TouchPoint going live at Fentons Solicitors LLP

Leading UK personal injury specialist, Fentons Solicitors LLP, is amongst the first to adopt Eclipse’s new TouchPoint solution.

Fentons – which recently gained its Alternative Business Structure licence – employs 300 staff at offices in Manchester and London.  The firm specialises in matters ranging from road traffic accidents and industrial disease claims through to complex, multi-million pound medical negligence cases.  Fentons utilises Eclipse’s Proclaim Practice Management Software solution for all staff and is now bringing onboard TouchPoint functionality.

Recently launched, TouchPoint provides an ‘always on’ self-service solution for firms’ clients and business partners.  A personalised, convenient experience, TouchPoint can be delivered via any device (e.g. iPad, smartphone), operating on any platform (iOS, Android, Windows).

TouchPoint provides users with a choice of ’tiles’ that can be presented to clients to provide a transparent and user-friendly interface with case progress, KPIs, marketing systems, document management, geo-mapping, and more.

Paul Medcalfe, Partner and Head of IT at Fentons Solicitors, comments:

“One of the main advantages of TouchPoint is the fact that it is not dependent on any one operating system, enabling users – our business partners or clients – to benefit.  As a firm we are proud of our reputation, secured by delivering the best in client service and support, and we always want our clients to have the best possible experience.  Initially we will be introducing TouchPoint to our business partners – such as our costs draftsmen – but then we plan to roll this out to those clients who want to track progression and communicate with us from the solution.”

Steve Ough, Chief Software Architect at Eclipse, comments:

“TouchPoint is a genuinely unique solution in the legal services market – we are delighted that our latest innovation is so in tune with forward-thinking law firms.”

Eclipse team completes 'The Blockbuster'

A huge well done to all 27 members of Team Eclipse, who recently completed the Jane Tomlinson’s Walk for All “Blockbuster” charity hike.

The Blockbuster event saw hundreds of participants take on the challenge of a 14-mile hike in the Yorkshire Dales.  The hikers experienced all weather seasons – from heavy rain and gale-force winds, through to welcoming sunshine – whilst tackling the arduous route which included a 418-step climb up Malham Cove.

Eclipse’s nominated charity for the event was for the Barth Syndrome Foundation.  BST is dedicated to saving lives through education, advances in treatment, and finding a cure for Barth syndrome – a sometimes fatal, oftentimes debilitating genetic disease affecting boys.

Team Eclipse raised over £2,000 for the charity, and would like to thank all of those who kindly made donations.  To show your support, you can still donate – please visit the Eclipse Virgin Money Giving page.

The shortlist for the Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Awards

We are delighted to announce this year’s shortlist for the inaugural Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Awards 2013 which take place on Wednesday 25th September at The Dorchester hotel in London.

The Judges were extremely impressed with the high calibre of the nominations for the 17 award categories and had an overwhelming number of individual entries to consider. After much deliberation the panel of expert judges have whittled down all the entries to the final shortlist of firms and individuals below:

• Alan Nesbit – Nesbit Law Group
• Allsquare Legal
• Amanda Illing – Hardwicke
• Berrymans Lace Mawer
• Bott & Co
• Brilliant Law
• Camps Solicitors
• Christina Blacklaws – Co-Op Legal Services
• Clifford James Consultants
• Coby Benson – Bott & Co
• Co-Op Legal Services
• Eileen Pembridge – Fischer Meredith
• Emsleys Solicitors
• Fasstrac Solicitors
• Fox Williams
• Gladys Swaim-Rutter – Roberts Jackson
• Gelbergs Solicitors
• Hardwicke
• Hatti Suvari – Red Bar Law
• Helen Molyneux – NewLaw Solicitors
• Injurylawyers4U
• Just Costs Solicitors
• Karen Jackson – Roberts Jackson
• Keoghs
• Knights Solicitors
• Laura Hobey-Harmsher – Fischer Meredith
• McMillan Wi
• lliam
• myhomemove
• NewLaw Solicitors
• Ostrich Law
• Parabis
• Paul Addison – DevAssist
• Peter Garsden – QualitySolicitors Abney Garsden
• Pudsey Legal
• QualitySolicitors Abney Garsden
• Quindell Legal Services
• Roberts Jackson
• Sameer Karim – Douglas Wemyss LLP
• Schillings
• SGI Law
• Tim Oliver – Parabis
• Trevor Gilbert – Trevor Gilbert & Associates
• True Solicitors
• Winn Solicitors
• Wolf Law
• Zebra Legal Consulting

Are you innovating or window dressing?

