Ten Old Square - IRIS Software Case Study
2
ORGANISATION PROFILE Acknowledged as one of the finest Chancery sets of barristers’ chambers, London-based Ten Old Square is well known for its private client, property and commercial chancery work. It also has an enviable reputation amongst solicitors for partnership / LLP law. Praised by The Legal 500 for its professional team of 24 barristers and 4 clerks the directory recently stated: “The level of service is terrific, with excellent response times and helpful clerks.” The set is committed to providing its clients with the highest quality of service and constantly monitors quality standards and makes improvements, where necessary, to enhance service delivery for their clients’ benefit. Keith Plowman explains: “My role here is to manage the flow of work and remove the burden of administration from the barristers, so that they can concentrate on their cases and clients. I lead our clerking team to best support the activities of our barristers, and provide our professional clients with advice on the availability and costs of instructing appropriate Counsel. This complete dedication to service quality, and our candid manner, has garnered admiration from many quarters, including The Legal 500 and Chambers UK Guide. In addition, my responsibilities include overseeing the administration of our business in terms of the overall welfare, marketing and development of chambers. The software we use is an important aspect of all these processes. It provides us with the essential features to support every area of chambers management.” BUSINESS CHALLENGE Ten Old Square’s decision to upgrade to IRIS Meridian Law Connected was not exactly a business challenge, but was more of a natural progression from their existing software. Keith adds: “We were Infinity users beforehand. Being one of Mountain Software Limited’s, now IRIS’s, legacy applications, it was not supported to the same degree as the newer systems (obviously IRIS tend to focus their valuable development resources on their fresh software) so it was time for us to upgrade. It felt natural to progress to IRIS Meridian Law Connected because it’s Windows based, like Infinity, so it was very easy to switch.” SOLUTION DEPLOYED IRIS Meridian Law Connected was installed to replace Infinity as Ten Old Square’s chambers, diary and fees management system. Keith continues: “IRIS, and previously Mountain Software, had always been my preferred software supplier. All the key people were carried over to IRIS at the time of acquisition. I am well acquainted with the Fleet Street staff and support teams, some of whom we’ve known for 20 years. They’re responsive with any technical queries on the rare occasions I call them, which is typically around once a year. Needless to say, I have a long-established relationship with IRIS, and that longevity is down to the trust I have in the people who work there and the quality of the software they supply and support. I believe that Meridian Law Connected is an excellent product. The software is easy to use, being Windows-based in format, avoiding the usual familiarisation period which can be frustrating and time consuming. Over four years down the line, the product easily caters for our management, reporting and marketing requirements.” CASESTUDY Natural progression to IRIS Meridian Law Connected offered Ten Old Square improved management of their specialist Chancery set London-based Ten Old Square upgraded over four years ago from ACE Infinity to IRIS Meridian Law Connected, to enable management improvements in the clerks’ room. A by-product of that move was the further strengthening of the professional relationship with IRIS which had been built up over a 30-year period. Keith Plowman, the Senior Clerk at Ten Old Square since 1992, describes the principal benefits to management and marketing that Meridian Law Connected brings to his Chambers.
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Interview with Ten Old Square's Senior Clerk, Keith Plowman on the effectiveness of IRIS Software's Meridian Law Connected product.
Transcript of Ten Old Square - IRIS Software Case Study
ORGANISATION PROFILE
Acknowledged as one of the finest Chancerysets of barristers’ chambers, London-basedTen Old Square is well known for its privateclient, property and commercial chancerywork. It also has an enviable reputationamongst solicitors for partnership / LLP law.
Praised by The Legal 500 for its professionalteam of 24 barristers and 4 clerks thedirectory recently stated:
“The level of service is terrific, with excellent
response times and helpful clerks.”
The set is committed to providing its clientswith the highest quality of service andconstantly monitors quality standards andmakes improvements, where necessary, toenhance service delivery for their clients’benefit.
Keith Plowman explains:
“My role here is to manage the flow of work
and remove the burden of administration
from the barristers, so that they can
concentrate on their cases and clients. I lead
our clerking team to best support the
activities of our barristers, and provide our
professional clients with advice on the
availability and costs of instructing
appropriate Counsel. This complete
dedication to service quality, and our candid
manner, has garnered admiration from
many quarters, including The Legal 500
and Chambers UK Guide.
In addition, my responsibilities include
overseeing the administration of our
business in terms of the overall welfare,
marketing and development of chambers.
The software we use is an important
aspect of all these processes. It provides
us with the essential features to support
every area of chambers management.”
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Ten Old Square’s decision to upgrade toIRIS Meridian Law Connected was notexactly a business challenge, but wasmore of a natural progression from theirexisting software.
Keith adds:
“We were Infinity users beforehand. Being
one of Mountain Software Limited’s, now
IRIS’s, legacy applications, it was not
supported to the same degree as the
newer systems (obviously IRIS tend to
focus their valuable development
resources on their fresh software) so it was
time for us to upgrade. It felt natural to
progress to IRIS Meridian Law Connected
because it’s Windows based, like Infinity,
so it was very easy to switch.”
SOLUTION DEPLOYED
IRIS Meridian Law Connected was installedto replace Infinity as Ten Old Square’schambers, diary and fees managementsystem.
