The Role of Case Management in Shared Services 

In the words of the CBI’s head of public services reform, Elizabeth Fells: ‘We estimate that up to £500 million could be saved if the 150 top-tier local authorities followed best practice in corporate services such as finance and HR, procurement, facilities management and estate management. For councils not already sharing legal services, now is the time to consider doing so.’

With statements such as this and the pressure on finances in the public sector, the shared Services model is being increasingly looked at by Local Authorities, not surprising when those who have adopted the model such as Lincolnshire Legal Services say they achieved savings of £246,000 per annum in the three years it has been operating. Cost savings can be achieved in a number of areas, and whilst there are undoubtedly challenges in adopting a shared services approach the rationale behind looking at these business models is clear.

But what can Case Management systems bring to this environment.

With several teams coming together with sometimes different management styles and approaches a good Case Management system can help by encouraging and supporting an agreed common approach to file management making it both easier for staff to process work and to support the shared services model. This can be as simple as ensuring that everyone in the team is using the consistent up-to-date documents, through to supporting file management and audit for details case types and Lexcel accreditation.

A Case management system can provide one central location for all information relating to a particular matter so that staff from any location can access and work on files, giving greater flexibility to meet the needs of clients who may want local support from legal services.This can also support inititaives such as Work Smart and flexible working, enabling staff to work from any location.

In addition staff and management can be provided with details of all key dates and deadlines across the team, so where required work can be allocated to relevant staff and important reminders can be dealt with in good time, which in can in turn support reporting against key performance indicators and service level agreements.

With a shared services model there is increased demand on the ability of team to be able to report to clients, both in terms of financial issues for budgets etc, but also on case progression. A good Case Management system will enable managers to be able to provide clients with detailed and summary reports on both Budget and progress.

Taking this one step further some legal services teams are providing similar levels of access to files to those provided by private practice by utilising Web Portals, enabling clients to see selected information, and even act as instruction facility.

Further benefits can also be realised by using tools such as Court/Document Bundling tools for key users, supported by the information and documents being captured by the Case Management system.

Shouldn't you be looking at a legal software systems supplier who acknowledges that every firm is different?

To learn more about how Norwel solutions can help your organisation contact Stephen Skinner on

0161 492 1600, email steve.skinner@norwel.co.uk  Or visit our website at www.norwel.co.uk