“Aderant Total Office has been great for

us. It is a very sophisticated system, and

is a marked improvement from what

we have used in the past. We may be

a 100-year-old law firm, but thanks to

Total Office we have a highly efficient,

21st-century case and financial

management system.”

Tracy Puritz , Executive Director

Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen

Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen (Allen & Allen) is one of Virginia’s oldest and largest law

firms specializing in personal injury and medical malpractice. The firm has seven

attorneys listed in Best Lawyers in America, and was named one of the Best Places

to Work in Virginia by Virginia Business and Best Companies Group in both 2011 &

2012. These honors and many others are a reflection of the experience, knowledge

and skills that the firm brings to personal injury cases. As of October 2012, the firm

had 120 employees including 25 attorneys.

While the firm has long looked to technology to help improve employee productivity

and streamline manual processes to better and more quickly serve clients, our

case and financial management software in particular, was in need of an overhaul.

Our first improvement in this area occurred in 2002, when the firm upgraded its

case and financial management software, purchasing two separate systems and

integrating them through a third-party interface that was customized and installed

by a software consultant. While this was an improvement over the firm’s old

DOS-based case management system and accounting spreadsheets, it wasn’t a long

term solution. Fast forward a decade … the firm has not only grown in sheer size,

but also opened new offices, and the demands of clients when it comes to knowing

how a case is progressing, collaborating with outside counsel, and having online

access to case details has grown exponentially.

Allen & Allen PersonAl Injury FIrm leverAges AderAnt IntegrAted CAse And FInAnCIAl mAnAgement

ADERANT SUCCESS PROFILEADERANT TOTAL OFFICE

A technology upgrade was definitely in order but not for the sake of

change or simply having new “bells and whistles” to play with. The

previous system interface severely limited the firm’s ability to upgrade

and apply a new version resulting in the firm’s use of outdated

versions of both our case and financial software. Ultimately, we

also lost ongoing technical support from our vendors and it became

abundantly clear that ‘ease of system and technology integration’

would be a major factor in selecting a new system that could support

the needs of a growing, innovative firm with multiple offices.

Before making the move to a new platform, we came to the

conclusion that any integration “challenges” in the future would

be severely limited by not only controlling the number of vendors

involved in providing the firm with case and financial, but by making

sure that everything worked with and complied with Microsoft since

Allen & Allen is what you would consider a MS “shop”.

mICrosoFt And true IntegrAtIon

While we knew what IT and Accounting wanted in a new system, we

formed a 20-member selection committee to get a broader firm-wide

perspective and evaluate all of our software options including the

existing technology. The committee reviewed nearly a dozen possible

solutions before selecting Aderant Total Office (formerly Client

Profiles Case and Financial Management) and it’s Plaintiff Financial

Package (includes T & B, AP, Collections, GL, and Reporting) and

Case Management Package (client-intake, full-text indexing, etc.)

Why Aderant Total Office? In a word, integration. Very few of the

vendors that the firm considered could provide both case and

financial management software. Among those that could, Aderant

stood out for its robust (aka easy to use but plenty of features) case

management tools and intuitive (aka easy to access, learn and train on)

user interface as well as its partnership with Microsoft. It was clear

to the firm that we needed to switch to a solution that integrated

with Microsoft so it was a plus that Aderant is a Microsoft Certified

Gold Partner which gives them direct access to Redmond’s legal

development and management team as well as various MS-sponsored

Technology Adoption Programs (TAPs). From an upgrade standpoint,

we knew Aderant would synch its technology updates with Microsoft

and as the software giant rolled out new legal-specific solutions,

Aderant and the Total Office team would be on the same page.

Furthermore, we faced a series of server upgrades and new purchases,

but knew even with the new technology, we would not be gaining

any new functionality from the archaic system. With Microsoft and

Aderant we would be able to leverage both vendors’ latest features

and upgrades, and thanks to their partnership, in a tightly integrated

fashion. Not only does Aderant offer complete front and back office

integration, but also an unmatched integration with the Microsoft

applications used by everyone within the firm. Another selling point

for Total Office was Aderant’s experience and track record with larger

and more complex law firms. The previous case management system

was primarily built based on small(er) firm requirements so we did

not have the confidence our case and financial technology could keep

pace with firm growth and expansion.

