties agree that, in this case, an enterprise legal management solution is required to streamline the legal department, here is a comprehensive set of criteria to evaluate an ELM software technology vendor:

Vendor Stability and Reputation

When selecting lawyer software for the in-house legal team, put this list of criteria at the forefront of the technology provider selection process:

• Financial stability and market longevity
• Track record in the legal industry
• Client references from similar organizations
• Industry recognition and awards
• Regular product updates and innovation history

Customer Service 

Customer service is a critical evaluation metric for lawyer software providers. A legal operations manager must determine the level of service the technology vendor provides and the tenure of the experts delivering the service. From account managers to client service managers and anything in between, there are layers and layers of services that a tech provider can deliver. Professional services teams can offer subscription plans, while strategic services can implement project work for additional fees. Other daily services are included in the technology subscription.

Lawyer Software Functionality

Back to the example above for this article, ELM software brings a breadth of features that streamline legal operations management and legal team collaboration, among many other benefits. Here are some of the considerations leaders should explore as lawyer software best practices:

• Audit the Existing Tech Stack and Gaps in Productivity. Certainly, prior to any procurement of lawyer software, a legal operations manager needs to look at the pitfalls and challenges with the existing tech stack and determine whether ELM software can reverse the challenges and streamline efficiencies in the legal department. This process requires a survey of the entire legal department and an exploration of productivity tools, reporting, maturity modeling against department goals, actionable insights applied to strategic decisions, opinions of leadership, and much more.
• Security and Compliance. Every technology solution provider puts data security and continuous improvements at the front of the list. That list should be conveniently available to customers and prospective customers to review. A company’s IT department should engage with the provider and ask the necessary questions to confirm standards, protocols and compliance. In addition to data encryption, customers should ask about data storage, cloud security, audit trails, disaster recovery and data backup, redundant servers, compliance certifications, and other factors that affect data security.
• Technical Capabilities. Within the technical arena, any new lawyer software must integrate its capabilities with existing systems. The entire purpose of deployment of advanced software is to create a smooth-functioning software ecosystem with each part and section in full communication and collaboration. The APIs for all the software, also known as the application programming interface, define how each software communicates and enables the sharing of data and functions from one software program to another. APIs act like contracts between different applications.
• Mobile accessibility and browser compatibility. Cloud-based ELM software, for example, is accessible on mobile devices providing the legal and operations teams with the tools they need anywhere they work. While it may seem basic, the software must be compatible with the primary browsers in use within the legal department. It is up to the provider’s developer team to ensure this functionality.
• System Uptime Guarantees and Performance Metrics. No one wants a software system to crash, especially during inopportune moments during a highly productive day. Knowing a provider tech team is in place to fix such an issue goes with the territory. Understand in advance the statistics for uptime and data for the performance of the software.

ELM Software Functionality and Features

As mentioned previously, software scalability accommodates growth of a legal department. A legal operations manager works to achieve the department’s growth objectives, and one way to do that is by selecting and implementing the right software and partnering with the right technology provider.

Enterprise legal management software eliminates disparate lawyer software that has met its life cycle. Every legal operations manager needs to have confidence in the solutions implemented in the legal department; however, when they run their course and no longer deliver efficiencies, then lawyers and the operations team are left with obsolete software.

The functionality and features of ELM software provide incredible opportunities for the entire legal team, outside counsel and the legal operations team to collaborate efficiently and contribute to enhanced productivity. Look for the following ELM software features to ensure lawyer software best practice:

• Robust matter management as the primary hub for all legal team workflow including automation and optimization of basic tasks with advanced capabilities that also include document management ability
• Contract to matter linking in one unified platform within the enterprise management solution
• Contract lifecycle management with Word drafting and access to hundreds of contract templates
• AI-powered smart financial management tools to automate e-billing, invoice review and approval
• Budget management tools with the ability to find cost savings in invoices
• AI legal assistant to streamline work intake from business stakeholders and legal intake automation options to help manage legal services requests and workflow from the enterprise
• Data and analytics capabilities to add actionable insights to reporting and to provide leadership with an at-a-glance snapshot of legal department performance status

Lawyer Software Implementation Components, Considerations

A critical component in lawyer software deployment is its implementation. What does software implementation mean to a customer and what role should a technology solution provider play?

