Am Law 200 Firm Takes on More Trials and Scales with Ease through Everlaw
For today’s Am Law 200 law firms that are operating in markets across the country and around the world, standing out is more than just a premise, it’s a necessity.
To grow and adapt is to survive, but those that are focused on building a business to resemble the global marketplace of the future also want to thrive. That means servicing clients with elite talent, and creating a sustainable cost structure that keeps the firm moving forward.
Everlaw’s customer, an Am Law 200 firm that is known for providing highly sophisticated legal services to national and international clients with a focus on a wide range of practice areas, is regularly recognized as one of the top firms in the country despite not having the same amount of attorneys as some of their competitors.
“We punch above our weight class,” said a partner in the firm. “We proportionally have more trials per attorney than the global mega-firms, which have five times as many attorneys as ours.”
Being able to fight for more business and take on those bigger cases is something every firm wants, but not everybody can bridge the gap to get there. This firm has leveraged technology to separate themselves from the pack and go after more cases.
“While we handle large and very important cases,” the partner continued, “we also handle cases that are large enough to take to trial without so much risk. For example, where you might have a massive case with something like $20 billion in dispute, we take on cases centered around $50 million in disputes, which are a little more manageable. I’ve gotten more trial experience at this firm because we handle more of those types of cases.”
Proving you can go the extra mile and provide an advantage to clients can be a real difference-maker. Litigation in particular, and the razors’ edge on which cases can be decided, is an area where having the right tools takes on all the more importance.
With Everlaw, this Am Law 200 firm found a partner that could match their vision of a global law firm focused on the future. Their approach has allowed the firm to operate effectively at scale while growing exponentially, reduced barriers facing trial teams, and helped turn the discovery process into an additional stream of revenue.
More tangibly, this has helped the firm experience an 83% reduction in time to establish new matters and a 25% reduction in non-billable admin related time, which has been crucial in increasing efficiency. It’s also generated $2.5 million in revenue from partner review hours alone, a figure that would make a difference in any firms’ budget. And, according to a survey of the firm’s Everlaw users, 82% listed improved efficacy throughout the discovery process, increased review speed, and faster time to insights as the top reasons they loved the platform, proving just how much users appreciate its capabilities.
Key Takeaways
83% reduction in time to establish new matters
25% reduction in non-billable admin related time
$2.5 million in revenue generated from partner review hours alone
82% of the firm’s Everlaw users listed improved efficacy throughout the discovery process, increased review speed, and faster time to insights as the top reasons they loved the platform
Buy-In at Every Level
When it came to ediscovery processes of the past, partners would simply hand off tasks to support staff or associates, who would then spend untold hours hunkered down in cubicles, wearily searching computer screens for the crucial bits of information that can crack open a case. They wouldn’t even consider handling it themselves.
But when the partners take an active role in completing those tasks, and navigate the ediscovery software platform with the same fluency as those support staff or associates, it asks you to pay attention.
Tens of thousands of review hours have been logged by this firm’s team in Everlaw, with an impressive amount of those coming from the partner level. In fact, the firm has experienced a 25% reduction in non-billable administrative time since joining Everlaw. With over five different partners having more than 500 review hours on the platform, that equals millions of dollars in additional revenue for the firm.
“I think you just get a more in-depth understanding of the case,” the firm’s partner said of using Everlaw to dig into data. “If someone had just prepared the main documents for me, I don't think I would have a broad or deep understanding of a case, and I wouldn't see the connection that I can when you go through more of it, and you see how things come together.”
“It lets you understand the case better and then present a more persuasive story,” the partner continued. “You’re able to come up with very important nuances that you otherwise wouldn't have if someone else had gotten that understanding and just gave you the highlights.”
The rising adoption of Everlaw and the continuous return to it is highlighted by the firm’s monthly active users increasing steadily over the past three years. Even more, when there’s a big case that requires contract review attorneys to help with document review, the firm is able to onboard them quickly, more than doubling their unique users in a matter of months.
This Am Law 200 firm has maintained a high number of monthly active users on Everlaw, and has been able to quickly onboard new users to keep pace with high litigation demand.
