HawkLaw

HawkLaw is a personal injury law practice with several offices in South Carolina. Founder and owner John Hawkins is a seasoned legal professional who prides himself as an early adopter of technology for managing his practice.

In mid-2016, the firm started using a server-based case management system. The vendor promised the moon but failed to deliver.

Their requests to add even the most basic features, such as two-way synching or custom fields, were constantly put on hold. As a result, attorneys were missing important deadlines because calendars weren’t synched up properly.

Since the vendor didn’t understand what a law firm needs to function at a basic level, the software couldn’t sustain the number of cases the firm needed to manage.

Hawkins started looking at options in early 2017 and became aware of the Salesforce platform. He wanted to find a company that can build on top of Salesforce to take advantage of its robust functionality. Litify was the obvious choice.

Better Process Makes a Better Firm

The biggest advantage Litify brings to the table is the ability for management to hone in on the firm’s process.

The leadership team can get reports on the performance of individual employees, find out where the bottlenecks are, and address them before they become a problem.

Litify is set up so their IT department can make updates on the fly without waiting days or weeks for a vendor to do so.“We can now change on a dime and respond quickly to problem areas in our process,” said Hawkins.

Training And Orchestration Ensured Smooth Transition

Inertia and push back are often to be expected when implementing new tools and software. However, management’s openness to change encouraged the staff to jump on board quickly.

Litify was able to mirror some of the features the staff liked in the old software. Employees were able to jump in and do their job with minimal ramp-up time.

When employees discovered how the additional features helped them do their jobs better and faster, they were happy with the change.“Once the staff realized the potential, they were on board. The system pretty much sold itself to the team,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins divided the staff into teams to receive training tailored to their jobs. The firm also provides on-going training to ensure that employees are keeping up with new features and making the most out of the system.

“Litify did a wonderful job during the transition. The team was ‘available beyond available’ – sticking with us the entire weekend when we made the switch to ensure we had a successful launch,” said Hawkins.

Advanced Technologies Open Up New Possibilities

Hawkins sees a lot of opportunities with the use of new technologies.

From a management standpoint, having the ability to run the firm more efficiently and with a leaner staff is critical to long-term success.

The firm can now handle a higher volume of cases with fewer errors. Management can drill down to the basic structure of each case and identify issues so they can be fixed right away, increasing the success rate.

With Litify, management is more responsive and has the ability to ask the right questions to move the firm forward.

Litify’s robust reporting features allow the leadership team to take back control of the entire firm.

Hawkins finds himself being able to “micro-manage without micro-managing.” He can get the 10,000-foot view and zoom in on any case, employee, or process with just a click of a button.

“We can reach out to anyone at Litify anytime. We enjoy this long-term partnership, which makes our firm and their product better so everyone benefits,” said Hawkins.

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