Description

By Legal IT Innovators Group (UK)

LITIG members reported that suppliers of Practice Management Systems (PMS) need to become more proactive in their approach in order for law firms to get the best from those systems. Given the longevity of the PMS within the firm, the law firm/supplier relationship is worth an investment of time and energy to ensure that it is effective. Throughout the whole lifecycle of the PMS, from the point at which the law firm needs assistance to ensure that the way they set the system up is most effective, through its installation and usage, LITIG members reported that suppliers need to work in closer partnership with their client law firms.

Suppliers should see this as an investment in their own continued income stream, rather than as one of opportunities to charge the law firms extra money for advice. Without a greater involvement from the suppliers, it was reported that law firms are unlikely to fully exploit the potential of their existing systems and are more likely to consider changing to another provider, often in search of functionality that they already possess in their current system without being aware of it.