Cost saving has become even more important in the highly competitive market induced by the pandemic, which has businesses aiming to justify or cut their legal costs. That’s why professionals, especially in-house legal teams, are seeking new technologies such as Legal Interact’s Legal Matter Manager (LMM) system to beat the challenges of decentralised, siloed systems that offer little control over time, data, risk and costs.  

Leah explained that LMM centralises key outcomes in-house counsel need, from task allocations, notifications and business intelligence gathering to the management of panel attorneys with an overview of legal spend. “All of this is packed into a user-friendly interface cloud platform available for even the most mobile professionals,” she said.

LMM enables users to:

• Develop insights to manage risks and legal costs.
• Allocate matters and tasks for full control of team activity.
• Integrate Microsoft Outlook and notifications.
• Track data and make informed decisions thanks to the Business Intelligence Dashboard, thus increasing productivity.

Many firms have seen the benefits of this system, among them Levin Tatanis. Shelley Tatanis, director at the firm, said they had improved their digital solutions with LMM after migrating from earlier technology subscriptions that constantly needed new software additions that gave them challenges. “Either they catered to only one or two aspects of the legal business, or they highlighted other inefficiencies. All this was at great expense,” she explained. 

“This is where the magic of LMM comes into play. It’s a process accelerator that is so comprehensive and specific to our needs, that our legal team can now work within

budget and timeframes. As a portal between client and professional, all parties can now collaborate efficiently. Further confidence comes from LMM’s configurable best-practice processes that can be updated,” Tatanis said.

Justin Henning, office manager for HJ Badenhorst & Associates Inc, which works as the external counsel team for one of South Africa’s top insurance companies, has also found LMM invaluable. Their firm’s previous software did not enable them to effectively report on the activities of their department.  

“With data stored on any number of computers in numerous locations, our legal productivity was impacted by having to coordinate administrative tasks,” Henning clarified. He said the firm needed data access and analytics, time-saving legal tools, and the ability to merge with the company’s digital platform. 

“LMM operates as a centralised hub whereby all stakeholders are able to immediately determine how many lawyers work on a matter, the volume and cost, and issues professionals are facing,” Henning said. This inter-operability has enabled the firm to boost attorney performance and profitability, and because it’s done automatically it means they avoid potential errors.

All in all it’s yet another example of legal tech enabling firms to work smarter, not harder.

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