Are ABSs and other legal entities doing enough to innovate legal services for the customer or are they simply changing the window dressing?

By ‘innovate’, we’re going to make a bit of a leap here and suggest that a key way to do that is to make the ‘buying’ process for customers easier.  Generally, the simpler and more convenient the ‘buying’ process is, the happier customers will be… and the more ‘buying’ they will do.

To illustrate this, one of the best places to look is the big online retailers and how they do it (so Amazon, for example).

Despite operating in a very different sector, what facets of their service make the buying process easier? Generalising (again), it comes down to:

• Simplicity of finding the right product (service)
• An easy and streamlined way to buy the product (service)
• A clear and simple way to keep track of the transaction
• An easy and convenient way to stay in touch (via a range of devices, e.g. iPhone, tablet, etc)

In the days when everyone spoke of ‘Tesco Law’, everyone assumed that the new wave of legal service providers would roll out this more ‘retail’ based approach to buying legal products. And the assumption was that it would happen on day 1.

In reality, the change has been more ‘subtle drip, drip’ than ‘big bang’. Yes some organisations are moving more towards this ‘make the process easy’ model for their customers. But it’s a slow transition, and the likes of Tesco have not marched along and transformed legal service provision overnight. So the scope for innovative service delivery is still there, and that is very exciting.

And note that there is nothing to stop ‘traditional’ law firm structures from innovating here – it’s just a mindset change and a marketing focus that is required.

The market is waiting!

TouchPoint – true client self-service

How to retain competitive advantage in the ABS era

Charlotte Parkinson, Modern Law Magazine, spoke to Dolores Evelyn (pictured); Eclipse Legal Systems, about how technology can help small to medium sized firms retain competitive advantage following the emergence of ABS giants, since the ABS Act was passed through parliament at the end of 2011.

It has been just over a year since the ABS Act cleared its final hurdle and was conceded through Parliament and already some big players within the legal services sector have began to emerge. The appearance of ABS firms such as BT Law, Quindell, The Co-op, Thompsons, Admiral Law, Ageas Law and Stobarts, has left many smaller law firms wondering how they can streamline their service offerings in order to retain competitive advantage and avoid their clients being swallowed up by these new ABS giants.

While it is feared that many of these newly emerging industry heavyweights will begin to swamp the market, some consumers feel as though firms of this size can lose the personal aspect of service which can often be instrumental to success in an exceptionally competitive market. The client may be afraid of being subject to endless options on an automated telephone service for example. Although there are some larger corporations, such as NatWest, breaking the mould with their innovative NatWest Mobile Branch Banking, which creates an accessible service for its customers in rural areas by providing them with access to banking without having to travel to towns and cities, many larger firms have neglected the personal aspect of customer service.

A pro-active approach

So, what are the ways in which the smaller law firms can remain at the fore of the market now that these huge ABS corporations are in play? The average person will use a lawyer four times in their life and this will broadly be across four consumer areas of law; conveyancing, probate and possibly family and personal injury. As it will be a necessity for most people to use these services at some point in their life there is certainly the demand for the service, so it is the competitive edge for the small to medium sized firms that is vital.

Technology has advanced beyond recognition within the last 10 years and has changed the scope for possibility within the legal sector. Many firms are therefore looking towards their technological service providers to aid in giving them the competitive advantage and market share and while some of these firms are being pro-active in the way they approach market uncertainty and change, there are some firms where this much needed pro-active nature is lacking. They must listen to their service providers in these times of change as they can help them remain slick and efficient and give them the advantage they so desperately need.

