Bannerman Burke Law, a renowned firm in the Scottish Borders, have been serving people for over a century. Priding themselves on a thorough approach to assisting all their clients varying needs with a cradle to grave offering. With a 15-member strong team, they class themselves as an independent small high-street firm.
Lauren Renwick, Solicitor, joined the practice after completing her postgraduate degree in Glasgow. She was keen to join a practice that aligned with her innate desire to connect directly with clients and help them navigate legal challenges. Lauren’s role at the firm is multifaceted, focusing primarily on Estates and Powers of Attorney. A commitment to client relationships has always been at the forefront, aligning perfectly with the firm’s ethos of fostering genuine connections.
In this fiercely competitive arena, smaller firms often grapple with the perception that their offerings might be overshadowed by the extensive resources of their larger counterparts. Lauren believes this perception, however, doesn’t account for the unique qualities that smaller high-street firms bring to the table – personalisation, direct client engagement, and a more intimate understanding of clients’ needs. These factors lay the foundation for building lasting relationships and fostering trust but leveraging them effectively requires strategic adaptation to changing times.
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Prior software challenges
Prior to the adoption of Exizent, Bannerman Burke Law managed its cases using a combination of Case Management Software (CMS) and manual paper files. While their CMS provided some structure, the process of drafting legal forms such as C1 and IHT forms, and executry accounts remained laborious and time-consuming. Heightening this challenge was the resources available to the team and their reliance on their part-time executive cashier, to complete all case estate accounts. The need for a more efficient, streamlined approach was undeniable. Lauren commented on the current internal processes:
“The processes in place weren’t as efficient as they could be and I think as a team we could see that without having a complete full-time team we weren’t always able to progress cases through as quickly as we would have liked. The manual entry of forms and case details was very time consuming.”
The three core challenges that Lauren wanted to address were:
- Time-consuming form and accounts drafting: Drafting legal forms and executry accounts demanded substantial time and effort, detracting from client engagement and case progression.
- Continuous duplication: The repetitive task of entering the same information across various platforms – from paper files to case management software – and in multiple documents, proved both monotonous and inefficient.
- Error prone manual entry: Multiple instances of information input left room for errors, requiring meticulous cross-checking and validation, consuming valuable time for Lauren and the team.
The quest for a transformative solution led Lauren and their team to seek an alternative that would address these challenges and elevate their service delivery to new heights.
The Exizent solution
The journey towards embracing Exizent was initiated by a product trial that showcased the platform’s potential for revolutionising their processes. Lauren’s initial experience with Exizent left a lasting impression, with the platform’s ease of use and efficiency making an immediate impact. The ability to pre-populate complex forms, such as C1 and IHT forms, stood out as a real game-changer, relieving the team of hours of painstaking work, and reducing the likelihood of errors. Lauren stated:
“I just love how Exizent pre-populates the C1 form and the IHT forms. Those forms are something that can quite often be a drag in our team and are very time consuming for us, especially the IHT forms which can be very daunting too.
By using Exizent’s platform we’re taking the pressure off and all we’re doing is checking everything’s as it should be. We used to spend around 3 hours per case, sometimes more, producing the relevant forms and checking everything was correct, it really could be a headache at times!”
Exizent’s intuitive interface allows Lauren and the team to effortlessly pre-populate forms with accurate data from the case, eliminating the need for manual input, minimising the potential for mistakes, and reinstating their confidence in the case documents.
“…With Exizent’s platform we simply need to check the data once and ensure the relevant forms are produced – much less daunting and a huge time saver.”
Exizent’s software continued to benefit the team, particularly when it came to resourcing issues. Previously they would rely on their part-time cashier to complete Estate Accounts, which could sometimes delay finalisation of the estate due to backlogs from lengthier cases. Now, Lauren is able to use Exizent’s automated estate accounts feature and produce estate accounts at the click of a button, significantly reducing time and alleviating resourcing issues. Commenting on the change automated estate accounts has made, Lauren said:
“With Exizent in place, I can progress a lot of things myself, such as executry accounts and all I need is for our cashier to check over it, rather than draft the whole account for me – which is a massive time saver and a lot more efficient. This also takes some pressure off our cashier and reduces their busy workload.”
Empowering efficiency and elevating client relations
With the integration of Exizent into their workflow, Lauren and her team experienced a cascade of benefits that enhanced their daily operations:
- Accelerated case progression: The automation of processes allowed Lauren to expedite estate settlements, surpassing previous timelines and delighting clients with swifter resolutions. Lauren noted on the improvement of case progression:
“…if I were to gauge the improvements, I would say I’m winding estates up at least a few weeks quicker than previously, which is a huge help for a small high-street firm like us. Not only are we improving customer relations and exceeding expectations but we’re also able to get the fees in quicker!”
- Elevated client communication: Exizent’s user-friendly estate accounts reduced confusion and client queries, fostering clearer communication and solidifying client relationships.
“Of the clients I’ve used Exizent’s Estate Accounts automation for, there are a lot less questions and the layout of the accounts much clearer and more straightforward for our clients to follow and understand. My last client commented on how easy he found the accounts to understand, which is great!”
- Increased workload capacity: The newfound efficiency translated to enhanced capacity, enabling Lauren and the team to take on more cases and contribute to the firm’s continued growth. As a team of two, this is a great improvement with Lauren commenting:
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very busy but there is a better flow to things now that I have the Exizent platform in place and because everything is automated it’s a lot less daunting and I have more confidence in increasing that workload as a result.”
A seamless transition and continued support
Lauren’s adoption of Exizent was characterised by a high-level support system, offered by Exizent. As a team, Exizent are committed to guiding users through the platform functionalities ensuring a smooth and seamless onboarding process. The personalised assistance Lauren received by Exizent’s Customer Success team and the comprehensive knowledge base alleviated any initial concerns and instilled confidence in using the platform effectively.
Continue reading our Case Study by clicking here and discovering the support Lauren received from Exizent.
Find out how Exizent can help save you and your team time, benefiting both your bottom line and your clients with a free trial here. Alternatively, book in for a one-to-one with one of our team and hear for yourself the benefits Exizent can bring.
This article was submitted to be published by Exizent as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