Keith continues:
“IRIS, and previously Mountain Software, had
always been my preferred software supplier.
All the key people were carried over to IRIS
at the time of acquisition. I am well
acquainted with the Fleet Street staff and
support teams, some of whom we’ve known
for 20 years. They’re responsive with any
technical queries on the rare occasions I call
them, which is typically around once a year.
Needless to say, I have a long-established
relationship with IRIS, and that longevity is
down to the trust I have in the people who
work there and the quality of the software
they supply and support.
I believe that Meridian Law Connected is an
excellent product. The software is easy to
use, being Windows-based in format,
avoiding the usual familiarisation period
which can be frustrating and time consuming.
Over four years down the line, the product
easily caters for our management, reporting
and marketing requirements.”
CASESTUDY
Natural progression to IRIS Meridian Law Connected offered Ten Old Squareimproved management of their specialist Chancery set
London-based Ten Old Square upgraded over four years ago from ACEInfinity to IRIS Meridian Law Connected, to enable managementimprovements in the clerks’ room. A by-product of that move was the furtherstrengthening of the professional relationship with IRIS which had been builtup over a 30-year period.
Keith Plowman, the Senior Clerk at Ten Old Square since 1992, describesthe principal benefits to management and marketing that Meridian LawConnected brings to his Chambers.
‘‘ ‘‘I have a long-establishedrelationship with IRIS, andthat longevity is down tothe trust I have in thepeople who work there andthe quality of the softwarethey supply and support.
I believe that Meridian LawConnected is an excellentproduct.
Keith PlowmanSenior ClerkTen Old Square
IRIS Meridian Law is a trading name of Meridian Law Limited which is part of the IRIS Group. IRIS and Meridian Law are trade marks. © Meridian Law Limited 2011. All rights reserved.
BENEFITS ACHIEVED
Meridian Law Connected presents businessefficiencies and process improvements to allstaff in Chambers.
Keith concludes:
“In the pre-Meridian Law Connected period
we ran an inefficient paper diary system
along with ACE Infinity. Now, in addition to
our own screens, we have a 42" screen on
the clerks’ room wall showing us our
barristers’ whereabouts and commitments
for the current day.
As soon as any additional bookings are
added or existing bookings amended, the
information is instantly available. This diary
screen is a virtual member of the clerks’
room and our barristers find it a useful
additional resource to keep them up to
speed with what’s coming up. If they are not
in Chambers they can also access it
remotely 24/7.
Marketing in our Chambers focuses
primarily on the entertainment of our existing
clients. Meridian Law Connected’s
marketing functionality is really useful for
setting up invitation lists, recording the
various campaign stages and any
responses.
For instance, I use the ‘Work Done’ reports
for our event planning, to see who has
been sending us the most work and who
I’d like to encourage to send us more.
I find that there are more than enough
standard reports rendered to screen, which
offer all manner of drill-downs showing
detailed statistics relating to our
performance and financial positioning. This
complete business intelligence helps me to
monitor and improve the management of
Chambers, the development of the
barristers’ practices and the efficiency of
the clerks’ room.
I would advise any set of chambers
considering a software upgrade to look at,
and ultimately adopt, Meridian Law
Connected. Its numerous features help me
to improve the way we work – which
means higher quality service delivery and
grateful clients. That’s an easily achievable
goal with Meridian Law Connected,
provided by the most experienced legal
software supplier in the market.”
IRIS Legal SolutionsBooths Park 4
Chelford Road
Knutsford
Cheshire
WA16 8GS
DX: 22966 KNUTSFORD
T: +44 (0) 844 815 5580
167 Fleet Street
8th Floor
London EC4A 2EA
DX: 296 LONDON
T: +44 (0) 20 7842 6000
633 Halifax Road
Liversedge
WF15 8HG
T: +44 (0) 1274 851 577
W: www.iris.co.uk/barristers
ABOUT IRIS LEGAL
With over 5,500 law firms, barrister chambers and coroners jurisdictions, IRIS Legal Solutionsis the largest provider of software and services to partnerships in the UK and Ireland.
Our aim is to help our customers, from sole practitioners to large regional firms, improveoverall partnership performance, specifically cashflow and profitability by providing modernand easy-to-use tools to improve efficiency through better workflow, to increase incomethrough better use of data and enhance client service through an integrated approach topractice management.
Designed exclusively for the legal sector, our software portfolio includes practice and casemanagement (including workflow), electronic forms, customer relationship management(CRM), business intelligence, skills and resource management, document imaging, HR &payroll – all underpinned by superior managed and hosted service offerings.
With 30 years of experience and 300 specialist staff dedicated to servicing the needs of ourlegal customers we pride ourselves on a tailored approach to customer service, evidenced by95% annual customer retention, amongst the highest in our industry.
IRIS Legal Solutions is part of IRIS, one of the fastest-growing and now the largest privatelyowned software and services business in the UK. It has revenues of c£120m p.a. and c1,200employees servicing over 60,000 UK businesses from a national network of offices.
As an organisation, the IRIS values are: customer focus, honesty & integrity, innovation,passion and service excellence.
