Aderant: Chartwell Law taps Aderant expert to enable future growth
While now ranking as one of the National Law Journal’s 250 largest firms, Chartwell Law’s original foundation as a boutique firm continues to guide their focus on delivering excellent customer service. Their small firm roots influenced Chartwell’s initial selection of software solutions primarily designed for firms with fewer timekeepers. One of those technologies was a widely available on-premise practice management, billing, and accounting application, or PMS, that was ideal at the time of selection but could not sustain the firm’s rapid growth.
As Chartwell expanded, their PMS’s non-relational database, inflexibility, and other limitations created challenges for the accounting department that stifled opportunities for further growth. Billers were forced to invent manual processes including the creation of prebills, invoices, and reports that took an average of four days to produce each month.
Frustrations weren’t limited to the back office, the firm’s lawyers also faced disadvantages, stemming from limited visibility into accounting and financial details. When information was requested, the often-delayed response was comprised of manual reports and screen captures because the accounting staff did not have an automated solution to easily compile and publish information firm-wide. Recognizing the limitations of their current solution and with internal complaints starting to boil over, Chartwell’s leadership set out to replace its existing PMS with a solution that would offer the increased functionality that the firm’s staff desperately needed.
A Perfect Fit
Chartwell began evaluating alternative solutions in 2019 and selected Aderant Expert, the industry-leading financial and practice management system, later that same year. The firm’s leaders cited Expert’s relational SQL database as a key factor in their decision. Additionally, Expert’s robust functionality was well-suited to transform the firm’s accounting and billing processes to be more modern, efficient, and most importantly, scalable.
The firm hired experienced technology leader Maor Levy as its Chief Technology Officer in March 2020. From previous roles, Levy was familiar with both the firm’s existing solution as well as Expert. Levy immediately began collaborating with Aderant to develop a personalized implementation process. However, only two weeks after Levy joined the firm, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and lockdowns forced Chartwell and Aderant to develop a completely unprecedented process.
A Pragmatic Migration in the Face of a Pandemic
Recognizing Expert’s critical role in boosting Chartwell’s operational efficiency (now more vital than ever), Levy was determined to push forward with implementation plans despite the pandemic. Aderant took the lead in beginning the migration process by extracting the firm’s financial data from their existing database and transferring it into a relational SQL database. Aderant’s technical staff performed several initial test conversions, checked the data, adjusted, and tested it again.
Next, the Aderant team configured and set up Expert to address Chartwell’s unique short-term needs as well as their long-term vision, customizing the software for functionality, security, and process optimization. From invoice templates to complex reporting, Expert was tailored to address a broad scope of requirements that could not be fulfilled by the firm’s previous PMS.
The crucial last stage was to map the data from the previous solution into Expert. The Aderant team collaborated with Levy to ensure that he was familiarized with the SQL database and handled troubleshooting with the older hardware and operating systems that the previous solution had relied on.
The entire migration process took one year to complete, with the pandemic causing only an initial slowdown at its onset. Additionally, Aderant worked to ensure that the new, robust system, was properly tested and rolled out in a way that did not overwhelm the firm’s IT staff or monopolize Levy’s time.
A Dramatic Digital Transformation
Chartwell went live firm-wide on Expert in April of 2021. The most dramatic transformation at the firm was within the accounting department, as the staff felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Levy stated,
“Expert saves hours, even days, for our accounting department. Now, we produce prebills at the beginning of every month, which took up to four days under our previous PMS. With Expert, one member of our staff can accomplish the same work within two hours, completing the prebill process electronically, so that our lawyers no longer print bills and annotate paper documents. We love that Expert automatically sends out invoices, that accounting can easily produce complex reports for lawyers, and that lawyers have their own access to information whenever they want it.”
Levy noted that Chartwell has only begun to scratch the surface of Expert’s wide breadth of functionality. The firm’s lawyers and accounting staff are still finding new ways that Expert can enhance the firm’s operations and continue to deliver, without distraction, on their original commitment to their clients. He predicts that Expert will be the catalyst to help accelerate Chartwell’s future growth and transformation.
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