Upgrading Technology in Law Firms: A Practical Guide

Are your people struggling with the tools they use every day? Re-keying the same details, hunting for documents, waiting for reports? Is your technology up to date enough to take full advantage of the modern, user-friendly systems now available, the ones that make life easier and improve the working environment for everyone in the firm?

If any of that strikes a chord, it's worth planning your next step properly. The firms that get most from technology plan it, involve their people early and judge every option by what it does for the business.

This guide sets out how Carton & Co approaches technology selection and implementation, whether you're replacing practice or case management systems, moving to the cloud or bringing in AI. It's written for managing partners, COOs and senior teams at law firms of 20 to 450 people. Projects succeed or fail on how well the people and process side is handled, as much as on the technology.

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People before technology

You can get good results from adequate technology if your people are motivated and engaged. The best technology will struggle if they are not.

• Engage lawyers and staff early. Don't present them with a done deal.

• Listen to their frustrations and requirements. Involve them in the decisions.

• Name champions in each team who will test, give feedback and help others.

• Paint a clear picture of the destination, so people keep going through the inevitable setbacks.

Technology projects involve dozens of small decisions and compromises. A clear view of why you're doing it and what good looks like keeps everyone pointed the same way.

The market has changed

The legal technology market has moved further in the last two years than in the ten before. Broadly there are three generations of system in use:

• On-premise systems built on SQL Server, many now approaching end of life.

• Cloud legal systems, where the legal supplier builds and runs the whole product, including hosting, security and AI.
• Newer platforms built on Microsoft or Salesforce, where the platform provides security, CRM and AI and the supplier builds the legal layer on top.

The established cloud products are capable and well proven. The platform-based products are newer and carry more delivery risk, but CRM and AI come with the platform.

A few years ago the selection criteria were cloud, open APIs and low-code configuration. They still matter. AI now belongs on the list too, because much of the future value comes from AI working on your documents, matters and processes. Ask every supplier:

• What their AI does today, in production, for firms like yours.

• What's on the roadmap and when.

• How AI is charged for and what's included in the base price.

• What it's likely to cost at your size once people use it every day.
  

Key steps to evaluate options, suppliers and solutions

1. Start with the business and IT strategy

There needs to be a business strategy in place for the next three to five years before choosing a new system: the areas of work the firm wants to grow, how it wants to work with clients and what needs to change to improve performance. If that isn't written down yet, that's where to start.

Our first step is usually to help the firm develop an IT strategy that fits its business plans, covering systems, infrastructure, data and AI. Because we also advise on business development and client relationships, it reflects how the firm wins and keeps clients. Talk to partners and team leaders about where time is lost and what clients expect. Detailed workflow design comes later, once the system is chosen and you're configuring it with the supplier.

2. Evaluate current systems & usage

Before investing in replacement, check whether current systems can be configured or used better. It often saves money and disruption.

• Are we using 60 to 70 per cent of what the current system can do?

• Can better configuration of what we already have solve the problem?

• What works well that we must keep?

• Where are the real gaps? Which are configuration issues?

• What does the current estate cost to run, including hosting and support? That's your baseline.

Focus first on your most important and profitable practice areas, where better technology drives most value.

3. Agree objectives & priorities

No system does everything perfectly, so every selection involves trade-offs. Agree the objectives with the partners before anyone looks at software.

• What outcomes matter most? Client service, efficiency, integration, management information, AI.

• Where can you compromise? Where are requirements absolute?

• What would differentiate suppliers in the areas critical to your practice?

Write them down. They become the brief for suppliers and guide you when comparing proposals and negotiating contracts.

4. Explore the full technology spectrum

Look at how the parts of your technology environment work together:

• Core systems: practice and case management, accounts, document management and CRM.

• Infrastructure: cloud, Microsoft 365 and security.

• Intelligent automation and AI.

• Business intelligence and reporting.

Bring accounts in early. Legal accounting and SRA compliance often take longer than case management and can end up setting the timetable. If your core systems are inadequate, fix those first, because AI works from the data and documents they hold.

Talk to key clients about your plans too. Technology that improves internal efficiency but makes life harder for clients won't work.

5. Focus on what truly differentiates

During evaluation, identify what actually differentiates suppliers in the areas critical to your practice. Use a lean selection process to understand quickly how systems would work for you.

Play back the challenges from the demonstrations and see how each supplier would tackle them.

Technology constantly evolves. You're selecting a long-term partner as well as software, one who will collaborate with you to adapt and develop systems over time. Assess their capability and willingness to work with you alongside their current feature list.

6. Structure the selection process

A clear process saves time and improves decisions. A typical outline for reaching a supplier decision:

• Initial engagement (weeks 1 to 2). Form the IT steering group. Document current state and requirements. Request outline responses from three to six suppliers and shortlist two or three.

• Demonstrations (weeks 3 to 6). Half-day demos focused on your priorities, with end users in the room. Probe further on critical requirements. Gather structured feedback.

• Detailed evaluation (weeks 7 to 12). Pilot on your own workflow where you can. Expand the specification with the preferred supplier. Take up references and visit reference sites. Start contract and implementation discussions early.

• Decision and planning (weeks 13 to 16). Finalise the selection, negotiate the contract, develop the implementation plan and secure resources.

Larger firms, or selections that span case management, accounts and CRM together, usually need longer.

7. Model the full cost

Build a five-year model for each route and for staying put, on both a cash and a P&L basis. Include licences, implementation, accounts, hosting, data migration, dual running and the cost of the legacy estate while it's still live. Keep quoted figures apart from estimates. Say which is which.

