Legal Technology Journal

Stuart Bush, IT director at Carey Olsen, steers the development of IT systems that support a dynamic and growing practice and help maintain the firm’s leading position in the competitive offshore marketplace.

A former radio operator in the Royal Navy with a career that includes head of group IT systems at international banking and wealth management group Ansbacher, Stuart Bush, IT director at Carey Olsen, has long held the belief that rapid and effective communication is the key to getting ahead in business and this underpins his IT strategy.

The fact that Bush’s background is very different from that of most IT directors is reflected by the ethos that he has instilled into his team: IT is first and foremost a service. ‘People who have spent their entire careers developing technology don’t always focus sufficiently on service levels – how to service the business,’ he explains. ‘The technology is relatively simple. Dealing with internal clients and politics is the greatest challenge.’ In Bush’s case, supporting the needs of the business going forward has also meant being a first mover or at least an early adopter of cutting- edge technology.

In 2004, Carey Olsen was the first firm in the British Isles to implement Interwoven’s matter centric document management system (DMS). This was the first project undertaken with Phoenix Business Solutions who have several clients in the Channel Islands. Bush has continued to upgrade and enhance the firm’s systems with a series of major initiatives, including implementing Thomson Elite’s practice management system (PMS), introducing electronic filing and digital dictation and replacing MessageLabs with MimeCast as the e-mail gateway and filtering tool. In addition to the projects described in this case study, Bush is currently working with Phoenix Business Solutions to implement Interwoven at Carey Group, Carey Olsen’s fiduciary trust company.

Island life

With over 135 Guernsey and Jersey specialist lawyers and offices in Guernsey, Jersey and London, Carey Olsen is the largest firm in the Channel Islands. The firm focuses on corporate and finance work, litigation, fiduciary law, property and local employment. Much of its corporate work is referred by UK law firms and global financial institutions in connection with setting up and managing offshore corporate and fund structures. Due to the fact that the offshore status of the islands is one of the main drivers of this type of work, Jersey and Guernsey are attractive locations for law firms and Bush underlines the fact that Carey Olsen operates in a highly competitive marketplace. ‘For a group of small islands we have a lot of lawyers, and although demand is high, we need to make our systems as efficient as possible in order to maximise the effectiveness and productivity of our lawyers in a dynamic marketplace,’ he says. ‘The type of work the firm handles requires 24/7 support, so IT is critical.’

Other specific challenges include the fact that Carey Olsen works with several different legislatures. Jersey and Guernsey are not governed by UK law and furthermore, each of the Channel Islands has its own local legislation and courts system. Another challenge is that the firm is based on two islands and so is the IT support team, so internal and team communication is extremely important. Bush is based in Guernsey, but divides his time between the firm’s Jersey and Guernsey offices which are roughly the same size. ‘I go to Jersey twice a week – it’s important to be seen around the business.’

A partnership approach

Bush relies on effective partnerships to deliver clear business value. ‘It’s a matter of finding the right providers and looking at how different applications fit together rather than designing bespoke systems,’ says Bush, adding that this philosophy stems from his early career in software development. ‘Inhouse projects have the potential to grow out of all proportion. You start with one or two programmers. They need some back up and before you know it you have an in-house software company. I have deliberately avoided that approach, partly because writing bespoke software or manipulating packages can end up becoming very expensive.’ Bush highlights another disadvantage of creating bespoke systems. ‘You lose the input from other users. For example, if you choose the same DMS as other leading law firms, you benefit from enhancements that are developed in response to suggestions from the wider community.’

Blending two products into one-stop search

One way of getting the best of both worlds is to work with providers to develop systems that meet the firm’s specific requirements. For example, in July 2007 Carey Olsen implemented a one-stop enterprise search system combining Solcara’s SolSearch federated search engine and ISYS Search Software’s indexing technology. The two providers worked in partnership to develop a solution with the capability to search across the firm’s internal and external resources and index content that is either poorly indexed or not indexed at all. Carey Olsen was the providers’ first joint project and they have continued to collaborate on similar projects. ‘We’re proud of the fact that we suggested the idea to ISYS and Solcara and they got together to develop a solution,’ says Bush. ‘Working with two providers can be complicated, but in this case they developed an excellent working relationship that has produced a leading product in knowledge management.’

