Wilson and Berry Case Study
As a small practice in Bracknell, Berkshire, Wilson & Berry Solicitors
has been providing legal services for over 150 years. It is one of the
few firms in its catchment area offering Legal Aid, but some 65-70% of
its business is directly related to conveyancing.
Bracknell is on the M4 corridor between London and Bristol and offers
a rich and constant stream of property transactions. Domestic and
commercial properties change hands quickly, and new build projects
are putting more and more demand on legal firms that offer
conveyancing. However, the market is competitive and with twelve
employees, of whom four are partners, supported by one legal
executive, introducing any technology at Wilson & Berry needed to
have a positive impact on the efficiency of the firm’s services.
Conveyance process improvements gain business edge for firm
John Hare, Conveyancing Co-ordinator at Wilson & Berry says that
accepting technology as a legitimate way forward was a big shift for
the firm: “We had tried using conveyancing software in the past, but it
wasn’t very well received, mainly because we were not culturally
ready, it was easy for people within the firm to reject it. I was confident
that technology could make a difference, so when we tried again with
OchreSoft, I was determined to make it work”.
“The big difference with OchreSoft’s solution is that it is very intuitive,
and is clearly designed by people who have a deep understanding of
conveyancing – which meant we could just get on with using it. Once
everyone started to see the benefits, we quickly began to accept
technology as part of our working lives.”
John was key in driving this change into the business and acted as
guinea pig in the first instance, proving that OchreSoft’s clear and
friendly interface really was easy to use. “Moving to an electronic
system was, culturally, very painful,” admits John, “but once everyone
had committed to the change, and could see the difference it made,
the outcome was positive in every measure.”
That was two years ago, and more recently Wilson and Berry have
upgraded to OchreSoft’s Intelliworks. Now with five regular users –
two fee earners, two secretaries and John - the firm is much more
effective at servicing its clients. And the system is not exclusive to the
principle users either as all employees, and locums, can have access
to the system - ensuring that everyone can see exactly where
any transaction is up to at any time. This provides added
benefits as John explained: “If we get a call from an estate
agent, for example, anyone can answer the question, which
means there is no need to worry the fee earner. This is very
useful for all of us.”
Impact on the business
OchreSoft develops its solutions in two ways: a well structured
and intuitive workflow framework that imposes good discipline
on legal firms, along with a comprehensive database of forms
and standard letters related to sale or purchase transactions.
OchreSoft’s Sales Director, Michael Swift, says, “Legislation
changes so fast that it is hard for firms to remain up to date. We
guarantee compliance so that firms are relieved of that
burden.”John Hare confirms the benefits. “Intelliworks has
helped to consolidate the business. What was once two
disparate departments, working independently one from the
other, can now work together. We use the same documents and
processes, making sure that the work we do is more effective for
both us and our clients.”
Since introducing ICONExpert, John says that the volume of the
work that the firm handles has also gone up. “We have
increased the number of projects on the go since implementing
Intelliworks as well as speeding up the process. From a client
perspective, they get the initial documentation much more
quickly as the initial letters are already set up – this means we
can get them sent out the same day”. In among the business
benefits is the vitally important ingredient to OchreSoft’s
success; “We like the clear interface and the fact that it is so
intuitive. It is not at all convoluted,” confirms John.
Saving money, improving service
In the past, maintaining documentation compliance at Wilson &
Berry was a cumbersome and expensive process. John states
the case simply: “It used to put heavy demands on our fee
earners time, time that is better spent advising and not checking
paper work. Intelliworks is a useful tool that relieves fee
earners of that problem, and it certainly makes all our lives
easier.”
In summation, even the culture change was welcomed.
“Intelliworks is a product which drives you along the
conveyancing process and steers you in the right direction,”
concludes John. “We’ve certainly not been disappointed.”
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