Evaluation expertise: How isolutions helped MLL Legal to select an efficient and neutral partner
As one of the largest Swiss commercial law firms, MLL Legal advises its clients in all areas of commercial law. In particular, MLL Legal is characterized by first-class industry expertise in technically innovative specialist areas such as fintech, blockchain and AI, but also in regulated and innovative industries such as life sciences, ICT, financial services, real estate and retail or luxury. The firm has grown both organically and through strategic mergers. The most recent merger took place on July 1, 2021 between Meyerlustenberger Lachenal. Since then, MLL Legal has employed around 250 people, including around 150 lawyers, at its four Swiss offices in Zurich, Geneva, Zug and Lausanne as well as at its international offices in London and Madrid.
Initial Situation
The merger of the law firms MLL and FRORIEP meant that the efficiency of client support was impaired by the different core systems of the two law firms. Although the same software was used, there were different processes and features. This stood in the way of the usual high quality of client support. The challenge was to document and harmonize the work processes and identify optimization opportunities at an early stage. Therefore, a solution had to be found. isolutions evaluated the optimization possibilities at an early stage of the project. Change management was also to be taken into account at an early stage in order to prepare the entire organization and actively involve the employees. The integration of the two cultures and consideration of the different hierarchies within the firm were of central importance.
Solution
To evaluate MLL Legal's current infrastructure, cloud architects from isolutions carried out an IT infrastructure assessment and developed possible proposals. In parallel, isolutions business consultants conducted individual interviews with representatives from various departments to gain insights into current working methods, differences and challenges. Based on these interviews, a company-wide online survey was conducted to collect basic data on the field of work, activities and initial suggestions for improvement. The high level of participation and commitment of the employees showed a great deal of interest in the project. Building on this, business workshops were held in which employees documented their work steps and compared them with each other in order to benefit from mutual insights. Target processes were developed on the basis of this as-is analysis. Following the process design, requirements for the future software were defined, with the technically experienced consultants from isolutions introducing new technologies and pointing out the necessary basics. The requirements developed were presented to the workforce again via an online survey so that any additions could be made via the survey.
In a final evaluation round, requirements for the provider and the individual application areas were evaluated and approved in a joint prioritization workshop. An evaluation matrix, which assessed both the submitted offers and the providers, formed the basis for the selection of a neutral provider.
Benefits
- isolutions' consulting expertise in technical and functional aspects secured the evaluation process for MLL Legal.
- The early involvement of the workforce at all levels laid the foundation for the acceptance of the subsequent replacement of the core systems DMS and KMS.
- MLL Legal was able to choose a partner that works with the latest technologies, covers both the KMS and DMS areas and uses standard software in the background in order to avoid complete dependence on the provider.