Tracking investigations of any enforcement division such as licensing, commodities, securities or general investigations of inspector generals, human resource departments and more, is one of the most critical methods to ensure accountability and enhance effectiveness. However, most enforcement agencies adopt the silo-based approach that employs multiple databases and systems, creating significant integration, information sharing, and data-quality challenges internally and across external entities. And as this process is manual and inefficient, more often than not, there is a loss of key information. At the same time, the lack of a centralized collection of data also adds to the inefficiency of legal processes. This fragmented data management approach adopted by legal departments has become a significant problem in recent months, as the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting social distancing guidelines have pushed personnel into working from home, hindering the efficiency of collaboration and data collection.
US-based Legal Files Software addresses these challenges with its unique solicitors software case management that helps users manage a multitude of legal processes from a single, unified, interface. “Legal Files is a flexible software that has the non-technical configuration tools built directly into its system, which allows users to leverage its features to meet even the most unique case and investigative case management software requirements,” says John Kanoski, CEO at Legal Files Software.
Founded in 1990, Legal Files Software expanded out of its original legal case and matter management offering over the last decade as the company grew its focus into the government/public sector. Subsequently, more and more customers shared their firsthand experience of using Legal Files Software and its impact on boosting the efficiency of legal documentation and data management, enabling Legal Files to become the powerhouse it is today in the case management arena. “Once the legal arena recognized the value of our software, investigators of all kinds—inspectors general, analysts, affirmative action & diversity officers, licensing investigators, internal affairs, labor relations managers—began to approach us,” adds John.
The current generation of Legal Files Software is a one-stop-shop of case management capabilities designed to address and mitigate the most prevalent pain points for managing investigations. For instance, to help users eliminate human error, the software can automate repetitive tasks with its workflow management module and many others. The company’s offering also has a built-in document generation component to automate the creation of documents, alongside customizable user and case management dashboards, that enable users to quickly find key documents and files, which further speeds up the documentation process and eliminates human-made inefficiencies. Alternatively, Legal Files offers a user-friendly management dashboard that enables managers to seamlessly manage workloads, identify bottlenecks, and review project status. For users who have to perform many data entry tasks, the software offers its picklists, data field templates, and drop-down features, which minimizes tediousness and ensures more consistency.
Furthermore, as a relational database, Legal Files reduces the need for file updates, i.e., once new information, whether it a different email address or a change to a deadline, is entered into Legal Files, that change is reflected throughout the entire system, regardless of where that information is referenced. “This is possible because information such as contact records, documents, tasks, or calendar events are viewable from many locations within the application, but stored in just one place,” explains John. Legal Files also offers both case level and global timelines of all activities and deadlines. Concurrently, the software’s Legal Files Drop Zone and seamless integration with Microsoft Office allows users to save or copy documents and emails individually or in bulk, allowing users to save a huge amount of time.
At the heart of Legal Files Software’s success is its organizational culture that allows open and honest communication. “If someone has something to say, we want to hear it; there’s no point hiring good people and then not allowing them to voice their ideas, suggestions, concerns or complaints,” elaborates John. The company takes a similar approach to its customers and always ensures that they do not over/under promise and can 100 percent deliver on its customers’ needs. In pursuit of this, Legal Files leverages its highly competent customer relations team to regularly contact customers and determine if they are making the most of the software. According to John, there have been instances in which customers request that new functionality be added to the software. In these cases, the company researches how to make that happen and starts building new functionality and enhancements to its product that will help all customers. Staying true to this customer-focused model, Legal Files’ future plans revolve around refining the current iteration of Legal Files and expanding its feature set based on direct feedback from customers.