Callie Sierra
Posted 16 April 2019

Last week, we had the opportunity to partner with Lexology, the most comprehensive source of international legal updates, analysis and insights, on presenting a webinar titled: From Library to Contract: Automating the Knowledge Lifecycle. During the webinar, we discussed how forward-thinking law firms and legal teams are working together to streamline the entire service delivery process - from accessing and sharing knowledge to automating contract execution.

In short, the webinar explored best practices for managing intellectual property to improve service delivery. To give you a glimpse, here are some of the key takeaways from the webinar, which you can now watch on-demand.

Focus on Building a Better Knowledge Library

Efficient and high-quality service delivery starts by building a better knowledge library. Your firm’s knowledge library should be a place where lawyers can quickly find the information they need. However, all too often, knowledge libraries hold information that is out-of-date, impossible to find, or simply irrelevant. Building an exemplary knowledge library requires careful and strategic planning: during the webinar, we outlined some of the steps that you need to take to make know-how accessible and relevant for users.

A few best practices to consider:

• Use practice-based taxonomies and firm-driven metadata to make content easily discoverable
• Include previews, ratings and comments to provide more context around documents
• Implement gatekeeper workflows to ensure know-how stays up-to-date
  
  

Streamline Contract Processes with Automation

Once your firm has its know-how in order, it’s time to devise a plan for leveraging that knowledge. Automating the contract process, you can quickly put high-quality managed IP to work to generate quicker, more secure contracts.

More times that not, contract drafting is done by junior staff or associates. Contract automation enables junior staff members to easily and quickly generate contracts by filling out dynamic, web-based questionnaires created automatically from input by subject matter experts. This approach not only speeds up contract drafting, but also greatly reduces the risk of human error.

During the webinar, we discussed some of the key considerations for contact automation:

• Drive contract creation from within Microsoft Word - automated contracts needn’t require programmers or coding knowledge
• Standardise multiple variants to ensure quality
• Identify opportunities to integrate CMS and financial systems
  
  

Deliver Innovative Service with Client Portals

Once your contracts are created, you need to deliver them to clients. Client automation portals enable you to make your firm-managed contracts available to clients 24/7, on a self-service basis. These client-facing online portals streamline document creation, making it possible to engage in more sustainable fixed-fee arrangements, while also enhancing service delivery.

Client portals offer an array of benefits to both law firms, and their clients. Here are just a few of the benefits we discussed in the webinar:

• Provide clients with high quality, value-driven contracts managed by the firm and updated with current legislation
• Ability to route contracts to lawyers for final approval
• Better position firms to win new business

Watch the Webinar

During the course of the webinar, we covered a ton of information on how law firms and legal teams can better manage their internal know-how and create innovative services for clients. If you weren’t able to attend, but would like to view the recording, you can register to see the webinar here.

Posted by Callie Sierra
23 February 2018

This year, we’re excited to be sponsoring and attending The British Legal Technology Forum, which returns to London on 13^th March 2018. As Europe’s largest legal technology conference and exhibition, The British Legal Technology Forum plans to welcome more than 1,200 attendees from across the world of law, legal technology and IT security to explore new strategies and tactics for driving their firms and legal businesses forward. The programme for 2018 will explore key topics, such as law firm automation, driving firm innovation and managing technological disruption.

During the event, you’ll find us in the exhibition space at booth A13. So, please come by to meet our team and see what’s new. We’ll be on hand to talk about how your knowledge management and business development teams can optimise expertise across your legal business and deliver greater value to clients.

You’ll have the opportunity to see a demonstration of our integrated knowledge management and document automation solution, which is helping leading law firms like Castrén & Snellman, operate more efficiently while ensuring quality and value for their clients. We’ll also be showcasing how law firms can power innovative service delivery and client collaboration through our knowledge and transactional portals. 

We’ll also be introducing our latest solution for business development and marketing teams, comprised of experience database management, proposal generation, project management and client portals. Stop by the booth for a demonstration to see how Sysero can help your team quickly capture relevant experience, win more business with powerful proposals and efficiently manage the contract process.

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

Posted by Callie Sierra
17 October 2017

Last week, we had the pleasure of attending the London Law Expo, which welcomed more than 2,000 visitors from the world of legal practice management, technology and IT security. Over the course of the day, legal industry experts shared insights into the technologies that are transforming the practice of law – from knowledge management and HR to security and compliance.  

