Running Legal Like A Business - Ch. 6 - Adopting an EBilling and Matter Management Tool

In chapter 6 of Running Legal Like A Business by Connie Brenton and Susan Lambreth, PLI Press, 2021, author Robin Snasdell and Paul Roberts of Consilio, address the fundamentals of selecting and implementing an ebilling and matter management tool (MMS).

In my first legal ops assignment I arrived with an MMS selection and implementation in progress.  The consulting team on the project in retrospect reads like the X-Men Origins, legal ops edition, including, among other talented folks, Robin Snasdell, Kevin Clem, Joy Saphla and Nancy Jessen.  Suffice it to say the engagement gave me a strong foundation on the topic. 

This chapter condenses as much useful and well-organized information on the topic, as is possible within 19 pages given the constraints of book point size and margins.  From this chapter you will glean high level features, the current vendor landscape, best practices in the vendor selection and implementation processes, pricing guidance that will help you provide sufficient information to solicit accurate budget proposals, and a some direction on trends to consider.

Ops in a  Box, Legal Edition includes an RFP template using MMS as an example, as well as a candidate tool capability area worksheet, RFP scoring template, and a dashboard example and matter budgets report that is spec-ready to be built into the MMS tool for your go-live.  The kit also includes a Legal Billing Policy, Rate Submission Guidelines and Terms of Engagement letter incorporating processes specific to submitting invoices and managing matters on an MMS for your vendor onboarding package.  See also the OBL Ops Spot blog post for chapter 4. showing how your MMS can act as a platform hub for many of your key legal technology tools.