Case Study No. 1.

Problem: A law firm with three lawyers, two paralegals and three administrative staff was able to eliminate two staff positions, reduce billing turnaround by 20 hours and increase its realization rate through the use of outsourced business services. Before implementing our solutions, case files were maintained in a file room and the billing and accounting functions were handled largely by one of the lawyers. Bills were typically rendered late and collections were a recurring problem. In addition, the firm had taken on a large number of contingent-fee collection cases that it had not been able to work on due to staff shortage.

Solution: Through the implementation of digital document technology and outsourced billing, accounting and project management, the firm was able to reduce its non-billing staff by two positions, one of which was redeployed as a para-professional. In addition, the time devoted to billing and financial matters by one partner was reduced by 20 hours per month. Unbilled work in progress and turnaround time on receivables were reduced while realization rates improved. The firm outsourced one clerical position to develop a direct mail campaign resulting in an average of $8,000 additional fee revenue per month and the redeployed administrative staff was assigned to work exclusively on contingent fee matters. Physical space requirements were reduced by 300 square feet. The time freed up by the partner was devoted to increase billable hours and new client generation, which resulted in the firm bringing in two substantial new matters.

Savings
Administrative Staff	$	35,000
Administrative Staff	$	35,000
Physical Space	$	9,000
Total	$	79,000

New Revenue
Contingent Fee Cases	$	75,000
Additional Partner Billable Hours (10 hours per month)	$	42,000
Improvement in Realization Rates through aggressive collections	$	30,000
Cases generated through new marketing staff	$	96,000
Total	$	243,000

Costs of redeployment
Paralegal	$	35,000
Marketing Clerical	$	15,000
Marketing Costs	$	3,500
Outsourced business services	$	26,000
Total	$	79,500

Summary
Costs Saved	$	79,000
Additional Revenue Generated	$	243,000
Less : Costs Associated with Outsourcing and Redeployment	($    79,500)
Return	$	242,500