As firms strive to keep pace with the changing market, it’s necessary for them to stay atop the latest innovations, trends and technologies that can help bring their firms into the future. During the event, Sysero’s Phil Ayton shared some perspective on advancements in legal IT during a panel discussion on “Legal IT – Emerging Technology,” moderated by Jason Plant, Head of Lawyer Knowledge, DLA Piper. Phil was joined by Adam Stewart, Director of Technical Solutions, Introhive; and Robert Florendine, Solutions Manager, iManage.

 The panel shared ideas for fostering innovation in law firms, looked at what it means to be “disruptive,” and questioned the reality behind some of the industry’s biggest legal tech buzzwords.

What is it about AI?

While AI is all the hype in the legal industry, most of the panellists agreed that it’s just that – hype. Not much has changed in the field of law in the past few decades. However, firms are now feeling pressure from clients to be more efficient, transparent, and service-focused.

 AI is a term that’s applied to many different systems that do many different things, yet it’s morphed into a one-size-fits-all solution in the minds of many law firm leaders. Have a document management challenge? No problem, just AI it.

The truth is, no AI available for law firms can master a firm’s complex challenges without human input. To evolve with the times, firms need to tap into technology that improves the way lawyers work, and ultimately enhances the relationships they have with clients. While AI may be a part of it, it’s not the end-all, be-all.

Cultivating a Culture of Innovation

Law firms tend to be risk-adverse organisations, so fostering a culture that favours innovation can pose a significant challenge for many law firm leaders. So, how can law firms make innovation a priority?

The answer lies in effective collaboration. Technology alone isn’t enough to modernise today’s firms; true innovation requires participation, consensus, coaching and motivation. Without collaboration, it becomes incredibly difficult to develop radically new ideas and push them through to fruition.

As Phil Ayton noted during the panel, collaboration doesn’t have to be limited to people. Forward-thinking firms should be exploring ways for people and technology to work together. Advances in automation technologies have made it easier for firms to tightly integrate people, processes and technology to transform the way law firms solve business challenges.

Internet of Things (IoT)

While the internet of things may be changing our home lives, panellists agreed it still hasn’t made much of an impact in the law firm. One of the most prevalent examples of IoT in legal is the use of voice-assisted software. A host of legal tech providers have tried to integrate with Alexa – Amazon’s online voice assistant, yet the technology and market fail to live up to the hype.

Though Alexa is one of the most advanced voice platforms on the market, it still has many limitations – from its inability to recognise different voices to difficulty in understanding phrases and words. Furthermore, there’s a host of security issues to consider. 

While the future of IoT within law firms may be on hold for the moment, there’s still ample opportunity for law firms. As Adam Stewart explained, IoT has the potential to bring in loads of new work for firms, as companies try to understand regulations and rules surrounding IoT.

As a final point, Jason Plant concluded with an emphasis on the important of technical innovation within today’s law firms. As client expectations continue to evolve, firms need to find new ways of unlocking the power of people and technology and identify ways for the them to work together.

Posted by Callie Sierra
March 23, 2017

Next week, we’ll be attending the LegalEx Conference in London. This year’s event promises to bring together more than 3,000 representatives from the most progressive law firms in the UK to explore strategies for expanding, evolving and innovating legal practices. We’re looking forward to exploring key themes, including robotic process automation, agile working practices and smart technologies.

We’ll be kicking off the conference on Tuesday, March 28 at 11am with an engaging session titled The Intelligent Law Firm: Accessible, Agile and Adaptable presented by Phil Ayton, Sysero’s Director. Join us as we look at how law firms can bring together people, processes, and technology to drive efficiency, create differentiation and deliver client-service innovation.

During the conference, you’ll find us in the exhibition hall at booth L630, so stop by and meet our team. You’ll have the opportunity to see a demonstration of our cloud-based knowledge automation tools, including Sysero E-Sign and EasyComplete Marketplace. You’ll also have the chance to enter to win one of four Amazon Echo Dots that we’ll be giving away during the conference.

You still have time to get your free tickets, simply order here.  If you can’t make it, don’t worry; we’ll be sharing highlights from the event on Twitter at @SyseroLtd. Follow us, so you don’t miss out!

We’re looking forward to seeing you next week!

Callie Sierra is the Head of Marketing at Sysero. Her expertise lies in bridging customer insights and communication strategy to build powerful marketing programs. Contact her at callie.sierra@sysero.com