Maurice Blackburn Signs Up for Nikec Binder and Takes Collaboration between Offices to New Levels

Australasia News

19
Sep
2013

Editor

The wave of interest for Nikec Binder continues to intensify - across international waters and into Australia as Maurice Blackburn, the largest and leading class action and injuries specialist law firm, signs up for the state-of-the-art technology via Nikec Solutions' Australian Partner, Ethan Group.  

The success closely follows last month's global roll-out of the Nikec Binder throughout Europe, APAC and USA.  

Headquartered in Melbourne and with 27 offices spanning across Australia, Maurice Blackburn employs over 750 people, including more than 150 lawyers.  Specialising in areas such as workplace injuries and motor vehicle accidents, medical negligence, employment and industrial issues, the firm has acted for some high industrial relations disputes and is recognised for undertaking legal cases that benefit local communities, free of charge.

Justin Westbrook, General Manager of IT at Maurice Blackburn, describes the main issue as follows “the firm's greatest benefit of being local to our clients is also its greatest challenge. Thanks to our sheer size and the number of office locations we always remain close to our clients.  However the challenge comes in sharing and providing our teams with complete access to information as if everyone was in the same office. When we were introduced to and reviewed Nikec Binder, it was exactly what we needed for the job!”

Nikec Binder is designed to store multiple documents from many formats (including html, emails, videos and pdfs) within a single, password secured file. This makes it easy to create, organise, move and share entire sets of related documents or complete matter folders.  

To increase interaction and the sharing of knowledge, team members are able to search and find relevant documents quickly and easily through the binder. They are also able to mark-up, annotate and amend the documents directly within the binder, to share their thoughts, comments and opinions.  This can then be distributed to all authorised team members thereafter and synchronised through the firm's document management system.

For mobility, all matter documents can be saved and transported easily on an iPad or laptop giving lawyers access to the complete case when meeting with clients and the ability to respond to any questions that may be asked.  

 “With implementation and use of Nikec Binder, we aim to improve the interaction and access to documents regardless of location. For example, our lawyers can now operate in Perth, Geelong, or Sydney and work on the same matter as if they had physically passed a file between them. They will be able to attend chambers of a Barrister or Court Hearing without the need to drag physical binders with them and present documents to clients on devices such as the iPad or tablet”, commented Westbrook.

Nikec Binder has been integrated with Autonomys' iManage DMS and MatterSphere, Thomson Reuters' matter management system to ensure continuity in the way employees work with their documents. At the same time, this integration will also ensure that all files are synchronised, with only the latest version of the document stored on the server for team members to access and use.  

Nikec Solutions Global Sales Director, Damian Jeal says “It is great to see Maurice Blackburn leading the way forward with this game changing technology. Equally it is truly rewarding for us to be able to provide a solution for team members and allow them to take communication and collaboration to new levels. Ethan Group has been key strategic partner in this relationship and has played a great part in presenting our solutions to the Australian legal community in which they are well-renowned.”