Where did the idea originate?

ISYS is an Australian search product that Carey Olsen had been using before moving to the Interwoven DMS. Bush was particularly impressed with its efficient indexing capability. ‘It represented excellent value for money and it was incredibly efficient,’ he says. ‘You simply pointed it at your files and it would index everything. Our senior partner at the time, John Langlois OBE who was very IT literate, said it was the best software he’d ever seen.’ In 2007, Bush decided to address the firm’s growing requirement to gather knowledge and information from different sources. SolSearch is a leading federated search application that enables users to search across online resources such as Lawtel and LexisNexis without the requirement of signing into each one separately. Meanwhile, ISYS Web 8 technology – the latest offering from ISYS – is able to search and index internal resources and interfaces with Interwoven’s DMS. So the Solcara product covered all the external search engines while ISYS indexed everything and linked into the DMS. ISYS also links to websites. Bush outlines how it works. ‘You go to a website, identify how many levels you want to go down and ISYS will index the entire site. One of the key sites we use in Jersey is the Jersey Legal Information Board – or JLIB. We indexed it quite quickly and we achieve better results than using their own interface.’

As Bush explains, the idea was to bring together the different strands into a single interface. ‘We discussed this with Solcara and ISYS and both companies were very keen to explore that possibility.’ He emphasises, however, that the result was not a bespoke system. ‘We put the idea to them and they put it together as a complete package.

Obviously, we contributed a fair amount of input to ensure that it delivered exactly what we wanted. And the result is impressive. Users can put in quite a complex search term and search all the resources, or just the ones they want, and the system will search all our internal and external resources, including the websites that we’ve marked.’ The one-stop search system is a combination of standard applications that have been customised to Carey Olsen’s requirements. ‘For example, our information resources are organised into certain sections of the law – case law and precedents – but we’ve also divided them into UK law and Jersey and Guernsey law,’ he says. ‘For example, a lawyer in Jersey might want to just search their local laws or those and UK laws while someone else might want to search the firm’s entire knowledge and information resources.’

Another advantage of the Solcara/ISYS solution is that it represents excellent value in terms of both cost and efficiency due to its interface with Interwoven. ‘Although other providers offer search engines, none offers the same value for money, which is particularly important for mid-sized firms like Carey Olsen,’ says Bush. ‘Cost-effective IT projects produce greater return on investment and add more value to the business.’

Managing PDF documents with DocsCorp

Another key product introduced in 2007 is the DocsCorp PDF product, PDF Docs, another Australian product that uses Acrobat Reader and represents an alternative to rolling out the full Acrobat system across the firm.

PDF Docs ensures that PDF documents are secure and converts documents between Word and PDF format. PDF Docs also includes a facility to combine a number of documents in various different formats into a single PDF. For example, one matter could include text, charts, presentations and images. This large file can be split into manageable portions for sending, to ensure that it does not overload the destination system. ‘This is particularly useful when lawyers need to send several attachments in different formats that are all associated with one client file. Rather than sending lots of different attachments, these are organised into one large file, so nothing gets lost. The split and send application addresses issues associated with e-mailing very large attachments – a perennial problem for many law firms,’ says Bush.

PDF Docs incorporates other smart applications. ‘Acrobat documents can’t be turned into forms using Acrobat Reader,’ explains Bush. ‘The forms filler module offers the ability to complete forms. A collaboration feature enables you to send a form or other document around your firm so that different people can add their input. When the document is complete, you can do use a process called flattening – the application flattens the document back into a PDF so that nobody can tamper with the information once it’s been finalised.’

Electronic filing

PDF Docs also supports Carey Olsen’s electronic filing system, as it enables all documents to be converted quickly into electronic format. Again, Bush was ahead of the game when the firm moved to electronic filing two years ago. He identifies the fact that offshore firms are not bound by UK Law Society rules as a key advantage. ‘A couple of years ago I led a round table discussion at the Legal IT Forum on electronic filing, but people were not convinced,’ he says. ‘Of course, now everyone’s moving to electronic filing. Although lawyers generally feel that paper documents are more secure, our electronic files are backed up remotely, considerably reducing the risks of loss or damage.’

