Owen White’s winning document management play is game changing

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19, the ensuing lockdowns in the UK and elsewhere triggered a move to the cloud for Owen White. Their manual processes for information management and the lack of a central repository quickly went from “far from ideal” in the pre-pandemic office to “unworkable” in a remote work environment. The firm quickly implemented a best practice approach to document and email management and — after deploying iManage Work 10 in the Cloud — their more than 25 lawyers have benefitted from significant productivity gains, contributing to broader business efficiency across the entire firm.

A commercial law firm based in the Thames Valley, west of London, Owen White Solicitors pride themselves on giving their clients clear, user-friendly advice and practical solutions. Specializing in areas that interest them enables Owen White lawyers and staff to approach their work with enthusiasm. The firm prizes its reputation and sets the high standards required to maintain it.

The business challenge

A time-consuming process for all the people involved

Owen White used network drives as the firm’s primary email and document storage solution. Renaming their emails and saving them onto the drive was a burdensome activity for the time-poor lawyers. Consequently, volumes of important information lay dormant in Microsoft Outlook inboxes.

The lack of a standardized approach to file naming and case-folder management compounded the difficulty for team members trying to identify case-related information. Undertaking accurate and comprehensive file audits became a sticking point. File audits have implications for Owen White from a professional indemnity insurance perspective, and the firm must ensure that audits are conducted to industry standards.

As well, the firm still printed, filed, and boxed up all case documents for storage in a physical archive. Archiving these records was a demanding activity, manual and time intensive. In property work, title plans are in color and only high-quality scans can be archived, adding to the complexity of this chore.

“All aspects of the process — from email and document management to archiving — were time consuming for all the people involved,” said Caroline Cowley, Director, Owen White.

The lack of a central repository and other shortcomings of these manual information management processes quickly became evident when the firm went from a wholly office-based environment pre-pandemic into remote working during lockdown.

“Lawyers came into the office to pick up files to work on at home, and if anyone else needed the same files they had to physically collect them or obtain a scan from the person holding the file. It simply wasn’t working,” said Cowley.

The solution

Almost 90 percent of the firms we work with use iManage Work

Recognizing the imperative for a centralized, electronic approach, the firm explored a variety of technologies — including a case management system — before focusing on best-practice email and document management systems (DMS), which led them to iManage Work 10.

After noticing the case reference number at the bottom of the page on documents received from other law firms, the firm investigated — and learned that almost 90 percent of the firms that they work with use iManage Work. That 90 percent endorsement spoke volumes to Owen White about the suitability of the product for law firms.

The firm decided iManage Work 10 in the Cloud ensured the fastest route to deployment during the lockdown, augmented by the many long-term business benefits of a cloud solution. These included the assurance of always being on the most current version — with the latest features and functionality — as well as having the administration, maintenance, and updates overseen by their iManage partner, thus relieving Owen White of the burden of having dedicated staff to manage these.

Of several potential partners iManage suggested for the implementation, the firm chose Ascertus.

“Ascertus stood out above the rest across the entire selection process — from the quality of the sales presentation through to the references we received from the company’s existing iManage customers,” Cowley shared.

Owen White worked with Ascertus to ensure that the design and configuration of the DMS met the unique requirements of the firm’s individual practice areas. The firm’s external IT team also liaised with Ascertus, integrating iManage Work 10 with the firm’s system of accounts.

“We recognized how important it was for the firm to have iManage Work 10 in the Cloud fully deployed during the lockdown, and we were confident that we could meet Owen White’s tight timeline,” said Jon Wainwright, Sales Director, Ascertus.

Business outcomes

Gaining efficiency and seamless collaboration in the hybrid work environment

With iManage Work 10, Owen White has a single repository for emails and documents in structured, matter-specific workspaces using standardized file naming. Lawyers save important emails and documents from their inboxes into the appropriate matter folders with one mouse click. When a group email is saved by an individual, all members are automatically alerted to avoid content duplication in the DMS.

Lawyers share links to information in Work 10, saving time previously spent searching for documents that were stored on a network or attached to an email. Documents and emails are saved together as a matter, giving the business a more comprehensive view.

And any member on the team can move a matter forward, boosting productivity and freeing attorneys to focus on higher-value activities for the firm.

Faster onboarding of new clients and matters

Clear document versioning keeps updates and changes visible. Plus, every record of correspondence and document in iManage has an audit trail, eliminating issues with client-related audits of documentation.

“As the director responsible for compliance, I’m very assured and confident that all the case-related information is duly stored in iManage Work 10. Documents and pertinent emails aren’t sitting in people’s inboxes,” says Cowley.

There are operational benefits, as well. When a new matter is opened in the accounts system, a workspace is automatically created in iManage Work 10, so onboarding of new clients and matters is faster. Requests for approval — such as banking notifications or matter notices — are electronically forwarded to relevant parties via a link from within iManage. The office even uses far less paper than before.

“I recommend iManage Work 10 and Ascertus to any law firm that is looking for a DMS. From our very first interaction with these organizations, our experience has been extremely positive,” Cowley observed.

Looking ahead

Cowley said the future process of post-case completion archiving would be much simpler because, with all the information now electronic, just a few clicks of the mouse will be all there is to do. “iManage Work 10 in the Cloud is a true game-changer for Owen White,” said Cowley.