A per user licence is only part of the programme cost. The expensive parts are often the ones missing from a proposal. Rerun the model at each decision point as quotes firm up.

8.  Compare options systematically

Create a structure for comparison from the outset, but don't over-complicate it. Focus on areas that matter for your practice. Engage with a preferred supplier early to refine specifications and implementation plans, moving beyond comparisons to actionable improvements.

Don't spend equal time with all suppliers. Invest progressively more time with your preferred partner to develop detailed implementation plans and strong working relationships.

• Questionnaire: Gather initial baseline information.

• Meetings/Interviews: Compile detailed information, identify issues, explore options.

• Steering Group:  Form a group to lead the project and engage key people.

• Briefings: Submit to suppliers for comparable responses.

• Initial Demonstrations: Conduct half-day demos and evaluate feedback.

• Extended Demos: With preferred supplier(s), refine plans and contracts.

• Modify your specification: If need be, based on all you have seen and learned.

• Invest Time with your preferred supplier: to add more detail to your specification and plans for implementation.

• Confirm and Plan: Finalise selection and plan implementation.

9. Get ready before the system arrives

Most of what decides whether an implementation succeeds is the firm's own work. None of it needs to wait for the supplier:

• Client and matter data cleaned up before migration.

• Templates rationalised.

• Processes defined in the departments that go first.

• Champions in place and trained.

• Project management resourced, with time for this work defined and protected.

For how we help firms through this, see our practice and case management system selection service.

Plan AI adoption alongside the system

AI doesn't create competitive advantage on its own. The advantage comes from the playbooks, judgement and legal knowledge your firm teaches AI to apply. A new platform is the right moment to set that up.

Agree the rules once: which tools are approved, in progress or prohibited, plus how much review each task needs, from a lawyer checking every line to AI running a defined step under the lawyer's governance. Then choose a small number of use cases with the lawyers and build from there. There's more on our approach on the AI Adoption for Law Firms page (/ai-adoption-law-firms).

Other critical considerations

Cloud or on-premise

Look at Microsoft 365 capabilities and cloud hosting options. For most firms under 100 people, cloud gives better security, reliability and cost-effectiveness than running your own infrastructure. Larger firms moving off a hosted desktop estate should plan that move alongside the new system.

Implementation challenges

• Keeping the firm running during the transition.

• Keeping momentum through an implementation that can run 6 to 18 months or longer.

• Integrating with other applications.

• Data migration quality.

• Training different groups of users effectively.

Opportunities

• Moving towards paperless working.

• Redesigning workflows for efficiency.

• Better business intelligence and management information.

• Better client communication.

The IT steering group

The steering group is where decisions get made and work moves on. Keep it small and give it the authority to decide. Too many firm committees talk things through and then meet again. A steering group decides, acts and checks the actions were done.

It should:

• Agree objectives and plans.

• Take the decisions that keep the project moving.

• Engage champions across the practice.

• Oversee selection and implementation.

• Keep a single decision log, so what's agreed with suppliers lives in one place.

• Communicate progress firm-wide.

• Resolve issues and get acceptance.

• Keep developing the systems well beyond go-live..

Fix meeting dates in advance and keep meetings short. Each one reviews the actions from the last, takes the decisions that are due and ends with a list of who does what, by when.

How Carton & Co helps

We advise law firms on business strategy, business development and client relationships as well as technology, so every technology decision is tied to how the firm grows and serves its clients. You get all of that in one experienced team who will understand your business and your people quickly.

Decide early whether consultants can help you structure the project and make decisions with confidence. For firms without recent technology selection experience, that expertise is our day job. We work alongside your team, doing as much or as little as you need, depending on your internal resources, technology experience and the time you have available.

• Full support. We draft the specifications and briefing documents, manage all supplier communications and lead the demonstrations with prepared agendas. We carry out the detailed evaluations, negotiate the contracts, develop the implementation plan and provide project management through to go-live.

• Targeted assistance. You lead. We come in where it helps most, providing templates for specifications, attending demonstrations to challenge and probe, reviewing documents you've prepared and advising on specific technical decisions, with periodic reviews to keep the project on track.

• Strategic oversight. For firms with strong IT teams that want validation and challenge. We check your approach and priorities, review supplier proposals, give an independent assessment at key decision points and challenge assumptions so risks are identified early.

We offer fixed prices for defined stages, day rates for flexible ongoing support or a mix of both.

Getting started

If you're considering a technology upgrade, start with a confidential discussion about your situation, priorities and timeline. From there we can give you an initial assessment of your options, guidance on approach and process, a recommendation on the engagement model and a fixed-price proposal for specific stages.

See here how we run a practice and case management system selection for law firms.

To discuss your needs confidentially and without obligation, talk to us. You can quickly book a meeting here >>

Related reading

• Practice and Case Management System Selection: Updating and replacing practice management and other systems.
• AI Adoption for Law Firms: our approach, from foundations to extending across the practice.
• Keeping Control as AI Does More: more detail on levels of review, traffic lights and what goes into an AI Adoption Roadmap.
• Legal Technology - Working Smarter: getting more from the systems the firm already has, AI included.
  

About the author

Allan Carton is the founder and Lead Consultant at Carton & Co, specialist consultants to UK law firms on technology adoption, client relationships and business development. A qualified solicitor with an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School, Allan has advised law firms on business development and client relationships since 1990 and on technology selection and adoption since 1992. He works directly with managing partners and senior leaders as an independent sounding board - helping firms make confident decisions on AI, legal technology and client strategy.

Connect with Allan on LinkedIn

Email: acarton@cartonconsultants.com

Phone: 07779 653105

Web: www.cartonconsultants.com