Standardizing Processes in an Expanding Legal Business: A Case Study of Potter Clarkson
Technology Category
- Automation & Control - Human Machine Interface (HMI)
Applicable Industries
- Buildings
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Last Mile Delivery
Services
- Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
Potter Clarkson is a progressive, full-service intellectual property law firm with expertise in patents, trademarks, designs, litigation, licensing, and related consultancy. The firm has grown rapidly in recent years, expanding from one office in Nottingham to seven offices across four European countries. It has also introduced new consultancy services, increasing the amount of work coming into the business daily. In this specialist legal field, speed and accuracy are critical. Attorneys often have to meet deadlines to secure patents and trademarks quickly, enabling clients to maximize value from their innovations.
The Challenge
Potter Clarkson, a rapidly growing intellectual property law firm, faced several challenges due to its expansion across Europe. The firm had to manage a higher volume of new business daily, with each new piece of work, such as a patent request or litigation case, requiring a unique reference number. The process of opening a new matter in the central records management system and sharing the relevant documentation with the appointed attorney and paralegal teams could take up to three days. There was also a lack of consistency in the way different teams handled this process. Additionally, the firm had to make around 6,000 changes to its central matter records every month due to the nature of intellectual property law. The firm was seeking a standardized approach that brought efficiencies to this process. Lastly, the firm received over 1,000 items of mail weekly, which needed to be shared efficiently among employees and teams. The manual distribution of these documents was time-consuming and became more challenging as the business expanded.
The Solution
Potter Clarkson adopted Nintex K2 Cloud to automate and standardize its business processes. When new matters are raised, a standard process across the firm is followed, involving a digital form that guides the user and helps categorize the matter. The workflow then sends the request to the lead attorney for approval, verifies the client's credit, assigns a matter reference to the job, captures the relevant documentation, and notifies the appropriate teams. This process reduced the time required to create a new matter from three days to a few hours. The firm also integrated K2 Cloud with its existing records management software, allowing attorneys to request changes to records using a single interface and monitor the progress of their requests. Changes are now completed in less than 30 minutes, compared to several hours previously. Lastly, the firm used K2 Cloud to digitize and accelerate its mail distribution process. All incoming mail and downloaded files are allocated to a temporary document store, categorized, moved to the appropriate workspaces, and routed around the business.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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