HOWARD KENNEDY
156 continuous improvement and that digital journey ,” McKenna says . “ It ’ s about taking specific problems and solving them with technology and processes and people , and actually delivering better value to the client .”
The removal of paper from billing and internal expenses has been an immediate upshot of the project , feeding into ongoing automation efforts to ensure Howard Kennedy lawyers are free to dedicate their expertise to clients , rather than routine admin tasks . Video conferencing technology has also revolutionised the way the firm now works ; during the UK ’ s government-imposed lockdowns , hearings and mediations continue uninterrupted .
“ We ’ ve done quite a number of virtual hearings and virtual mediations , where normally you ’ d have people just gathered in a room . But now we ’ ve been using the technology , using the video conferencing , to achieve everything that they wanted to achieve ,” Freedman says . “ Our support teams have become a lot more proficient at supporting Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings , setting out multiple breakout rooms and ways to move people between different breakout rooms .”
WE CAN COMPETE WITH [ THE BIG LAW FIRMS ] ON LEGAL TERMS , AND NOW WE CAN COMPETE WITH THEM ON TECHNOLOGY TERMS AS WELL
— Tony McKenna , Head of IT , Howard Kennedy
FEBRUARY 2021