In the first article in this series, we examined the technical criteria that Dentons used to assess records management software options. Now in Part 2, we’ll take a look at some of the other important assessment questions it asked before ultimately selecting FileTrail.
In 2016, the Legal Services Management and the Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) at Dentons decided it was time for a major records management software upgrade. Over the course of 10+ years, Dentons had expanded across the globe and now had more than 7,700 lawyers. Managing disposition and retention of the firm’s physical and electronic records using the limited automation of multiple legacy IT system was inefficient and costly. Its records management system functionality had stagnated and was unable to meet increasingly rigorous client and regulatory information governance requirements.
Support requirements for outdated or sunsetted records management systems are increasing every day. And as IT support angles upwards, so do IT overhead costs. That’s why many applications managers are shopping around and evaluating replacement records management (RM) software for their law firms.
FileTrail is proud to announce that we recently signed a multi-year contract with South Carolina-based law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP. With 17 offices and over 500 attorneys, the firmexplored several possible records management options before choosing FileTrail to ensure that its next records management solution aligned with its software needs.
Recently, our CEO Darrell Merveau wrote an article about how law firms can effectively execute IG strategy: Having an IG Policy Isn’t Enough: Strategies for IG Execution. These days, information governance for law firms is a major topic of concern across the industry, which explains why Legaltech News published it on the front page of its newsletter.
Firms today do not have systems that manage and process their retention policies or outside council guidelines (OCG) when it comes to disposition of old data. As a result, they continue overspending on of electronic documents and physical records past their destruction dates. Even worse, they are subject to unnecessary risk from the inconsistent application of their stated retention policies.
Law firms everywhere are now looking to replace LegalKEY because they’re paying annual support but they’re not getting any new product features or upgrades. The risk to firms in keeping older systems like LegalKEY is significant. However, some firms have been reluctant to upgrade their records management software because they don’t want to give up useful features.
Most law firms today understand they need to invest time and resources into developing policies and procedures to manage the vast amounts of information in their possession. However, properly executing IG policies comes with numerous difficulties. According to FileTrail’s CEO Darrell Merveau, the issue of retention is only going to become more important in the year ahead.
If you’re reading this, odds are you are looking to replace an aging records management software system. We’re hearing from most large firms that their software is either being sunsetted or it’s simply too clumsy and inefficient. As you surely know, both issues lead to high costs because aging systems require a lot of internal support. But we have it on good authority (our customers) that we can provide a better way.
Outdated records management software has become a high-profile problem for law firms of all sizes. Not only are many systems being sunsetted, others simply no longer meet law firms’ extensive paper and electronic governance needs. This situation puts many CIOs in a bind. Change is tough. And finding records management software that is easy to use by both technical and non-technical folks alike can be daunting. Faced with so many options, it’s sometimes easier to ignore the problem altogether.
FileTrail is the leader in information governance for highly regulated markets throughout North America, the UK and Europe.
As your long-term IG partner, we guide you through every aspect of the information governance maze beginning with physical records management through governance management including retention, disposition, and matter mobility. We also play well with other solutions.
Stay on track with FileTrail. We’ll help you get there. Contact us today for a quick discovery call.
This link leads to the machine-readable files that are made available in response to the federal Transparency in Coverage Rule and includes negotiated service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to more easily access and analyze data.
