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How a DC law firm has not had to worry about their IT in years
Client Success Story: Slover & Loftus LLP
“They just didn’t give a damn.” This is how Anthony Shalita, Firm Administrator, used to characterize the firm’s technology partner. In a smaller firm like Slover & Loftus every billable hour counts. And in 2017, the losses were starting to add up.
Situation
Slover & Loftus had invested in ongoing IT support, but felt as if they were on their own. “Our IT team didn’t seem to pay attention to us,” Anthony recalls. “They didn’t understand our needs or the difficulties we were having with our system. Even setting up a brand new computer was too much for them to handle consistently—they didn’t know how to get it done.”
Without a team to rely on for help attorneys and staff had no choice but to fend for themselves—meaning the most tech-savvy employee became the de facto System Administrator. In this firm’s case, that person was a billable partner who was spending hours of his time troubleshooting technology issues and researching the latest trends when he would have been better off serving clients.
While this partner did the best he could to minimize disruption, the problems were simply too numerous for him to handle on his own. “We were losing billable time as a direct result of our technology,” Anthony said. “It was one problem after another. The whole team was constantly frustrated that they couldn’t get their systems to operate properly.”
Seeing clearly how untenable this situation was for the firm, Anthony reached out to his local chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) and received a recommendation to talk to Optimal Networks. Soon thereafter, he reset the firm’s trajectory by making the switch.
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Results
Today, Anthony is confident in the firm’s current and future state when it comes to IT. “Not only does Optimal make sure our systems are running in top condition, but they’re always looking forward for us, too. We’ve increased billable hours, and we don’t have to wonder or worry about our IT.”
When the firm began planning an office move, Optimal suggested simplifying the transition by first moving their remaining physical server to the cloud. And when it came time to migrate to a new document management system, Optimal was able to negotiate thousands of dollars in annual savings on the firm’s behalf.
Anthony feels fortunate to have a team of engineers and CIO consultants by his side to serve as true partners and advocates for the firm. “These are extremely helpful, competent, sharp people who bring real value to the table. It’s like night and day compared to where we were 6 or 7 years ago.”
And as for the partner who had been spending hours resolving IT issues, Anthony has good news: “He’s a little rusty with troubleshooting at this point, which is fine with him!”
About Slover & Loftus LLP
Slover & Loftus LLP is a national law firm founded in 1967 and specializing in commercial transactions, litigation and arbitration in the fields of energy, transportation and administrative law. The firm engages in trial and appellate advocacy in state and federal courts, federal and state administrative agencies, and before arbitral tribunals. For more information on Slover & Loftus, visit https://www.sloverandloftus.com/