Cascione Advogados’ hybrid workplace doesn’t just give employees a better work-life balance, it provides greater opportunities to expand the business globally. Law firm staff, however, were finding their current document management solution (DMS), eDocs, difficult to use, and that impacted user adoption. The firm wanted to enable its lawyers and other staff to be more productive, and this led Cascione to consider replacing the DMS. After evaluating the leading solutions on the market, and with support from Docwise, the firm implemented iManage Work 10 in the Cloud, which led to increased user productivity, streamlined collaboration, and enhanced document security.

Cascione Advogados is a Brazilian full-service law firm that combines legal expertise, commercial insight, and empathy to help clients navigate complex challenges. They have a culture of integrity, collaboration, and diversity, and differentiate themselves through technical innovation and attracting and retaining the best legal minds.

The business challenge

Poor user experience prompts new approach to document management

While Cascione has offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, their attorneys can work from anywhere in the world, enabling the firm to support clients across the globe and win more business.

One of the cloud technologies the firm had put in place to underpin this hybrid workplace was eDocs, but employees found the solution awkward to use, resulting in low adoption. That was a problem. Cascione recognized that if people don’t use the tools that are intended to raise efficiency and promote a global business culture, these goals become more difficult to achieve. That’s why firm leadership concluded that increasing staff productivity likely meant replacing the DMS.

“The three main considerations behind our document management transformation were the user experience, data security and protecting client privacy, and the ability to centralize our users’ workspace through integration,” explains Felipe Humberto Guardiano Nunes, Head of Technology and Innovation at Cascione Advogados.

To prevent the situation that had led them to search for a new system, Cascione sought a platform with a user interface that was easy to navigate. They were committed to ensuring a better user experience and strong adoption. They knew that they needed the highest levels of security to protect client data from external threats and illicit internal downloads in a regulated and increasingly risky global landscape.

In addition, they wanted a platform that could integrate seamlessly with systems and tools the firm uses every day, such as the Microsoft suite of products, so staff could complete tasks without the continuous interruption of switching between applications.

The solution

Seamless move to a user-friendly knowledge work platform

After comparing the latest version of eDocs against Microsoft SharePoint and the iManage platform, the firm decided the clearest path to success would be to implement iManage Work 10 in the Cloud, along with iManage Share and iManage Threat Manager.

“iManage has the best search, a great user interface, high levels of security, and supports our mobility strategy because it’s cloud-native,” explains Nunes. “We partnered with Docwise, an iManage implementation partner, and we are confident that — with their expertise and the iManage platform capabilities — we made the right choice to make our knowledge work.”

Docwise moved about 2 terabytes of data (approximately 700,000 documents) from eDocs to iManage over four months, with cutover taking place seamlessly over one weekend. Cascione worked with iManage and Docwise to show staff how to use the platform and, crucially, how it would make their lives easier.

“We were very happy with the migration. There was great teamwork between our staff, iManage, and Docwise, and the training helped encourage greater adoption, which was one of our biggest priorities as the firm went through this change,” recalls Nunes.

Establishing more effective ways of working

Everyone at Cascione Advogados uses iManage Work 10, from admin workers and IT staff to the finance team and attorneys. People have far less need to leave one application and go to another because the platform is so integration-friendly. Lawyers collaborate better, both internally and externally, and send documents securely to clients using iManage Share. And, with Threat Manager, the firm has greatly mitigated the risk landscape, as well.

Making use of integrations to centralize the user experience was a primary goal of transitioning to a new solution. To this end, iManage integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams, as well as other applications law firms typically use every day — tools for matter management, digital signatures, and document automation, for example.

“Before iManage, there wasn’t much collaboration between different practice groups,” says Nunes. “Now when someone starts work on a new matter, they search for similar projects across the firm, so they’re not starting from scratch and can build on relevant historical knowledge.”

The firm uses Threat Manager to monitor compliance and alert the technology team to any suspicious behavior, which they can report to the appropriate party. When an employee tried to download an unusually large volume of documents, for example, Threat Manager generated a notification that enabled a compliance manager to prevent a data leak.

“iManage Threat Manager famously caught insider trading in a very high-profile case in the US. Everyone in Brazil knows about that case, and referencing it helped us get buy-in from internal stakeholders. I told the compliance team they were getting the same solution that protected that well-known law firm,” adds Nunes.