Total Legal Solutions nears its goal of a paperless service with Access Legal Case Management Software solution

Total Legal Solutions offers a nationwide costs and claims service for the Insurance and Legal sectors. Based in Sheffield, the firm provides clients with cost services from bill drafting and negotiations to points of dispute and advocacy. Total Legal Solutions prides itself on its reputation and ability to deliver an entirely bespoke service to each client depending upon their specific requirements.

The Challenge:

Since its inception, Total Legal Solutions has experienced a rapid and substantial growth, originally starting with 4 employees and expanding to 13 full time and 24 self-employed in just 18 months. In line with this, the firm needed a system to centralise the way the team worked, and ensure staff could continue to meet client expectations and deadlines.

Additionally, as a number of its clients were already Access Legal users, the team knew it would be extremely beneficial to offer a paperless Access-to-Access file transfer process.

The Solution:

After initially looking to work with Access on file transfer functionality only, Total Legal Solutions realised it could receive huge efficiency gains from a fully integrated case management system, whilst keeping the business in line with law firm regulations.

With previous knowledge of Access Legal, the firm knew of its capabilities, as well as the ease in which it could be adapted to fit in with business requirements and the staff’s way of working. After an initial discussion, Total Legal Solutions implemented the Access Legal Case Management Costs Drafting system.

The Results:

Since implementation, Total Legal Solutions is benefiting from high levels of automation across all aspects of its case handling, eliminating a number of administrative tasks inherent in bill preparation, including layout, calculation and red line bill production.

As a number of costing firms have different methods of working, it can often be an extremely fragmented process, all the more challenging when on-boarding new staff members from other firms. With Access Legal, Total Legal Solutions now has the confidence to know fee earners can be seamlessly introduced to the system, resulting in a centralised way of working throughout the firm.

Additionally, the in-built history screen for each case means staff benefit from an at-a-glance view of every action taken, in date order, rather than looking through various paper files across desks or filing cabinets. Taking this further, the diary and task list functionality ensures deadlines are never missed and enables any member of staff to schedule an automatic reminder at a given point in the future, either for themselves of another member of the team.

Perhaps most importantly, Access Legal’s file transfer functionality has driven Total Legal Solutions closer to its goal of operating as a paperless business. Since implementation it has saved days’ worth of painstaking administrative work, and for those clients also operating electronically, it has essentially eliminated the need for DX services as instructions can be received and work commenced within minutes, ultimately serving to greatly reduce turnaround times and increase efficiency.

Simon concludes:

“In the future we’re aiming to focus further on our expansion, and move towards a fully electronic service, including the creation of virtual mail rooms – and with Access Legal we have the scope to do this, whilst simultaneously streamlining our core business offering.”