This is the latest article in a series discussing what is possible to achieve by using the Microsoft 365 platform for legal matter management in conjunction with the OnePlace Solutions products. Over the coming weeks the following articles will be published, revisit the blog:
Microsoft Outlook remains the tool of choice for most lawyers, paralegals, and other team members within law firms and corporate legal departments when managing the flow of documents and information throughout a legal matter. Rather than implementing an expensive bespoke legal matter management tool, business leaders are more often considering leveraging Microsoft 365 for their legal matter management. Doing this can avoid forcing users to operate with a potentially complex, dedicated system.
Integrating Outlook and the organization’s legal matter management systems helps employees be productive and efficient. By bringing the legal matter management solution to where employees work inside Outlook, they can easily capture, classify, and access content.
Workers can also remain productive by getting everything done within their most familiar applications. This is especially important for law firms and corporate legal departments looking to provide the best employee experience possible, particularly as happy and engaged employees are arguably more productive.
Reduce compliance and records management risk
With OnePlaceMail, organizations can capitalize on the investment made in Microsoft 365 SharePoint and Office 365. Users can save emails to SharePoint using a seamless, intuitive, and familiar filing experience while capturing valuable email attributes otherwise trapped in Outlook for a complete and accurate record of the email message. Emails saved to SharePoint are highlighted within both the individual’s and the team’s inbox, indicating they have been successfully transferred. This saves time by improving the visibility of emails saved and removing duplication. Users can also easily insert links or attachments from Microsoft 365 into emails without leaving Outlook.
Search and discover
Fast access to documents saved in Microsoft 365 is critical. With OnePlaceDocs, users can search for content without leaving Outlook, including searching for documents related a specific client or matter. Individuals can also open documents and compare different versions within Outlook without changing applications, delivering a more productive, user-friendly experience.
Personalize matter management
OnePlaceLive personalizes the legal matter management systems to the individual and their job function. This removes unnecessary noise and complexity in navigating legal matters, meaning only relevant matters are presented within Outlook and Office to help simplify access and drive greater productivity.
Microsoft 365 is a powerful platform, delivering enterprise-wide consistency for better collaboration, information management, and governance; however, it is not an out-of-the-box, dedicated legal matter management solution.
For most law firms and corporate legal departments, the key barrier to using Microsoft 365 as a legal matter management platform is simply a lack of inherent know-how. This blog series will provide information and guidance on how to use Microsoft 365 for modern legal matter management to deliver workflow efficiencies, cost savings, and greater productivity.
OnePlace Solutions enables people in business to do more simply. To learn more about how OnePlace Solutions can help your law firm or legal department work more effectively without investing in expensive bespoke solutions, or help your organization leverage Microsoft 365 as a platform for legal matter management contact the team today.
