Vella, Pugliese, Buosi, Guidoni

Vella, Pugliese, Buosi, Guidoni (VPBG) is a leading law firm in Brazil. The firm needed to transform their approach to document management. VPBG needed a document management system that was structured, auditable and integrated with the ERP. The previous solution did not provide this. VPBG rolled out several iManage solutions on the iManage Cloud platform with support from partner TOTVS. VPBG lawyers are now able to securely access their documents from any location. They can collaborate seamlessly both in house and with clients using iManage Share. The firm maintains control and transparency over their data with iManage Threat Manager, while easilycomplying with Brazil’s strict data protection regulations.

The business challenge

Complex document management impacted user experience and billable hours

VPBG are a leading law firm in Brazil’s highly developed legal market, committed to providing exceptional client services and expertise around corporate tax law, mergers and acquisition, and litigation. They are also part of one of the world’s largest law companies — Dentons, a legal powerhouse with over 200 global offices. VPBG was formed in 2009 through the merger of two firms, and their 150 lawyers work across four separate offices in Brazil as well as remotely. Several of their corporate clients rank among the 100 largest companies in Brazil, and their international projects include cases in the UK, the US and Germany.

For VPBG’s legal team to apply their expertise and deliver efficient client services, they need to be able to locate relevant documents quickly and collaborate seamlessly with other practice areas and clients.

Yet VPBG’s on-premises legacy document management system had issues. Patchy connectivity impacted access for the firm’s geographically dispersed staff. And with 3 million documents and no search function, information could be difficult to find. Laerte Bueno, VPGB’s Head of IT, recalls an occasion when searching for a specific email took him four days — not ideal in an organization that depends on quick and easy access to information.

Moreover, the legacy system was not connected to VPBG’s ERP, making it impossible to synchronize information and automate tasks such as issuing client invoices.

“It was stressful for us and my users weren’t happy. Trying to organize and search for documents was a terrible experience,” says Bueno. “And we’re a service provider, so wasted time equals lost revenue.”

Managing the infrastructure internally was also expensive, and the firm wanted the increased security of a cloud-native solution to maintain compliance with Brazilian data protection law.

The solution

Smooth migration to a championed knowledge management platform

When the firm was formed, some of the team had prior knowledge and experience of iManage and were champions of the platform. This endorsement from within helped convince decision makers to adopt iManage across the enterprise.

VPBG rolled out the iManage platform, migrating around 1 million documents from their existing file server and legacy management system. iManage Work in the Cloud, iManage Share, and iManage Threat Manager were all implemented.

According to Bueno, transferring the files was easy. The biggest question was around how VPBG should structure its data and handle change management as it migrated to a new and unfamiliar platform. VPBG shaped its migration and adoption strategy with support from TOTVS, a regional iManage partner. This included training several iManage champions who, once qualified, would be responsible for encouraging peer-to-peer learning to drive user adoption.

VPGB also ran an educational program highlighting iManage benefits and advantages, all the ways it would enable the firm to enhance the quality of its service delivery. Regular hands-on training for the team was delivered via a series of workshops, facilitated by TOTVS. “That was wonderful,” says Bueno. “We were able to create an onboarding process that worked well for us, and within three months we had 65 lawyers and 25 back-office staff using the system.”

Bueno himself says “iManage is open on my screen 100 percent of the time.”

The firm uses iManage Share to enable lawyers to collaborate easily with clients, internal colleagues who are based across multiple locations, and external partners, while maintaining version control and tracking changes. “Collaborative work brings productivity gains and, consequently, better service to our clients,” confirms Bueno.

Bueno adds that iManage Threat Manager is essential to enabling the firm to meet the demands of Brazilian general data protection law. “iManage Cloud has robust security features such as encryption and access control, and iManage Threat Manager works alongside these to reduce the risk of data breaches, while simplifying compliance.” Threat Manager works alongside these to reduce the risk of data breaches, while simplifying compliance.”