Dolores Evelyn, Sales Director at Eclipse Legal Systems, comments:

“One technology recently revealed - which perfectly fits this ‘service’ ethos – is Eclipse’s own TouchPoint client self-service portal. TouchPoint provides a secure, online, device independent way for clients and customers to manage their own cases. The TouchPoint ‘experience’ and client journey has simplicity at its heart, and carries the none-too-small advantage of providing great savings in administrative costs.

As the market changes, clients will demand a different ‘type’ of service - one that is ‘always on’ and provides the most hassle-free way of staying in contact. TouchPoint is open to firms of all sizes, enabling smaller operators to really level the playing field and provide a ‘big firm’ self-service portal experience.”

St Helens Law

High street practice uses Proclaim to deliver a superb client service experience

“Providing a great service and ‘experience’ for clients is our core ethos. Proclaim helps us to achieve that.”

Debbie Murphy, Director

St Helens Law is a full-service, community law firm based in the heart of St Helens. The practice prides itself on delivering the best possible service to its clients.

The Challenge

St Helens Law was born in 2001, the founders (and current directors) aiming to build a local law firm with a reputation for impeccable client service. The requirement was for a full Practice Management solution that could be implemented for a small firm, but which had the scope to be expanded in line with future growth.

The Solution

As a previous – and very happy – user of Eclipse’s last generation of software (entitled ‘CHASE’), the new law firm chose to implement a Proclaim Practice Management solution. Proclaim has its own integrated development toolsets, providing the opportunity for active growth and enhancement in line with operational requirements.

The Results

St Helens Law now uses Proclaim for 25 staff across all departments – personal injury and clinical negligence, family, conveyancing, probate and commercial litigation. Proclaim was vital in enabling the practice to gain Lexcel accreditation, standardising processes across all departments, setting tasks and limitation warnings, and providing instant onscreen case review information.

The firm uses a ‘scan and shred’ methodology – the result being that all client and matter information is accessible within Proclaim by all authorised staff. This makes answering client queries very straightforward (“no hunting for information!”), and is enhanced by the firm’s use of Eclipse’s FileView system to provide secure, live online case viewing for clients.

Looking to the future, St Helens Law intends to further its use of Proclaim, looking upon the solution as a “full business package” – not just ‘Practice Management’.

Claims management – technology, process improvement, culture

Is improving technological process enough to energise claims departments, make them more efficient and prove value to clients / funders / partners? Is culture a barrier to processing claims more effectively?

Improving technological process is crucial, and to some degree a bit of a ‘no brainer’. But making the leap between “an improvement in technological process” to creating a “real value improvement for stakeholders”… that’s a bit more involved.

To add value to everybody in the chain (clients, funders, partners), the end result has to be simplification. Can these stakeholders see (or get) what they want, when they want it, as a result of the “technological process improvement”. Cultural barriers exist when technical advance on paper does not translate to value in real life.

So it’s about accessibility and simplicity. Does the process improvement:

• Simplify service delivery?
• Streamline the relevant steps required through the claim process?
• Maintain clarity in the process?
• Provide convenience and a ‘value feel’ for all stakeholders?

Any technological improvement that impacts so many different stakeholders has to be assessed from all angles – client, funder and partner. So yes that cultural barrier is present, and needs to be attacked from multiple angles to break through it – not just one.

But if this can be achieved, with the right implementation of the right technology, the benefits are obvious.

• Proclaim Case Management Software
• TouchPoint – true client self-service

Pre-Sales Consultant

Join the UK Market Leader!

Who are we?

Eclipse Legal Systems is the UK’s leading provider of software solutions to legal services firms.  Our core product, Proclaim, is in use by 18,000 individuals at over 700 organisations.  We currently employ 145 people (and rising) at our Bradford HQ.

What do we need?

We’re growing fast and we need a bright, motivated sales person to join our growing team.  The role specifically requires you to nurture ‘Early Interest’ prospects – who have already made contact with Eclipse – and manage the relationship to the point where these prospects are ready to take the next step.  At this point, the prospects are referred on to our field sales team.

Who are you?

