A new commercial practice in Sydney, Henry William Lawyers, had less than 10 employees, but was looking to grow to over 30 quickly and make their mark as a small firm in a big city. While their legal team and client services were great and growing as a result, their IT needed work.

The Directors knew that if they wanted to achieve their business growth objectives, they couldn’t let IT hold them back.

Something had to change.

Changing the wrongs to rights

Henry William Lawyers then met Innessco’s Director, Robert Cox. Robert identified the firm as a “perfect client” (not too big, not too small). The firm had learned from their mistakes though and weren’t ready to say yes straight away. They knew exactly what they wanted from an IT provider:

  • A team that specialised in IT for law firms, and knew Affinity (their Practice Management System) like the back of their hands
  • Locally based contacts who were easy to work with
  • Quick response times
  • A team that practiced accountability (no handballing) and followed through on actions (no follow up required)

“With our past service provider there was a lot of buck passing – they used to kick around a problem… But Innessco take on the responsibility and… resolve the problems.” – Mark Faraday (Founding Director)

They were pleased that Innessco were based in Sydney – and more importantly, so were all their staff. Innessco were also happy to provide multiple references and encouraged Henry William Lawyers to do further research for peace of mind. After receiving a long list of positive reference checks, combined with the factors above, it made all the difference — Henry William Lawyers were ready to change.

Taking a risk to get the right result

“The changeover to the new system was the scariest moment of my life. We left the office at 5pm on Thursday and came back in on Friday morning – and it didn’t skip a beat! It went so well.” – Mark Faraday (Founding Director)

The changeover of systems in a law firm is understandably risky – after all, information and precedents is the firm’s greatest asset. That’s why Innessco purposefully slows down this part of the process. After auditing a firm’s IT assets they triple check every point of data transfer, backups and networked applications. Beta tests are run, data links are tested, and prototype work stations are set up for trial. And then Robert and his co-Director, David Loughry, set up a temporary base station at the firm’s premises and personally work on-site to install and monitor.

From their assessment and scope, to implementation and everyday communications, they described Innessco team as providing “Rolls Royce standard” service.

From endless barriers to endless possibilities

Henry William Lawyers haven’t looked back since engaging Innessco. They encourage other firms looking into IT providers to ask the hard questions. They learnt the hard way, so suggest others always ask:

  • Who will we be dealing with and will the same person be doing all the work once it’s up and running?
  • What level and hours of support are available?
  • How will you work with/around our other providers?

Not only do Innessco work with Henry William Lawyers to ensure best practice, but they are also actively engaged with LexisNexis Affinity team. Henry William Lawyers have made their mark as a commercial practice in Sydney, growing from 10 employees to 30 lawyers in the past twelve months.

Find your solution.

If your practice management system is facing similar IT system pains to Henry William Lawyers, you might benefit from a discussion about your options for your practice management system or IT provider.

To find out your options, contact Innessco here, or give Innessco a call on 02 7200 4400 or email robert.cox@innessco.com.

Alternatively, you can get a comprehensive idea of how well your firm’s IT is performing by heading over to innessco.com/evaluation-tool/ and taking the quick survey.