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Asons Solicitors
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New personal injury law firm aims high
Founded in 2009 by brothers Kamran Akram and Imran Akram, Asons Solicitors has rapidly become one of the leading claimant personal injury names in the north-west. In just over 2 years, the practice has expanded from 3 to 80 staff and manages thousands of injury cases for claimants nationwide.
At its formation, Asons Solicitors researched the software market for suitable software platforms, making the decision to implement Eclipse’s Proclaim Case Management system. Proclaim provides a complete desktop solution to fee earner needs, integrating a core database with document creation and storage, time recording, diaries and task management.
Director and co-founder, Imran Akram, talks us through the firm’s experience and ongoing use of Proclaim.
What were your selection criteria when deciding on a core software system for your practice?
Despite being a new startup, we had ambitious goals and a culture of ‘thinking big’ right from the early planning stage. I was conscious of Eclipse’s presence in the personal injury sector, and that the Proclaim system is widely acknowledged as the market leader.
We had decided that quality was to be the primary factor in our decision – we really did want to start as we meant to continue, and implement the very best solution right from the off. Key to us was finding a Case Management system that was user-friendly and adaptable to our ongoing needs. Proclaim stood apart in terms of its functionality and immediately ‘welcoming’ interface.
Importantly, we were also confident that Eclipse could offer the right sort of long-term support – always vital for any firm-wide IT investment. The whole Eclipse experience was aligned with our plans, and the system’s favourable pricing structure sealed our decision.
What benefits do you see from Proclaim?
Proclaim is the key to our overall productivity. Every member of staff uses the system and it really is the ‘practice backbone’ around which everything takes place. Proclaim provides a single desktop solution for handling claims, there is no need for fee earners to dive in and out of different programs. This fundamental feature really helps to maintain focus and sight on the end-game, which is to win compensation for our clients.
Our success depends on our ability to compete with the many providers of personal injury services out there. To do this, we must consistently manage a high number of cases with no drop in quality or efficiency.
As part of this drive for quality, we progress claims 100% digitally. Proclaim is vital in providing a fully paperless environment for us. Every piece of incoming documentation is scanned and stored within the relevant Proclaim file history. Wherever possible, we use email to send and receive correspondence, and we accept claims from some referrers electronically – imported directly into Proclaim.
What this provides is a complete claim picture for any member of staff authorised to view the file. Gone are the old problems of dealing with a staff member’s particular way of ‘filing’ when they are absent on holiday! Everything is managed consistently and can be recalled from the system with lightning speed.
At Asons we have a very defined mission statement:
- To rotate files every 5 days
- To settle files within 3 months
- To answer and return all calls promptly
- To set up new cases within 24 hours of receipt
With ever-escalating workloads, Proclaim has been utterly vital in enabling us to deliver on these promises. The automation of mundane (but necessary) tasks such as document production and scheduling follow-ups frees fee earners to focus on client relationships and the delivery of the best possible service. Seemingly little things, such as being able to automatically send SMS text messages to claimants to inform them of key stages in their claim, are wonderful tools to have.
A great feature for us is the ability to create reports that are specific to our requirements, providing relevant, detailed claim statistics. We can monitor ongoing KPIs and ensure that what we are doing is always aligned with maximising our profitability. It enables us to be selective about the claims we choose, weeding out work that does not justify itself.
Do you have any future plans that you’d like to share?
Expansion of the type of work we take on is at the fore of our growth plans. We are now utilising Proclaim not just for personal injury, but also for conveyancing, industrial disease, and PPI (payment protection insurance) claims. Such ambitious development plans would be unthinkable without a Case Management system like Proclaim. Eclipse provides a software solution that has the flexibility and functionality other vendors simply cannot deliver!
Published Jan 23, 2012