You might be a determined graduate looking for the next step to a sales career, or you may already have some sales experience and be looking to bring that to a company that values it.  What we are looking for is:

• Patience
• Empathy
• Great organisation and the ability to work unsupervised
• Possession of a driving licence
• Good technical skills (e.g. Microsoft Office)
• Excellent personal presentation and communication skills
• Strong work ethic with ability to meet and exceed expectations.

What do you get?

Fantastic exposure to a professional selling role – with the opportunity to progress further based upon your results.

Salary is in line with ability and achievements.  In addition, we provide benefits (after a qualifying period) such as:

Loyalty reward scheme – examples include car parking, additional holiday entitlement, iPad, golf club membership, etc…

On-site – and free – company gym

Annual conference events (previous years have seen us visit Rome, Prague, Amsterdam and more).

Apply now

please email your CV and covering letter to careers@eclipselegal.co.uk.

Please note that due to the volume of applications received, we will unfortunately not be able to respond to unsuccessful candidates

Camps Solicitors - Using Proclaim Practice Management to benefit in the new era of Personal Injury

“Proclaim is the clear market leader, providing us with a superb platform for ongoing commercial growth”

James Barron, IT Director 

Camps Solicitors is one of the UK’s largest Personal Injury and Negligence claims practices, boasting among the highest success rates in the country. The firm employs almost 300 people at its Merseyside HQ.

The Challenge

Camps was facing two significant challenges. Firstly, the firm’s existing Case and Practice Management solutions were struggling under the demands of continued growth (Camps had gone from 80 to 300 staff). Secondly, large-scale legislative changes in the personal injury arena were looming, necessitating a review of IT and working practices.

The Solution

Following an intensive selection process, Proclaim was chosen as the firm’s core Practice and Case Management solution. Proclaim is utilised by all case handlers at Camps, providing a single desktop approach across every claim type. The integrated Proclaim development toolset provides the Camps technical team with an independent means to manage, configure, and expand the system as required.

The Results

Proclaim’s integration with the Claims Portal means that Camps has a future-proof solution to legislative change across all claim types (including RTA, EL / PL and clinical negligence). By implementing process guidelines, efficiencies have been introduced which bring simplified claim inception, reduced timescales, and improved quality.

Camps is a proactive user of Proclaim’s integration capabilities, with Web Services technology providing a range of platforms for the firm to both view and distribute MI and data trends. This also provides Camps with the ability to provide an optimised customer journey, keeping claimants advised of progress via SMS text messaging and an online portal.

Camps has ambitious growth plans, with Proclaim providing a solid platform for future developments and projects.

Conveyancing ABS chooses Proclaim

DC Law, part of heavyweight property services group ‘Move with Us’, is implementing Eclipse’s Proclaim Practice Management Software solution. DC Law provides a full range of conveyancing services for an expanding, nationwide clientbase. The firm was among the first tranche of organisations to be licensed as an Alternative Business Structure, back in 2012.

Proclaim is being implemented as DC Law’s core Practice Management solution as part of its preparation for high growth. Proclaim Conveyancing will be rolled out to all users, with the integrated Proclaim Accounts solution providing firm-wide financial management. As part of the implementation, Eclipse is carrying out a migration of data from the incumbent financial system.

As an integral part of the core Proclaim solution, DC Law will also be taking the Proclaim Lead Management and Compliance toolsets to provide seamless marketing, file opening, and ongoing adherence to CLC (Council for Licensed Conveyancers) regulations.

Rachel Khan, Head of Operations at Move with Us, comments:

Rachel Khan“Our selection process was intensive – for us it was vital for the chosen system to provide the maximum possible ‘streamlining’, and also the best possible ‘client experience’. This aligns with the Move with Us drive to “deliver Property, properly”. Our goal is provide a beacon conveyancing practice which we can use to develop the whole Move with Us conveyancing panel nationally.

“Proclaim will provide us with the full range of management and service tools. What stood out to us, in comparison to other solutions in the market, was the feel that Proclaim is a dynamic, living system. Configuration options are endless, whether that be the creation of bespoke operational reporting, integration with third-party solutions, or the provision of customer-friendly marketing touchpoints.”