Johnston Solicitors & Notaries Public

Here’s how we provided a state-of-the-art case management and accounts system as Johnston Solicitors & Notaries Public moved into their new office…

Background

Johnston Solicitors & Notaries Public (incorporating Bennetts Solicitors and Brendan D. O’Connor & Co Solicitors) is a client-driven, full-service law firm based in Ballyfermot, Dublin 10. Johnston Solicitors & Notaries Public is a thriving and growing legal practice that has fully integrated its Keyhouse Practice Management and Accounts solution. The practice was established in 2015 by Donall Johnston who is a former barrister and commercial lawyer. Before choosing an IT partner, Donall spent a lot of time researching his options and comparing suppliers.

Challenge

The firm needed a robust, state-of-the-art system for both case management and accounts for the new office in Ballyfermot. Finding the right supplier for his business was important to Donall, given the long-term nature of the investment. He wanted: “a cost-effective system that was easy to use and that had good integration with Outlook and the accounts system.”

He was also keen to get a system that would save time when producing precedent documents. The team was growing as the company acquired other firms and their previous system was experiencing slowness when new staff were onboarded. He had used other legal case management systems but felt that there was “no comparison” with what our Keyhouse solution offered.

Solution

Donall and his team originally started off with an on-premise Keyhouse Case Management and Accounts package. Since then, the team has moved to an advanced, always-available Keyhouse 365 cloud solution. “The cloud platform makes working from anywhere easy and efficient,” said Donall. The decision to move to the cloud was led by a desire to protect the company’s data and future-proof the business after the firm’s server had been badly damaged by a fire in a neighbour’s premises.

Keyhouse helped Johnston Solicitors & Notaries Public recover the lost data and get back to business. Keyhouse has worked closely with the team over the last six years, providing consultancy on business processes to streamline work, while implementing workflows, training and support.

Result

The team enjoys working with the “user-friendly interface [and] better file management.” They rely on the system considerably more than hard copy files as “everything is easily available when speaking to clients.” The team also now has the Keyhouse Mobile App so that all staff can view documents on the go.

Donall Johnston concludes: “Keyhouse has allowed us to streamline our business across our practice areas. Its user-friendly interface allows all staff to use the system with ease. Following the introduction of GDPR, Keyhouse allows us to assure clients that all data and information provided to us is fully secure and their confidentiality is assured.”

His advice is to remember to “start off slowly and keep it simple. There is lots the system can do but take it one step at a time. The time saving benefits are well worth it.”