“We try to empower our attorneys to use Everlaw through training,” a litigation support manager at the firm said. “We make things available to them and show them what’s possible. If an attorney wants to do more, we’ll have a special training session for them, with Everlaw team members providing support every step of the way.”
According to a survey of the firm’s Everlaw users, 73% said Everlaw was superior to other ediscovery software platforms they’ve used to accomplish similar tasks in the past. Additionally, 80% said they feel comfortable or very comfortable in their ability to use the Everlaw platform.
As for the business impact, 82% listed improved efficacy throughout the discovery process, increased review speed, and faster time to insights among the top reasons they loved the platform. Users were able to quickly find the information they needed thanks to Everlaw’s intuitive interface, and have greater autonomy over their work. There were also an impressive 88% of users who said their use of Everlaw improved their and their team’s ability to deliver value to clients.
Every attorney is given admin permissions on Everlaw, allowing them to do as much or as little as they’d like, while also freeing them up to explore it for themselves. This makes for better trained, more independent lawyers who can spot problems for the other side because they have such a comprehensive grasp on their cases.
Focusing on Value
That’s the sort of experience and knowledge that can make a true difference in a case, and transfer into real value for the client. For this Am Law 200 firm, that value is what they’re known for, and one of the things they pride themselves on.
Of course, hearing from a law firm that one of their primary goals is to drive value is not necessarily groundbreaking. From the perspective of an ediscovery software company like Everlaw, the task, and the partnership with the firm, is in figuring out how to make that value actionable.
Document to document clicking times, otherwise known as the “toggle tax”, can waste enormous amounts of time and cause frustration across the board. The firm certainly saw this as an issue, with clicking times having material impacts on their document review process. While waiting around might lead to more billable hours, it wasn’t helping the firm gain any real value.
With Everlaw, the firm experienced an 83% reduction in time to establish new matters, clearing away administrative processes and increasing involvement in more high-value work. This is not just for partners but for associates as well, allowing them to escape the doldrums of document review and contribute as a meaningful team member.
It also means engaging with Everlaw to find ways in which certain features can help provide a shortcut, discover processes that can be automated, and get in the depths of data sets to ascertain what’s truly important. The firm houses over 200 cases per month on the platform, and are careful with each one to investigate any possible advantage.
This Am Law 200 firm consistently handles large caseloads with ease on Everlaw, and can scale up when needed.
This value gets passed on to clients, who experience not just cost savings, but greater quality from their legal services.
An Efficient Approach That’s Effective at Scale
This firm’s ability to grow at scale while maintaining and prioritizing efficiency and client trust is what separates them from other Am Law 200 firms.
The backbone of their operation relies on a dedicated support team that can move nimbly without compromising on quality.
Despite such massive growth in the firm, the litigation support and IT department remains at just three employees. Scaling with tools like Everlaw means you don’t have to grow your headcount, so teams that do their best work with just a few people can continue to operate how they’re supposed to. In fact, the firm has doubled in size since first bringing Everlaw, growing into a full-service firm, and the platform has been able to scale easily alongside them.
This is perhaps best exemplified by the amount of data the firm has hosted on Everlaw per month. They more than tripled their data storage in just one year, and have continued putting tens of thousands of gigabytes on the platform each month, without requiring a heavy lift from IT.
When this Am Law 200 firm needs to store large amounts of data on Everlaw, or quickly upload data for a certain case, they’re able to do so efficiently and securely.
“The scalability with a cloud-based platform that Everlaw offers has allowed us to keep up with the firm’s exponential growth,” the litigation support manager said. “Everlaw lets us empower our attorneys through training, and introduce efficiencies into our workflows that weren’t previously possible.”
Establishing comprehensive partnerships like these and helping teams collaborate more effectively are what separates Everlaw from other ediscovery software platforms. You don’t have to dramatically scale your headcount or find ways to increase revenue to expand your organization’s capabilities and compete for more business. Everlaw helps reduce barriers to success and encourages attorneys to go the extra mile, so everyone can benefit.
“Outcome is the most important thing,” the litigation support manager said. “We get to the best outcome quicker on Everlaw than with any other tool I’ve used.”
