Legal Technology Journal

Interwoven and top US law firm Akin Gump have signed a deal that will see the firm adopt extensive new software across its eleven offices and 2,400 employees.  Akin Gump, which previously used Hummingbird software, agreed last month to swap over to Interwoven’s document management software, as well as adopt its professional services search engine and electronic records management system.

Hummingbird was taken over by rival software developer Open Text in 2006, and one reason cited by the firm for the move was the question hanging over whether Hummingbird’s product lines will continue.

However the deal is also part of Akin Gump’s ambitious bid to become a near paperless office by the middle of next year, led by Chief Information Officer Lorey Hoffman.

Hoffman, who was formerly a partner at KPMG and also managed information technology at the U.S. Department of Treasury, said “We are proposing a change in business process where everything apart from documents such as wills that need to be in paper copy will be stored in electronic form.”

The move, which is expected to result in millions of dollars of savings to the firm, is likely to lead to redundancies, as the number of staff required to manage paper looks set to drop materially.

The firm, which has offices throughout the US and in London, Abu Dhabi, Beijing and Moscow, is also currently looking at its office space requirements, with the intention to cut back on areas currently taken up by paper storage. The resulting costs savings, particularly in areas such as New York where real estate is still at a premium, are understood to be significant.

A further financial incentive for the move to electronic storage, according to Hoffman, was risk management, with loss of paper a potential hazard for any professional services firm.

It is estimated that the software will take 12 months to be implemented in full, however Akin Gump has already scanned around 25% of its documents and will initially run the new electronic storage system in parallel with the old document management system.

Hoffman said: “While this type of electronic records environment is not new to other corporates, it is cutting edge to law firms and professional services firms.”

Neil Araujo, vice president of professional services industry solutions marketing at Interwoven said: “Akin Gump is at the forefront of a shift within the legal industry toward working practices that rely primarily on the electronic file to provide the single version of the truth.”

Open Text commented that there is no intention to discontinue the Hummingbird product line and that it is a key part of their portfolio going forward.