(September 4, 2008) – A unique method of streamlining the management of electronic documents created by attorneys and staff at Reed Smith LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, garnered first place at a contest hosted by Interwoven and Baker Robbins during the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) annual conference.
Reed Smith’s implementation of Interwoven WorkSite provides a novel and streamlined approach to managing their legal content across the firm. Leveraging Interwoven’s tight integration with Microsoft Outlook and branded internally as ‘DigitalFile,’ it features a single base matter template with three preset folders: administration, e-mail and other correspondence. From this base template and to deliver the flexibility needed, the system enables attorneys and staff to add optional litigation and transaction folders from a pre-defined list, putting the power of organization directly into their hands.
Reed Smith’s design team was led by Lisa Gianakos, Director of Knowledge Management, and consisted of Los Angeles senior associate Nikki Kolhoff, Chicago partner Henry Pietrkowski, Los Angeles counsel Lisa Baird, London professional support lawyer Suzie Savage, and the Secretarial Efficiency Team. They were assisted by a steering committee of attorneys from various offices.
“This award, in part, validates a unique design approach spawned from ideas brought forth by Nikki, Henry and Lisa,” said Tom Baldwin, chief knowledge officer at Reed Smith. “The decision to work with global departmental templates with pre-set optional folders breaks from the traditional approach most law firms take.”
Going into the design phase of this project, Mr. Baldwin said the design team knew they didn't want to follow in the footsteps of other firms that had reported mixed results with their use of more detailed folder design. They decided to adopt a much cleaner, "less is more," approach with the design of DigitalFile.
“We're not pushing out a battery of unnecessary folders, rather we empower users to add folders at the point they are needed,” said Mr. Baldwin. “For instance, if a matter that begins as a transaction later turns into litigation, they can just add the needed litigation folders. We don't have to update templates, regenerate workspaces or get IT involved in anyway to accommodate this level of flexibility.”
In addition, document types are captured as the first part of the document title allowing users to sort by document type, and to aid with searching. The great search power provided by Velocity, and later with Recommind, should obviate the need for highly detailed filing.
Interwoven Consulting Services team has been working with Reed Smith on the Matter Centric design using Interwoven’s Worksite product.
“This design works because it’s clean and sharp,” said Rizwan Khan, vice president, WW Professional Services, at Interwoven Inc. “What Reed Smith has done is create a design that takes out a lot of the clutter and streamlines the filing process in a way that makes sense to a wide variety of users. It was this innovative design that drew rave reviews from those in attendance at the ILTA annual conference.”
The annual contest was open to more than 6,000 members of ILTA across the globe, with a short list of less than ten finalists selected. Each finalist was allowed a five minute presentation at the conference to explain their designs, followed by live audience judging.
The US deployment of DigitalFile is expected to launch in mid-October with the UK, Europe and the Middle East coming on line in early 2009.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,600 lawyers in 23 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its lawyers provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, manufacturing, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com
U.S.: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Princeton, Northern Virginia, Wilmington, Century City, Richmond
Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Birmingham, Greece
Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Dubai
Asia: Hong Kong, Beijing