Bill more, enjoy increased productivity, and reduce overheads.
We recently caught up with Matthew Fooks of Legal Integrated Solutions Ltd, a WorkflowMax implementation partner specialising in legal billing, financial analysis and time management. We wanted to find out how WorkflowMax can be tailored to suit the needs of small to medium-sized law firms and legal service providers.
Matthew and his team have been using WorkflowMax, and working almost exclusively with legal firms, since he was approached to set up a practice management and billing system for a multi-jurisdictional legal entity in 2009.
“Back in the day there was not much around with respect to cloud billing and time management, we kept coming back to WorkflowMax because of its clean look and absolute flexibility”
"In terms of time management and reporting across all aspects of the legal billing process, WorkflowMax was the perfect fit. As our client base grew, so did the features of WorkflowMax, making the decision to use it a no-brainer."
Matthew’s team always advise clients to fully scope their business requirements and then see if WorkflowMax fits, before looking at other options. For a legal firm, the clarity of billing is a strong feature along with superior reporting, at the click of a button.
Imagine sitting at a meeting, realising you do not have the data required. Matthew’s had clients message him in that situation before. Fortunately, information in the app is easily accessible. Often, to get his clients out of a tricky spot, he creates specific reports instantly and pings them through on Skype in seconds. WorkflowMax is surprisingly mobile friendly.
So, what kind of ongoing support does an implementation partner offer?
We offer a range of services from integration advice to set-up and ongoing support. Some of our clients ask us to manage their billing and time management as they either do not have the resources to keep it in-house or they see the added value in having someone to speak to at all times and across different time zones.
Legal Integrated Solutions Ltd sometimes become like de-facto staff members offering key support to both managing and senior partners. It is fair to say that some clients do value an external confidante in this respect.
“Matthew has been absolutely brilliant in understanding our law firm’s needs. His implementation of WorkflowMax has transformed our daily experience of time recording and billing, and has added huge value to our practice!” -Julia Charlton, Charltons Law. Hong Kong. Boutique Transactional Law Firm of the Year by ALB Awards Hong Kong 2017
How do you convince law firms that WorkflowMax is actually a great fit?
I think everyone fears change and there is a natural fear that Tech is going to be the tail which wags the lawyer. We are experienced in dealing with senior partners, some who have been lawyers for decades and with WorkflowMax and the hands-on support we offer we are able to gently ease in these changes; very painlessly if all goes well.
We are very open with our ideas and once we understand each client and their needs, we are able to fine-tune the set up and reporting for them. Our website says that we aim to give back managerial control to the seniors and hopefully make it much more enjoyable in the process. It really is the case. Often we are asked by Managing Partners can we do this or that and the answer is usually a resounding yes.
Tell us about one moment when you saved the day for a client?
Recently a client approached us and they had been using WorkflowMax for two years but had made some errors in invoices already issued. We ran through over 10,000 timesheet entries across multiple invoices and found numerous errors and we were able to correct them. It was a complex project and touched on many areas of both set up and use. This reinforces the message about why using an experienced set up partner is not only going to save you time and money but also help you maintain strong client integrities.
I’d say generally speaking, a number of our clients come to us when they’ve had problems finding an experienced set up partner or when they need a WorkflowMax Doctor. We are familiar with how to scope clients’ needs both intelligently and with clarity.
What kind of services does Legal Integrated Solutions offer?
We provide a full archiving service which some clients require or would like for comfort. When you move from one system to another you can lose key data such as staff time analysis across a range of tasks. We have bought across hundreds of thousands of aged timesheets which means that clients can maintain their full historical analysis. It is not always required but it is helpful to know that the option is there. As part of the process we suggest ways of improving staff efficiencies, that managerial advice can be very handy for Managing Partners and CEOs as it can remove the need to spend on external consultants.
What about other enhancements? It seems as if you offer a lot already.
We work closely with our friends at Indemandly who are providing additional services which speed up client leads and enquiries. Indemandly takes communication between your website and WorkflowMax to a new level. It is exciting what is now possible.
"WorkflowMax is always interesting; we are given new challenges with each client. No one set up is the same. We see ourselves as innovative and that maintains a certain freshness in approach"
Matthew has spent the last 10 years assisting law firms and other entities with WorkflowMax; he is always happy to speak to prospective clients who are either interested in using WorkflowMax or have problems which need solving.
Reach out to him here.