IT Services for Legal

All Covered Provided IT Solutions for a Boutique Law Firm to Maximize Productivity and Streamline Caseload Capacity

Case Study: Maccora, Peoples & Lam

The Context

Technology is bridging the competitive divide between companies of any size and across all industries. This is particularly true in the legal services arena where tight economic conditions are driving clients in need of legal assistance to search for more personalized service at a lower cost. Clients are finding this personalized service in the offices of the smaller law firms. The influx of new clientele is prompting smaller firms to find ways to maximize their productivity and streamline their operations to increase their caseload capacity.

The Client

One such firm is Maccora, Peoples & Lam (MPL), specializing in worker’s compensation defense with offices in San Jose and Oakland, California. With approximately 15 computers and 3 servers, MPL depends on a reliable, secure and efficient computing environment and network for data flow within and between offices.

The Problem

The firm’s management team recognized the opportunity for their firm to compete with larger firms and grow their practice. They also realized that in order to achieve that goal, they would have to use their technology resources more effectively and become more aggressive in the identification and implementation of new technology solutions that would increase their work capacity. However, without an IT expert on staff, MPL could not develop or implement a cost effective technology plan.

MPL had several options when deciding how to best manage its IT infrastructure. Most often, businesses utilize a small local technology consulting service provider. Unfortunately, as MPL discovered, these local consultants had a limited range of technology expertise and lacked the staff resources to support their growing business needs. They were left with limited technology alternatives, and the inability to form a productive and economical long-range technology plan.

The Choice

The firm interviewed several local IT management service providers before selecting All Covered. “Our greatest challenge in searching for an IT partner was finding a company that understands the unique role of IT in the legal arena,” said James Maccora, Managing Partner. “Designing and maintaining a technology infrastructure created specifically to support our legal software solutions requires an IT professional well versed in the daily operations of a legal practice. For our firm, All Covered is the ideal technology advisor.”

Enter All Covered

All Covered began the IT partnership with MPL by performing a comprehensive assessment which evaluated the firm’s current technology infrastructure, their IT needs relative to their stated business requirements, and recommended areas for improvement.

The assessment uncovered several network weaknesses that would need to be addressed before any other projects or upgrades could be implemented. The firm was victim to an unreliable and under-performing network in both of their offices. In addition, the assessment also revealed a data backup problem in the firm’s Oakland office that was putting the firm’s casework and client data at risk. Since then, key All Covered contributions have included:

• The installation of firewalls at each of the offices to increase network security and a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between the two offices to ensure secure communications over the Internet;
• Upgrading the operating system to Windows 2000 to provide more advanced, secure Internet sharing and remote access for firm employees.

In addition, All Covered delivers All Covered Care (ACC), a suite of regularly scheduled services from virus protection to long-range network planning that assure network security and stability and make sure that potential problems are identified and addressed before they become real ones. Recognizing the value of ACC, Maccora, Peoples & Lam has relied on these services for both offices since July 2001.

The Results

All Covered has helped stabilize MPL’s network and boost its computing capabilities. The more stable operating environment provides speed and performance enhancements that power the firm’s large Prolaw database software. The VPN protects confidential data that might otherwise be vulnerable to attacks or illegal access. All Covered meets regularly with the firm’s management team to discuss IT strategy relative to MPL’s business needs and recommends technology options that will continue to support and improve the firm’s productivity in the future. All Covered and Maccora, Peoples & Lam maintain a strong IT partnership that powers MPL’s productivity and competitive advantage.

IT Challenges Can Be Overwhelming

In recent studies:

• Enterprise Management Associates reported that 80% of organizations don’t know what IT systems or software they have installed or how to manage it.
• The Gartner Group estimated that poor IT management alone increases the total cost of IT ownership by 7–10% a year.

It’s little wonder then that Gartner and other research firms estimate that the right IT partner can reduce the product selection, procurement, implementation, maintenance, and management costs of small organizations by 20–30%. For an organization such as Maccora, Peoples & Lam, this can mean great cost savings. Coupled with clear, competent strategic guidance, this can help make IT management challenges much less overwhelming.

For the law firm of Maccora, Peoples & Lam, All Covered helps increase productivity through effective IT management.

“All Covered and the service they provide have become an integral part of our business operations. By selecting All Covered as IT partner, our firm has been able to effectively utilize technologies that substantially increase our productivity, allow us to better serve our clients and keep us ahead of the competition.”
- James Maccora, Managing Partner, Maccora, Peoples & Lam