A simple definition of software implementation is the process of getting new software fully operational within an organization from the point of purchase to full productive use. Implementation implies much more than just software installation. At the “end” (there’s no end to software, really), implementation implies the organized and structured journey to transform software off the shelf into a valuable, integrated part of daily legal department operations.

There are several key components that ELM software, for example, customers should understand about lawyer software implementation:

1. Technical Setup: Installing and configuring the software across your systems and the APIs of other software
2. Integration: Connecting the new software with your existing tools and databases
3. Data Migration: Moving your current information into the new system
4. Customization: Adapting the software to match your specific workflows
5. Training: Teaching your team how to use the system effectively
6. Testing: Ensuring everything works as intended before the full rollout

The implementation phase is critical because it sets the foundation for long-term success with the software. A well-executed implementation leads to better adoption rates, fewer issues down the line, and faster time to value from the ELM software investment.

Change Management Steps

Plan how to communicate changes to your organization and manage the transition from existing systems. To ensure a successful software implementation, put these change-management steps into best practice:

• Define Success – No legal operations manager should implement ELM software without clear-cut objectives that are attainable and sustained. What does an implementation project look like to you? How much must you rely on your technology solution provider to assist? Set up the metrics to define success and pave the way for long-term satisfaction with the selected lawyer software solution. Define clear goals and KPIs to measure the implementation's success and ROI.
• Ownership – On both the vendor and legal department sides, someone needs to be the point of contact, perhaps a law department manager, to take ownership of the entire implementation process from start to finish.
• Allocation of Resources – Alongside ownership of the project, allocate the appropriate resources including team, time and budget. Ensure you have internal champions and dedicated staff to work with an implementation team and drive adoption.
• Timeline – At the outset of the relationship, the solution vendor needs to ascertain the complexity of the implementation and set a realistic timeline based on the complexity of the installation and expectations of leadership. Build in buffer time for unexpected challenges and additional training needs.
• Action-Orientation – The smoothest implementation occurs with active, not passive, engagement from your team during the process. When a legal operations manager aggressively manages the timeline and task list and keeps open lines of communication with the solution provider, then most challenges can be headed off at the pass.
  Identify a trainer – The in-house legal team needs someone to help implement the software and train them on features and functionality. This person can be a “train-the-trainer” type who becomes the in-house expert and parses that knowledge to others throughout the legal department.
• Data Preparation: Assess your current data quality and format to ensure smooth migration and system performance.

Things to Ask Of Technology Vendors

First, ask a technology solution provider about their philosophy on software implementation, ongoing support and hands-on account management. A solution provider must have a training arm to ensure that anyone on the customer side has the training they need and desire to scale the software after implementation.
Listen for any implementation promises by vendors that seem unrealistic. If they seem far-fetched, then they probably are. For example, these red flags should be addressed at the outset, or pass on an offer, if a software provider shares:

• "Installation is just plug-and-play" (this over-simplifies the process)
• "Zero disruption to current operations" (while that sounds incredible, it’s entirely unrealistic)
• "No training needed" (read between the lines on this one…that likely suggests inadequate support and training.)
• "One-size-fits-all implementation" (each legal department adopts technology with its methods; if this promise is stated upfront, the vendor can’t customize the software.)

