Worldwide pandemic fails to interfere with Symes Bains Broomer’s migration to LEAP’s cloud software plans – with Jayva’s aid
Swapping out Symes Bains Broomer Solicitors’ old practice management application for the advanced cloud-hosted LEAP Legal Software with backing from Jayva Global came about largely by opportunity – having met at a legal sector event pre pandemic. The switchover project itself was conducted during the Covid-19 outbreak by the LEAP-Jayva team despite numerous and varied pitfalls. Senior partner Andrew Horwich tells his story…
The client
The lineage of Symes Bains Broomer dates back to the late 18th century and the company has been known to generations across Scunthorpe and Goole – its twin sites. With a reputation for client care and quality services, the law firm relies upon its back-office technology and complementary technical support services to operate supremely.
The original solution
Symes Bains Broomer’s incumbent practice management system looked aesthetically outdated. Additionally, while its legal accounting functionality was satisfactory, its case management capabilities were limited. The other major issue was its server set up restricting the ability of employees to work flexibly and reaching maximum capacity thereby requiring a hardware upgrade.
Andrew explains:
“We had a catalogue of complaints about our previous software. It looked tired, was fine for legal accounts but dire for case management, didn’t support home working and was welded to our server which was approaching its end of life.
“To clarify, the user interface wasn’t pleasing. At best, I’d say it was a document management tool for storing matter files. There weren’t any features to drive matters forward. Operating from our home offices was a struggle due to the in-house server format. Even working from the office posed problems as our server had run out of space.”
With circumstances already necessitating a system migration, the arrival of Covid only served to exacerbate the situation.
Andrew clarifies:
“When Covid struck, the need for flexible working was heightened. By this time, we were already in discussions with LEAP. We expedited the installation project to cater for our differing requirements once the pandemic was in our midst. It was at this phase we enlisted Jayva’s services to implement the LEAP product.”
The new solution
Having met LEAP coincidentally at a legal conference and seminar event, and seeing a software demonstration, Andrew and his fellow partners were keen to progress but found themselves having to navigate a global pandemic.
Andrew adds:
“A further software demonstration was arranged for late March 2020 but, for reasons now obvious to us all, this couldn’t happen face to face. Discussions moved to a remote setting and stayed this way for the duration.
“Jayva’s involvement in our LEAP project came slightly later. They too performed their work digitally. Jayva was by our side delivering a guided installation and test data transfer with our external IT provider, giving training to everyone with particular emphasis on designated super users, and continuing to be on call as and when demanded.
“The entire project took place during Covid but we managed to overcome the challenges with the help of Zoom, and responsive consultants and trainers in Jayva. The odds became even more stacked against us when our primary Jayva point of contact got Covid early in the pandemic. She suffered the full force of the virus and was poorly for months. Thanks to Jayva’s resilience and tenacity, our LEAP implementation carried on regardless with absolutely no interruption to our schedule. Jayva went above and beyond to make sure this was the case.”
The benefits
LEAP is firmly installed at Symes Bains Broomer enabling benefits ranging from guaranteed development for software that continually innovates, to increased efficiencies with case management tools that streamline work, to world-class customer care for maximum return on investment.
Andrew states:
“Without a doubt, LEAP’s strength is case management. This includes workflow prescribing the stages of a matter and document templates pre-filled with database content, combining with an array of extra features to operate as effectively as we can.
“Where Jayva’s concerned, there’s no distinction from LEAP which is testament to how streamlined and integrated the whole process is. We’ve developed an inherent level of trust and we’re in constant contact with Jayva as they provide ongoing support to this day. This is help on a consultancy basis, for example Nicola Moore-Miller is currently undertaking an accounting health check to ensure our procedures are robust, and software training, as we deliberately left training hours in the pot for future use.
“The training of super users was a genius stroke. We identified one employee per team to assume the responsibility of acting as software supervisor to the rest of their team. By utilising these super users, it spreads the technical know how around and prevents one sole person being inundated with system queries. Software uptake has soared.
“Now, we wouldn’t want to be without LEAP and we wouldn’t want to be without Jayva. Due to their close partnership, in our eyes they’re one and the same.”
The future
As active members of the LawNet community, Symes Bains Broomer readily recommends the LEAP-Jayva alliance to help other law firms in the network make positive improvements to their own businesses through software.
Andrew concludes:
“A key element of LawNet is validating decisions. Within the IT sub group, I’ve already endorsed LEAP and Jayva on several occasions so far – a practice I intend to repeat. By passing on my experiences, more law firms can succeed simply by making the right software and consultancy support choices.
“Jayva has surpassed our expectations. No task is too much and no question is too little. In comparison to other consultants, they’re poles apart. If you’ve got a software migration project that needs managing, do what we did and turn to Jayva.”