UK News
Precedent automation specialist Clarilis’ poll of 100 senior solicitors at large UK practices reveals that 74% believe that their firms’ current drafting process is inefficient. With more than one in four respondents still using an entirely manual drafting process and only 15% using a fully-automated one, Clarilis’ new report Technology-driven profitability in the modern law firm presents the clear business case for automation based on the company’s ground breaking new approach.
The quality of top tier law firms’ precedents is a key differentiator, they are a significant intellectual property asset. 81% of the lawyers Clarilis polled said their firm maintained its own precedent bank for their practice area, but 77% agreed that drafting is currently error prone and takes a significant proportion of their time. More than half also believe that manual drafting prevents them from spending quality relationship building and business development time with clients.
Clarilis’ research found that on average respondents typically expect to recover 62% of their chargeable time, with only 22% expecting to recover above 80%. With the CLARILIS™ platform and a fixed fee arrangement, firms are recovering the equivalent of five hours of fees in relation to a suite of documents that now takes less than an hour to prepare. This massive increase in efficiency is allowing firms to significantly increase their recovery rate and volume while maintaining, or even decreasing overheads.
James Quinn, Solicitor and co-founder of Clarilis said, “Despite technology’s increasing importance within the modern law firm, the vast majority of the UK’s top law firms just haven’t been successful at implementing meaningful automation projects. Firms routinely underestimate the resources required and/or have been let down by traditional approaches to automation.
“Our unique managed service approach is a breath of fresh air in the industry. This is down to the expertise and experience of our multi-disciplinary team, the robustness of our process and the user-friendliness of our software which mirrors natural drafting processes. Instead of an inefficient manual process that’s 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration, our goal is to release fee earners to invest their time where they can add the greatest value – in bespoke drafting and in advising clients – rather than the formulaic and mechanical aspects of drafting. Unlike alternative approaches that can take months or even years to achieve an ROI, with Clarilis this can be realised in a matter of weeks.”
Ann Cant, IT Director, Travers Smith said: ““Travers Smith strives to find new ways to drive efficiencies without compromising the quality of our work. We were attracted to Clarilis’ refreshing approach to the age old problem of precedent automation. Instead of a toolkit whereby we would have to try and implement ourselves, Clarilis provide a credible managed solution based on an expert team and proven processes. The Clarilis approach will have a positive impact on our business.”
A move to precedent automation can represent uncharted territory for many firms but those that embrace automation with the right strategy and technology will enjoy tremendous competitive advantage and better cost recovery over firms that maintain the traditional manual approach to automation. To download Technology-driven profitability in the modern law firm report visit www.clarilis.com.
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