Critical Components of Software Implementation

One of the most important factors in any software implementation is user experience. A legal operations manager wants lawyers and other legal ops team members to like using the software and experience heightened productivity and efficiency. Some of the ways to gauge success are these common variables:

• Is the user experience, called UX, simple and intuitive
• Is the software easily adopted at all levels and layers of the legal department
• Can users customize options and features on their own and can the point person implement customization options on their own (or assisted by tech support)
• Does the mobile experience allow for ease of use, productivity, efficiency, and security
• Are features accessible to all users
• Is the search functionality accurate

There are some areas that legal departments don’t often think about but are equally important:

• What does the product roadmap look like, and is it scalable and robust for legal department growth?
• Is AI a current feature of the software and are there plans for additional AI capabilities to enhance the product? This should also be shared in the product roadmap.
• Is there an investment by the vendor in technology innovation, and is this a regular commitment to benefit the customer?
• Is the ELM software configurable to integrate with emerging technologies and existing products so that the software ecosystem is healthy, productive, modern, and sustainable?

Relationship Building With Legal Operations Manager

The relationship between a legal operations manager and a technology solution provider is much like a partnership. The customer often relies on the tech provider before and after implementation to ensure that the software integration is running smoothly, data migration is happening without a hitch, and training for users is available, accessible and on target.

A legal operations manager should be aware of the various roles that a software manufacturer offers to accommodate customer service:

• Client success team – experts are charged with ensuring that each day of the relationship bears fruit and drives toward software success and a mature legal department
  Strategic services team – with expertise from decades of service to corporate legal teams, those who work in strategic services identify problems with solutions to make the legal department more efficient and productive.
• Professional services team – the advanced-level team of professionals provides solutions to many scenarios in the legal department. From the beginning of an onboarding process to ongoing business planning, a professional services team collaborates to drive user adoption, process improvements and ROI for the legal team.
• Technology development team – while the development team is hidden in the background, they play a major role in product customization based on customer request and ensuring the software runs without a hitch.
• Support services – when and if a customer requires technical support, look for a product team with 24x7x365 support services and a responsive ticket process.
  Regardless of which level of customer service is engaged, each must be responsive to customer feedback and requests for assistance; committed to the success of the relationship and overall software implementation; bring industry expertise and product knowledge to the table; and be transparent about the product roadmap to scale the software in support of department growth goals.

What to expect from a software solution partner:

• Data Management. Without data migration, new software would be an empty shell. A discussion with the solution provider is necessary to determine how, when and how much data to migrate to the new system with the goal of data integrity and minimal disruption to operations. Data privacy and security are the highest considerations during data migration.
• Software Training Support. An established software vendor should have an extensive training department with instructor-led workshops, power user sessions, sessions for administrators, and on-demand sessions for users. The variety of sessions should be refreshed to share in-depth product usage and understanding for any user who requests that training. The solution provider must offer initial comprehensive training for all users at all levels of adoption and based on work type. For every software implementation, administrators, power users and end users e.g., the legal team managing matters, are expected to be actively engaged with the platform. Outside counsel can also use the ELM software, and they should also have training opportunities. An established software provider and technology manufacturer should align with a “university,” which can be an internal training arm for all technology products. In the university portal, users can access on-demand video tutorials, product documentation, live sessions with trainers, train-the-trainer webinars, and more in-depth sessions for power users.
• Customer Support. When implementing software, acquire an early understanding of the account teams that will manage customers following implementation. There should be a dedicated account team accessible daily to assist with implementation issues and optimize the customer experience. A technical support team answers the critical questions and issues that need addressing at odd hours of the day, evening, weekend, or holidays.
• Professional and Strategic Services. Not every technology provider offers professional services. Those that do, are established, credible and highly reputable. When looking for a technology provider, ask about this bonus because it delivers major benefits to the law department.

Often, solution providers have client subscription plans at various levels including strategic initiatives, more in-depth consulting, benchmarking solutions, vendor management programs, creation of dashboards and scorecards to measure success and performance, maturity modeling programs to empower decision-making strategies, and so many more opportunities.

Lawyer software implementation includes various critical steps for a legal operations manager to deploy. Working with the best technology software provider as a partner for the long term provides that stability of process and attainment of growth goals in the legal department. Contact us to learn more about the lawyer software your legal department needs to bolster success, productivity, efficiency, and collaboration.