McCarter & English

About the firm

• 860 Users

• 365 Attorneys

• 16 Practice Groups

• 7 Offices – Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Hartford, Stamford, Baltimore & Wilmington

DOCS

• Partially distributed environment

• Database & document servers in 4 locations. Other locations ran via Citrix.

• 7 DOCS libraries• Document types per

practice group

• Centralized environment• 1 Database (clustered)

server; single database• Document servers in 2

locations (will be centralized to 1 location this summer).

• Matter workspace templates per practice group

WorkSite

Why Matter Centric?

• Build an electronic matter file; not just another DM

• Save & share email without having to profile each message.

• No need to create saved searches or projects for matters as was done in DOCS.

• Future integration with other applications

Piloting the System

• 1 practice group that was located in a single office and did not share many documents with other groups

• Short training classes were given and floor support provided after the conversion

• Initial feedback was not what we had hoped for. Users were frustrated.

Lessons Learned from the Pilot• Redesigned classes focusing

on working day to day within the matter.

• Longer classes and additional floor support. Hired an outside training company.

• Emphasized the benefits of matter centricity during classes.

• Delayed finalizing practice group workspace templates until the attorneys received training.

Rollout Plan• Order of conversion

– Main office – Practice groups by practice group– Administrative staff then branch offices.

• IT did not attempt to dictate folder structures.

• Worked with the practice group leaders to finalize.

• Provided access to DOCS for those that worked across groups.

• Any matters being worked on with groups not yet converted were excluded until complete.

Sample Workspace Templates:

Conversion• Users were trained during the

week • Conversion occurred over the

weekend• Multiple tools were used:

– SwitchBlade, Workspace generator and custom scripts

• Recent Edits, saved searches and projects were converted

Current Workspace Creation

• The firm’s new business Word macro was modified to include:– a practice group– workspace template – attorney selection

• For unopened matters:– Each user was given a “To be

Filed” folder

• Intended as a temporary solution

Workspace Creation - Future

• The firm is moving to a new web-based matter intake system in Q2 of 2006.

• Document Automation Partners Workspace Builder will be utilized to create the workspaces.

• Users will store documents in “To Be Filed” until the workspace is available.

Results - Overall

• Overall, positive feedback from the firm.

• Increased metadata accuracy.• Since the conversion has been

fully completed:– approximately 25,000 emails per

month are filed

• The firm has modified their email policy– printing of email for filing is no longer

required.

Results - Attorneys

• Browsing workspaces– Has reduced the need to search

• Now file their own email– More complete files.

• Paper is now scanned by some attorneys– entire file is available from any

location

• Taken ownership of the process– Attorneys enforce filing of document

and email

Results – Support Staff

• No profiles!• Eliminated task of filing printed

emails.• Improved searching – not

dependent on attorneys, floaters, temps correctly profiling documents.

• All documents in one place when assisting other attorneys in the group.

If we had it to do again….• Less time before the demo of the

system and the actual rollout• While having matter templates per

practice group has worked well– matter type would have been the better

choice.

• Would have worked with the practice group leaders a little sooner prior to conversion to allow more time to finalize templates.

What’s Next?

• Develop workspaces for forms, “good” documents, etc. with each practice group

• Develop client extranets• Integration with other applications• Provide advanced training for users• Other uses for FileSite/WorkSite

web. For example, use for internal committees, to help market capabilities within the firm.

Sample of Custom WorkSite Web:

Questions?