Case Management Articleshttp://www.ellwood.com/case-management-articles/en-US2010-08-01T01:35:15ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.5 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Your Website Sucks!http://www.ellwood.com/case-management-articles/2009/9/17/your-website-sucks.htmlSteve Ellwood2009-09-17T18:00:34ZI know that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones – believe me, I do. So I am going out on a limb when I say that your web site sucks.

I recently wrote a proposal outlining our strategy to manage a firm’s collection of web pages they used to market their involvement in various class actions. The ideas in the first part of the proposal appeared to me to be applicable to nearly every law firm I see out there on the web.

]]>Using CaseMap to Manage Undertakingshttp://www.ellwood.com/case-management-articles/2009/8/5/using-casemap-to-manage-undertakings.htmlSteve Ellwood2009-08-05T05:41:23ZToday most firms manage undertakings using their computers. Sadly, for the most part, the process has only 'computerized' what is really a system developed in the age of the quill. Typically, a reference is made to the page and question number, a paraphrase of the undertaking is typed in, and perhaps a column is left for the response to be typed in. Working with the list of undertakings is awkward at best and dangerous at worst.

To prepare a motion regarding unfulfilled undertakings, all you need to do is cut and paste from several documents, flip through the correspondence file of the matter; a few hours work and you're done.

]]>Who is a Professional?http://www.ellwood.com/case-management-articles/2009/6/20/who-is-a-professional.htmlSteve Ellwood2009-06-20T13:16:15ZExcerpted from Steve Ellwood's comments to the team at our our annual meeting Dec 2008;

Steve is explaining what he has called the 'ellwood experience'. A client of the firm should be consistently impressed with the firm, it professionalism, its competence, its reliability.

The ellwood Experience

Each division needs the others. Our contact with our clients requires that we have answers and capabilities that draw on all three departments.

]]>Utilizing Leveragehttp://www.ellwood.com/case-management-articles/2009/6/20/utilizing-leverage.htmlSteve Ellwood2009-06-20T13:09:08ZThe firm had a milestone on Wednesday. For the first time we ran simultaneous sales presentations at different firms.

Doesn't sound like much does it. But it is 'much' indeed.

Technical skills are trained in. I insist that my people get back in the classroom a lot. Certifications, seminars, webinars everyone in the company on a regular basis. I go so far as to say that the firm will pay for 50% of all the costs associated with ANY type of course (leading a certification or other 'status') in any subject. (I think being a certified scuba diver - or whatever - makes you a better support person/litigation consultant/hardware technician/administrator) We have a culture of perpetual learning around here.

]]>Reduce Cost and Improve Effectivenesshttp://www.ellwood.com/case-management-articles/2009/5/26/reduce-cost-and-improve-effectiveness.htmlellwood associates inc2009-05-26T23:07:52ZClients say litigation costs too much. The Courts say litigation costs too much. Thepoliticianssay litigations costs too much. Despite the fact that politicians say this too, it’s actually true. Litigation costs too much!

How do we reduce the cost and increase the effectiveness of the process?

I think I know how. We have to be more efficient than we were before and than anybody else is now. Efficiency = lower cost per task = bigger BANG per billable hour to the client. I have spent almost all my life working on improving the efficiencies of law firms.

Bigger bang for the golden goose's buck can come in two ways;

a) Have cheaper people do the same tasks the firm have always done -> less cost per hour = less cost

b) Have the same priced people get the task done faster -> less time = less cost

The answer is a combination of BOTH strategies. Both strategies also require INVESTMENT.

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