Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31LocalGovernmentLawyer Dispute Resolution 2016 25 infrastructure set up at each authority can cause problems and ultimately be prohibitive to progress. Throw general digital communication, social media and online portals into that and you have a recipe for disaster. Local authority teams are struggling to really make the most of the digital landscape due to the stop start instruction and advice available. As was commented on at the roundtable discussion, authorities are cautious about discussing what they are using and what works best as they may be seen as being behind or, on the flip side, being too far ahead and not able to integrate with other authorities’ systems or ways of working. The embrace of technology is something that has come slowly to the legal profession in general. Often paper files are still preferred; there is a concern over how secure a digital system is and whether the right processes are in place to support it, but there are real, tangible benefits to what can be achieved with today’s technologies such as case management and e-bundling systems. With so many extremely advanced concepts being discussed it can seem daunting and time consuming to put systems in place when in reality it is much simpler and can enable much more collaborative working and facilitate huge efficiencies in saving time and money across the board. At Iken we have a number of clients that since moving to a more tech-based way of working are seeing great improvements in areas like risk management or record keeping and reporting as well as the more obvious benefits like collaborative working and remote access.Often these are clients that have moved from either completely paper based ways of working, a reliance on huge spreadsheets or a shared drive style system, where the legal team has been desperate for a case management system but simply did not have the infrastructure and the people in place in terms of IT to make it happen – by the desired deadline at least! Relationship matters We have been very lucky in that we have some great relationships with outsourced IT providers that are able to assist, and a very experienced implementations team that can help to address these obstacles. Getting the whole team, or indeed teams, on board is key to making sure your investment in technology pays off. The clients with the biggest business gains and return on their investment are clients that invest the time and the effort into learning about the systems thoroughly and making sure the whole team, even those with minimal involvement, know what information is needed and when to ensure smooth running of the whole project and a successful integration with the day to day ways of working. This can include very basic training for client departments so that they understand why certain information is needed and the benefits of involving legal at early stages to minimise the risk factor if something is taken to legal too late. Sometimes we will see situations where one or two members of the team are doing things in a slightly different way to everyone else. Although the differences may only be small the impact that they can have on collaborative working can be huge, for example a slight change in reference formats could be a barrier to another team member being able to access important client information. So where do we go from here? Well, technology is here to help, and here to stay. We should all be making the most of it wherever we can and looking at the problems faced by local authorities and with the experience that we have at addressing some of those problems with smarter tech of course we would recommend it. The way things are moving - towards digitalised court systems and information transfers between databases as well as many local authorities looking towards traded services and ABS models in order to generate an income and remain competitive - technology is becoming a much bigger part of how legal teams are working – and therefore it needs to be working harder. It is not just about saving time and money, it is about making sure everyone has the correct, up-to-date and compliant information when and where they need it, or restricting access to those that do not need it. It is about minimising risk and ensuring data is secure. It is about being able to get that report out quickly without trawling through a spreadsheet or having to gather several paper documents from different files. In an increasingly demanding workplace we are all expected to be available to clients, with all the information and updates that they need at all hours and in all places. If we can access our laptops in court then why not digitalise the process - and the same goes for remote and flexible working, which is becoming more and more popular as work places modernise their policies. The use of workflows has dramatically increased, especially alongside reporting systems like Iken Management Reporting. Over the past year we have seen more clients enquiring about these modules as well as the requirement for them in new tenders and bids. This kind of quick, easy reporting need is in part due to the pressures put on legal teams to prove their worth, but is also great for managers looking at how to assign workload or to identify which team members are best suited to different types of work. These are things that can now be done in a matter of minutes instead of hours or even days. The way that legal teams work is changing, whether it be the way they engage with client departments, external counsel, other local authorities or just the way they engage with one another. The advantages of using technology are clear but we need to work together to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support it. Ask yourself – is your tech working hard enough? Poppy Watson-Brooks is Direct Marketing Campaign Manager at Iken. Technology is becoming a much bigger part of how legal teams are working – and it needs to be working harder. Is your tech working hard enough?