Beyond the Microsoft “game changer”, we identified other Aderant

Total Office automation features that swayed the selection committee

in Aderant’s favor:

• AutomatedSettlementprocessing: Total Office offers a

settlement processing solution that takes the gross settlement

value, deducts firm fees, referral fees, firm costs, liens and

letters of protections medicals (with reductions) and produces

a net figure payable to the client(s). This document includes all

necessary waivers and is client signature ready cutting our firm’s

time spent on producing a settlement from several hours to less

than five minutes

• Modularintegration:All application modules integrate with

each other. For example, when writing a check for a client cost,

the costs gets posted to the matter automatically

• Accountingintegrity: All though it might be considered a ‘no

brainer’, Total Office has the proper accounting controls are in

place to ensure firm data is not corrupted, either accidentally or

intentionally. This relates in particular to trust accounts but is

true across all bank accounts.

true vAlue oF CustomIzAtIon

The firm was also drawn by the level of customization that Aderant

offered. Again, this is something other systems also offered but

not to the extent we were looking for. The true value of software

customizations is in the time saved to perform work on behalf of clients

while not having to re-train users on how to work the new software

but instead molding the technology to accommodate the way the firm

works.

ADERANT TOTAL OFFICEADERANT CASE STUDY

Case in point. The firm has eight different law types with detailed

and unique screens, pick lists and to-do packages attached to each.

In addition to the screens provided by Aderant at the outset, the

firm created six new tabs to identify, monitor and track crucial case

management information. As different elements are identified or

there is a new ruling or change in the law, the firm is easily able to

design new fields, checklists and pick lists that pertain to the change.

Any information then generated through these new fields can be

tracked through a written report.

Customization is particularly important to the firm’s intake process,

which uses custom screens to capture data relating to the nature of

the call. Those data fields correspond with a specific merge document

that attorneys can use to print a report prior to meeting a new client.

In addition to developing fields that apply to the individual and cause

of action, the firm also created fields to capture marketing and referral

information. The subsequent reports enable the firm to track the

types of calls received, the number of calls taken during a particular

time frame and who took the calls.

trAInIng (PrACtICe) mAkes PerFeCt

A successful implementation depends on good training. Allen, Allen,

Allen & Allen chose to centralize training, bringing everyone to the

headquarters in Richmond over the course of two weeks. A bank of

computers was set up in a conference room and customized training

sessions were held for management, intake and administrative teams,

as well as all of the attorneys and their direct legal support.

Our goal was to implement without dramatic impact on the

employees. We wanted to make sure that we had good training

in place, and that we implemented the software at the right time

for the right people. During the first two weeks, we moved at a

measured pace, slowly adapting to the new software. During this

“trial period”, the firm didn’t cut any case-related checks or close any

cases, affording us time to adjust to the new system and make sure

that everything was operating correctly. Allen & Allen also did a lot

of advanced planning, especially on the accounting side, working

closely with Aderant’s technical support team, to confirm the system

was properly configured.

the PAyoFF

Today, three years into our initial Total Office implementation, the

case and financial management technology has not only met the

firm’s expectations, but in some cases, greatly exceeded them.

All-in-one. The aforementioned front/back-office integration has

been a god send, providing increased financial accuracy for billing

and accounting. Our controller has reported no more double entries,

balanced trust accounts, smooth printing and check handling and

better cash flow.

Reporting. Total Office’s reporting capabilities as well as the ease

of report writing, has enhanced firm management’s ability to

quickly and efficiently address staffing issues and better balance

individual case management needs. Customized reports provide our

management team with a snapshot of case status; top 50 cases, top

valued cases, cases in litigation, an active case inventory by value

class, and case intake comparison to prior periods, among others.

A consolidated case information report has been developed that

provides attorneys with a quick view of pertinent case information

without the need to query various screens and tabs. All told, our IT

department has developed more than 200 custom reports within Total

Office over the past few years, saving the firm a significant amount of

time and effort compared to systems that require the software vendor

to develop the reports.

Collaboration. The new technology has made it easier for our

attorneys to share case responsibilities even if they are located in

different offices. All case information can be reviewed simultaneously

by computer rather than relying on the physical file. The Parties

tab lists everyone involved with the case, including the plaintiff,

defendants, insurance companies (and their coverage), witnesses

(and their deposition dates) and more. All the documents and

pleadings are stored in the Worldox DMS tab, which is attached to the

case. The “Scheduled Events” tab houses all important appointments,

hearing and deposition dates. Everything the attorneys need is

instantly available, no matter where they are located.

Beyond these benefits, Total Office is vastly more stable than the

previous configuration, which would often crash and leave attorneys

and support staff with no access to critical case documents. Overall,

Aderant Total Office has been great for us. It is a very sophisticated

system, and is a marked improvement from what we have used in the

past. We may be a 100-year-old law firm, but thanks to Total Office we

have a highly efficient, 21st-century case and financial management

system.

ADERANT TOTAL OFFICEADERANT CASE STUDY

AbOUT ThE AUThOR

Tracy Puritz has been Allen & Allen’s executive director since 2002 and active

in various law firm operational leadership roles since 1988. His areas of focus

include finance & budget administration, strategic planning, and broader HR

and firm operations. He can be reached at Puritz@AllenandAllen.com.Copyright © 2012 Aderant Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. www.aderant.com | info@aderant.com | +1 888 604 2366