Law Firm Software Wins National Award

Press Release from HM Associates
9 August 2007

Law Firm Software Wins National Award

Queenstown legal firm HM Associates has won a prestigious national award for developing of an innovative software programme that simplifies systems in legal offices.

HM Associates picked up the top prize in the small business sector of the 2007 Computerworld Excellence Awards with its ActionStep programme.

HM Associates partner and Queenstown lawyer Michael Holloway joined forces with Queenstown software developer Ted Jordan to implement the ActionStep software in a law office environment.

ActionStep is an efficient end-to-end, cost-efficient solution where all information is only entered once and then workflow is simplified through a back-end management system. Because the information is stored on a central server, it provides complete flexibility for businesses to run from anywhere, anytime, as long as there is a PC, Mac or mobile phone with internet access.

Since making the finals of the “Excellence in the Use of ICT in a Small Business” category of the Awards, Mr Holloway has been approached by many businesses interested in the system.

“I have had lots of meetings already and gained an insight into a potentially huge number of firms (usually small) that are very aware of the value of technology to their business. They’re actively exploring ways to systemise their practices and provide significant client benefits using the internet.

“IT infrastructure can be a big headache, particularly for small businesses but ActionStep changes that. The capabilities are endless - it’s efficient, flexible, affordable for businesses of any scale and includes comprehensive ongoing support. It’s the perfect package for lawyers who are keen to upgrade to new technology or for those starting up businesses,” says Mr Holloway.

Mr Holloway and Mr Jordan were in Auckland on 27 July to receive their award after beating out the other two finalists in their section - Canning & Associates for its remote rural office using wireless broadband and Vadacom for Sugar and VadaXchange.

At the gala presentation dinner MC John Campbell said that the judging panel was impressed by HM Associates' ability to re-invent their business model – using technology as the key enabler.

“This transformation now sets HM Associates apart from more traditional legal firms in their market and has already delivered a significant return on investment for the business owners.”

ENDS

Backgrounder –about ActionStep

Mr Holloway’s quest for a better way began with an internal audit of his law firm and how it compiled and stored information. That audit showed client information had to be individually inputted into several different programmes and applications. There was client information in the Trust Account programme that differed slightly from that in the business accounting programme (Quickbooks). People’s Outlook would have different details, as would the document production programme. He concluded that lawyers were spending a huge amount of unnecessary time in front of a computer reconciling software.

Mr Holloway then went on to implement the one-stop-shop ActionStep software with Mr Jordan.

ActionStep streamlines business, makes the ability to practice law more efficient and completely simplifies work flow. Old systems make it very difficult for one person to pick up where another has left off. When using ActionStep, when the programme is launched it shows everything that’s gone on in a file, making delegation far simpler. There’s an automatic audit that holds all file notes and makes them easily and instantly viewable. Administrative tasks are significantly cut down as there’s no need to move outside the programme for data processing.

The software is not only extremely efficient from an organisational point of view; it’s also cheap to install and run.

Most small businesses will have a server system that probably cost $7K - $10K to set up, then the cost of software licences for every computer that accesses the server, then annual IT support costs of $10K - $20K. None of that is needed with ActionStep - just an internet connection, a browser and a monthly license fee from $60 per user, plus some training and configuration costs to get going.

ENDS

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