Case Study —
Advocates

Like every business, the law firm Advocates LLP uses Technology to be more efficient and profitable. Unlike every business, Advocates has the advantage of using Protek integrated business solutions to ensure its technology is delivering those efficiencies round the clock, every day of the year. Since its creation in 1996, the firm has relied on technology. Originally that meant three desktop computers and a few printers, and advanced software programs, a system the lawyers were able to keep running without too much outside assistance. As the firm grew, specializing in commercial, construction, tax and estate litigation, its reliance on technology increased.

"About seven years ago, we started talking to Protek about helping us with our technology needs," recalls David Thompson, a founding partner. "Protek immediately began providing us with a level of service we hadn't enjoyed before. They are big enough to always have someone available to solve a problem, but they aren't so big that you’re always talking to a different person."

Over the years, Protek has provided Advocates with several key systems and services. Four years ago, Protek delivered an all-new server system, allowing the recently expanded firm to better serve its lawyers and clients by giving Advocates lawyers the computing power to use the latest legal and productivity software. These programs allow a small firm to research like a big firm, and deliver the high quality work in the timely and efficient manner its clients have come to expect. In addition to research and case management tools, Advocates uses voice recognition dictation software as well as an integrated phone system. As a result, the seven-lawyer firm requires only three support people compared to the industry standard of up to 14 o keep the office operating smoothly while delivering a high level of client service.

The extent of the firm’s reliance on technology means that it cannot afford any unscheduled downtime for its computer systems. In order to provide greater reliability, Advocates last year signed up for Protek's managed services program.

"They monitor our entire system, remotely, and take care of any issue, often before we even know about it," says Thompson. "A few months ago, they called to say one of our servers was running too hot (which could result in an automatic and unscheduled shutdown). They sent someone out to repair the issue before we were even aware of the potential problem."

Satisfied with Protek’s support, service and technology solutions to date, Advocates worked with the company recently to upgrade its servers, this time employing protek’s virtual server solution to further minimize the risk of systems downtime.

"The virtual server technology, combined with Protek’s managed service program, offers us increased redundancy, performance and flexibility, so we're better protected if any individual components fail, and we are in a position to add more lawyers to better service our client’s needs," Thompson says.

"We call it business continuity," says Al MacKinnon, vice president of Protek. "Our job is to make sure the Advocates systems are running consistently at peak performance, so the lawyers there can concentrate on what they do best, efficiently and effectively deliver the highest quality legal services to their clients. They never have to worry about their technology infrastructure."

That's exactly what David Thompson and his partners were looking for when they first approached Protek. "We're not only too small to have an IT Department, but our philosophy has always been to outsource our support requirements to other professionals. Protek is our IT Department, and they do it very well."

Article and photography originally appeared in London Business Magazine