Legal Matter Management and Why it Matters – An Expert Opinion

As with any industry, technology has had a massive effect on the workings of the legal profession. There is no denying that the legal profession, on its whole, has now evolved in par with the scope and reach of the technology that seems to govern it all. Seasoned players of the profession might remember a time when they struggled with the disadvantages of traditional means dictating the management of their practices; but today’s experts, well versed in the nuances of legal technology, know that there is a better and simpler way to manage all legal matters – one that guarantees efficiency, accuracy, and no doubt, even success.

What is Legal Matter Management?

Legal Matter Management or Practice management is generally defined as the process in which all legal matters and related data, such as type of legal work, lawyers’ time and work on the case, budgets, and invoices, are gathered, tracked, and reported on. In the olden days, this involved a horde of members from the legal, finance and admin departments being inundated with case papers, timesheets, budget plans, receipts, contracts, invoices and a number of other documents involved in day-to-day practice. But now, aided by technology, all this can be handled through legal practice management softwares and platforms that come with easy user mobility, customisable controls, enhanced legitimacy and maximum benefits.

Matter Management vs Case Management

Case management is often synonymously used with Matter Management. In many instances, it would be rightly so. But, as a company specialising in creating and deploying the very platforms used for the purpose, we, at BIGFORMULA Solutions know that the difference between the two could make or break the viability of the entire solution.

While Case Management is leveraged by lawyers and legal institutions that work on a large scale, document intensive litigation, work with a number of resources, across disciplines and handle enormous volumes of paper and electronic documents; Matter Management is more comprehensive. It addresses the concerns of the entire organisation as a whole – managing every aspect of the legal practice both internally and externally. It is more robust and provides functionalities that go beyond the key requirements of Case Management, i.e., storage and search. It allows users to create and open processes, assign lawyers and timekeepers to cases, and report on who worked on what matters and for how long, to name a few. It gives departments the key insights needed to help businesses achieve their strategic objectives.

Why it Matters

Conventional matter management techniques, though still widely in use, come with a host of disadvantages – the process is manually intensive, labour exhaustive, prone to inaccuracies and delays and allow for a much lower degree of collaboration. To combat these disadvantages and to enhance matter management practices everywhere, several legal entities across the industry are now aligning with the compelling benefits in the use of legal technology and its applications within technologically advanced matter management platforms.

As a legal tech company that has already built customised matter management solutions for several legal agencies across the world, at BIGFORMULA, we understand the significance and the nuances involved in implementing the solutions within existing workflows. We understand that sustained success requires more than the digitisation and automation that comes with matter management solutions. User awareness, compatibility and ease are just as crucial factors. And for any matter management platform to be truly successful, we know that it needs to navigate through all possible shortcomings and provide a holistic solution that is collaborative, inclusive and yes, highly efficient.