Bush is currently looking at updating the firm’s records management with a view to improving storage, archiving and due diligence, shifting his focus from collecting information and records to managing them. Compliance is again a key consideration, not least because data protection laws vary between Jersey and Guernsey and again between the Channel Islands and the UK. ‘It’s a matter of being aware of the differences and working to the harshest regime,’ he says.

Keeping IT simple with a CRM upgrade

Last year was a busy one for Bush. As well as introducing Solcara/ISYS federated search and PDF Docs, Bush replaced Carey Olsen’s Goldmine CRM system with Elite Apex, which integrates with the firm’s Thomson Elite practice management system and interfaces with all the firm’s main systems and applications. He explains the rationale for selecting this product. ‘We converted to Thomson Elite PMS in 2005, so the Apex CRM was the obvious choice. By keeping things simple, we made the entire system more accessible and user friendly,’ he explains.

Although the firm’s previous Goldmine system was popular with the people who used it, the main difficulty was that it was not available to everyone who needed it. ‘Effective CRM requires contacts to be managed by the people who know them best,’ says Bush. ‘So having converted the data to the new system, we ensured that responsibility for each contact was assigned to a particular individual, albeit that a contact might have several relationships within the firm. A CRM system that is out of date is of no value whatsoever. Because we already had Thomson Elite – and Apex is a bolt on to Elite – people access the new CRM system via a web interface that they are already familiar with.’

Comprehensive integration between the firm’s various systems drives process excellence. ‘If someone creates a new matter in Elite, within 15 minutes of it being created and approved, the workspace and all the folders are created in the document management system. So everything fits neatly together,’ explains Bush.

Addressing the challenges

What were the main challenges faced during a busy year for Bush and his IT team? ‘In terms of development, the ISYS/Solcara federated search project required a lot of input from different people, but the biggest implementation challenge was Apex,’ he says. ‘The technology was relatively straightforward, but the challenge was getting everyone on side as some people and departments, were committed to the Goldmine system and reluctant to change. Managing the people was far more difficult than transitioning the technology,’ he adds. How did he overcome this difficulty? ‘It took a lot of hard work and determination. If people are resistant, the key is to keep calm and work through all their problems. It’s also a matter of recognising that when you introduce a new application, you can’t expect it to adapt to the way you work; it’s important for all users to have the flexibility to blend their working practices with the new product in order to achieve optimal results.’

Bush considers his team to be his greatest triumph. Eight people based on both islands deal with a number of different IT projects concurrently as well as supporting the firm’s IT systems and 400 users. ‘Support calls go out to everyone in the team. If there’s a system-related problem in Guernsey and it doesn’t get picked up promptly, I want my Jersey team to deal with it,’ he explains.

As well as travelling between the two offices, Bush devotes significant time and attention to developing his staff. ‘My philosophy is to empower people – even the most junior staff – by giving them responsibility for projects and overseeing what they do. Obviously, I keep a close eye on the progress of these projects, but my experience is that people grow in stature when they are trusted and given responsibility,’ he says, adding that when employing staff, he believes that aptitude and attitude are just as important as qualifications and experience. ‘One of my managers was originally a carpenter. In six years with Carey Olsen he has developed into an important technical resource and his skills are highly respected within the firm and among the technicians we work with on a daily basis. Enabling people to grow and achieve is extremely rewarding.’

Next steps

A number of projects are in the pipeline for 2008. Bush plans to enhance communication between the firm’s different locations by upgrading the current Citrix system as well as continuing to improve workflow. But top of his mind at the moment is a big office move. ‘Our trust company in Guernsey is moving offices in early 2008 and we’re planning to combine this with a communication upgrade,’ he says. Another major project centres on data storage as Bush’s responsibilities also cover the firm’s archive, library and knowledge management systems. ‘Even though we have electronic filing, there is still a lot of paper as well as a growing amount of electronic data to manage and that represents an increasing challenge,’ he explains. ‘There are firms that store data offsite and manage it, with direct back up, so we’re reviewing our position and looking for the right provider and the right price.’ The guiding principles of teamwork, value for money and, above all, effective communication with colleagues and partners will no doubt enable Bush to continue to steer a straight course through the complexities of what promises to be another project-packed year for the IT team at Carey Olsen.

Stuart Bush is the IT director at Carey Olsen.