Ten Old Square - IRIS Software Case Study by Ten Old Square

CASESTUDY Natural progression to IRIS Meridian Law Connected offered Ten Old Square improved management of their specialist Chancery set London-based Ten Old Square upgraded over four years ago from ACE Infinity to IRIS Meridian Law Connected, to enable management improvements in the clerks’ room. A by-product of that move was the further strengthening of the professional relationship with IRIS which had been built up over a 30-year period. Keith Plowman, the Senior Clerk at Ten Old Square since 1992, describes the principal benefits to management and marketing that Meridian Law Connected brings to his Chambers. ORGANISATION PROFILE Acknowledged as one of the finest Chancery sets of barristers’ chambers, London-based Ten Old Square is well known for its private client, property and commercial chancery work. It also has an enviable reputation amongst solicitors for partnership / LLP law. Praised by The Legal 500 for its professional team of 24 barristers and 4 clerks the directory recently stated: “The level of service is terrific, with excellent response times and helpful clerks.” The set is committed to providing its clients with the highest quality of service and constantly monitors quality standards and makes improvements, where necessary, to enhance service delivery for their clients’ benefit. Keith Plowman explains: “My role here is to manage the flow of work and remove the burden of administration from the barristers, so that they can concentrate on their cases and clients. I lead our clerking team to best support the activities of our barristers, and provide our professional clients with advice on the availability and costs of instructing appropriate Counsel. This complete dedication to service quality, and our candid

manner, has garnered admiration from many quarters, including The Legal 500 and Chambers UK Guide. In addition, my responsibilities include overseeing the administration of our business in terms of the overall welfare, marketing and development of chambers. The software we use is an important aspect of all these processes. It provides us with the essential features to support every area of chambers management.”

BUSINESS CHALLENGE Ten Old Square’s decision to upgrade to IRIS Meridian Law Connected was not exactly a business challenge, but was more of a natural progression from their existing software. Keith adds: “We were Infinity users beforehand. Being one of Mountain Software Limited’s, now IRIS’s, legacy applications, it was not supported to the same degree as the newer systems (obviously IRIS tend to focus their valuable development resources on their fresh software) so it was time for us to upgrade. It felt natural to progress to IRIS Meridian Law Connected because it’s Windows based, like Infinity, so it was very easy to switch.”

SOLUTION DEPLOYED IRIS Meridian Law Connected was installed to replace Infinity as Ten Old Square’s chambers, diary and fees management system. Keith continues: “IRIS, and previously Mountain Software, had always been my preferred software supplier. All the key people were carried over to IRIS at the time of acquisition. I am well acquainted with the Fleet Street staff and support teams, some of whom we’ve known for 20 years. They’re responsive with any technical queries on the rare occasions I call them, which is typically around once a year. Needless to say, I have a long-established relationship with IRIS, and that longevity is down to the trust I have in the people who work there and the quality of the software they supply and support. I believe that Meridian Law Connected is an excellent product. The software is easy to use, being Windows-based in format, avoiding the usual familiarisation period which can be frustrating and time consuming. Over four years down the line, the product easily caters for our management, reporting and marketing requirements.”

BENEFITS ACHIEVED Meridian Law Connected presents business efficiencies and process improvements to all staff in Chambers. Keith concludes: “In the pre-Meridian Law Connected period we ran an inefficient paper diary system along with ACE Infinity. Now, in addition to our own screens, we have a 42" screen on the clerks’ room wall showing us our barristers’ whereabouts and commitments for the current day.

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As soon as any additional bookings are added or existing bookings amended, the information is instantly available. This diary screen is a virtual member of the clerks’ room and our barristers find it a useful additional resource to keep them up to speed with what’s coming up. If they are not in Chambers they can also access it remotely 24/7.

I have a long-established relationship with IRIS, and that longevity is down to the trust I have in the people who work there and the quality of the software they supply and support.

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I believe that Meridian Law Connected is an excellent product.

Keith Plowman Senior Clerk Ten Old Square

IRIS Legal Solutions

Marketing in our Chambers focuses primarily on the entertainment of our existing clients. Meridian Law Connected’s marketing functionality is really useful for setting up invitation lists, recording the various campaign stages and any responses.

For instance, I use the ‘Work Done’ reports for our event planning, to see who has been sending us the most work and who I’d like to encourage to send us more. I find that there are more than enough standard reports rendered to screen, which offer all manner of drill-downs showing detailed statistics relating to our performance and financial positioning. This complete business intelligence helps me to monitor and improve the management of Chambers, the development of the barristers’ practices and the efficiency of the clerks’ room. I would advise any set of chambers considering a software upgrade to look at, and ultimately adopt, Meridian Law Connected. Its numerous features help me to improve the way we work – which means higher quality service delivery and grateful clients. That’s an easily achievable goal with Meridian Law Connected, provided by the most experienced legal software supplier in the market.”

ABOUT IRIS LEGAL With over 5,500 law firms, barrister chambers and coroners jurisdictions, IRIS Legal Solutions is the largest provider of software and services to partnerships in the UK and Ireland. Our aim is to help our customers, from sole practitioners to large regional firms, improve overall partnership performance, specifically cashflow and profitability by providing modern and easy-to-use tools to improve efficiency through better workflow, to increase income through better use of data and enhance client service through an integrated approach to practice management. Designed exclusively for the legal sector, our software portfolio includes practice and case management (including workflow), electronic forms, customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence, skills and resource management, document imaging, HR & payroll – all underpinned by superior managed and hosted service offerings.

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