3 minute read
When Coodes were looking for someone to develop a bespoke risk register for them, they asked Xperate to help and were then kind enough to write a case study about the experience.
Develop
In the first instance, a roundtable meeting was arranged, after which Xperate quickly came back with their ideas. They then put together a demonstration which, says Sally, “We were really impressed with.” She adds: “They listened to what we wanted and gave us ideas. They understood how a law firm works and the risks we face and how we have to mitigate those. They understood why we needed it, basically.”
“They understood how a law firm works and the risks we face and how we have to mitigate those. The development process was really quick, seamless and smooth.”
- Sally Davies, Compliance Coordinator - Coodes Solicitors.
Moreover, Xperate’s timings and pricing were really favourable. “Our IT guys had worked with them in the past, and were always impressed with them. Plus, they were very innovative in their approach. I know all developers are, but they particularly were.” The firm decided to work with Xperate because they gave Coodes a high level of confidence that they understood what was needed and could deliver.
In addition, Xperate’s developers are in India. “This was new to us,” says Sally, “and it was really quite refreshing to be honest. They understood the system and knew they could get a product to us fairly swiftly. After the demo they created a test area we could go into, which was really, really helpful. If we had comments, we could type in a note that they’d see overnight, so the development process was really quick, seamless and smooth.”
So quick, in fact, that the solution was delivered ahead of the original schedule. Xperate also added value along the way by, on several occasions, making suggestions as to what might work better. The result, says Sally, “Really is bespoke to our needs, but I can see how much it would benefit any law firm. At Coodes we spent a lot of time creating the most incisive questions, and between our content and their development, we’ve come up with a really first-class risk register.”
Delivery
Sally and her IT developer colleague, Jody Nicholas trained the firm’s Internal Systems Trainer on how to use the register, who in turn will arrange training sessions with the firm’s 85 or so fee earners. “Training is more about explaining what risk means, and why it’s so important to make sure we have control of it,” says Sally, as the system itself is straightforward to use. She notes she hasn’t even needed training to run its back-end admin.
The solution has also exceeded Coodes’ original aspirations. “Another unique functionality” Sally notes, “is that at the click of a button, we can further tailor the bank of questions to be department and area-specific. We can drill down to create something bespoke for each particular case type at quite a granular level.” This capacity to create targeted and proportionate risk assessments has led the firm to decide that every matter will now have a risk assessment, even a one hour fixed-fee engagement. The system is not only streamlining risk assessments but enabling more in-depth ones in a shorter period of time, empowering Coodes to extend its risk coverage. It’s making fee-earners more aware of the breadth of risk, and the firm also knows the risk of every potential matter as early as possible, so it’s better armed to mitigate risk sooner.
The end result is that Sally can easily recommend Xperate. She describes them as: “Extremely approachable. Knowledgeable, obviously. Their expertise with P4W in particular, is extreme. They’re very professional, first-class really. I can’t fault them or their approach. I’m lyrical about them all the time here because they’ve just been a pleasure to work with and their product is brilliant.”
She also notes that after a recent independent AML audit, “It’s great, because we were able to just add in a question. It’s ticked a box. So far, every end-user who’s seen it thinks it’s a really good solution. To be honest, it’s underlined my faith in technology and how it can help.”
“To be honest, it’s underlined my faith in technology and how it can help. They’re very professional, first-class really. I can’t fault them or their approach. I’m lyrical about them all the time”
- Sally Davies.
