UK law firm Archor LLP chooses iManage with Ascertus as technology partner

UK News

14
Jul
2021

Editor

Newly launched, boutique construction law firm, Archor LLP, has invested in a best practice approach to the business-critical document management function, supported by Ascertus Limited as the firm’s technology advisor and implementation partner.

Ascertus has taken Archor live on the document and email management platform, iManage Work, in the cloud, alongside iManage Share for collaboration capabilities. Additionally, Ascertus has integrated DocsCorp pdfDocs, a tool that simplifies pdf management, with iManage Work, to provide yet more information management capability. With these solutions, Archor now has in place a robust and scalable technology foundation for the document management business function, which is ensuring the highest levels of productivity and operational efficiency. 

Explaining the firm’s approach to investment in this function, Oli Worth, Partner at Archor LLP, says, “We have invested in iManage, a sophisticated and market leading solution that is deployed by some of the largest law firms and corporates. Our technology capability in this important business function is at par with them, which levels the playing field for us. From a user standpoint too, these solutions were always our preferred systems – they are functionally rich and intuitive to use, and will pre-empt a lot of document management-related issues as our firm grows. We are lawyers, we want to stay focussed on client service delivery – iManage allows us to do that.”

Worth adds, “The type of work that we do – especially dispute resolution and litigation – generates enormous amounts of documentation. Construction projects valuing 100s of millions of pounds, can easily last many years, and large volumes of documents get generated very quickly. So, with iManage, we have embedded best practice document management processes, that will seamlessly scale to accommodate the needs of our growing business.” 

Today, lawyers at Archor are able to work efficiently and easily collaborate, regardless of their physical location, given that they often travel to client sites. In iManage Work, they have a single, structured data repository for all client matter-related documents and emails, that can be accessed from anywhere in the world and from any device. iManage Share facilitates content sharing and collaboration, both internally and externally with clients and other lawyers. Users are able to share, edit and collaborate on documents, no matter what the volume and size of those documents is, directly from the iManage Work interface or even via secure links from with their Outlook.

Lawyers are also benefiting from advanced search capability provided by the platform, saving them significant time. Worth elaborates, “With the volume of emails that come into our Outlook, important information often gets buried in our inboxes. The search capability in iManage is so perceptive, just searching using a single related keyword instantly throws up the right information.” 

With courts demanding electronic document bundles, their production now takes a fraction of the time it typically would if created manually. Users identify the documents in iManage Work and pdfDocs, through an automated process, creates the bundles – complete with corporate logos, page numbering and a table of contents. 

Ascertus came highly recommended to Archor for product implementation. Worth states, “The team at Ascertus has been very flexible in the way they have met our requirements and timelines. Their knowledge and advice have been valuable in helping to establish document management processes that are customised for our needs. And user adoption of the solutions has been a non-issue thanks to the ‘on the mark’ and engaging product training – quite unusually for such sessions, the hours absolutely whizzed by.”

With this cloud-based approach to technology adoption, Archor does not bear the burden of managing servers and rolling out solution upgrades, all of which is undertaken by iManage. The ongoing support and maintenance of the technologies is being carried out by Ascertus. 

Jon Wainwright, Sales Director at Ascertus Limited, comments, “Archor is starting their technology journey from a clean slate, with immense clarity on why they are investing and what benefits they want in return. They are deploying future-proof technology that will make best practice routine, automatically scale as the business grows and always provide the latest and greatest functionality in the document management space. With this, they are ensuring the highest possible return on their investment through productivity and operational efficiency gains – and without the hassle of IT maintenance.”