We speak to general manager of LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions, Andrew Lindsay, about the release of Lexis Everyfile, which has been in development for two years.
LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions today (11 October) announces the launch and general availability of Lexis Everyfile, a web-based matter management application available on Microsoft Azure.
Everyfile is designed to manage the “missing middle” in a law firm’s technology stack, inclusive of key matter metadata that is not captured in traditional PMS, DMS or CRM systems.
It leverages the database of Lexis’ longstanding case management system Visualfiles and while not native cloud, is fully web-based.
We’re told that it will provide users, including practice leads, lawyers, paralegals, and support staff, with business tools that encompass data capture, MI reporting, contact management and process management. Everyfile, which is being deployed by one UK top 50 law firm, will enable users to access documents and cases via a web browser from mobile or desktop devices.
Customisable dashboards provide information by department, practice areas and cases, and document and template production is possible from within the application, which integrates with DMS and email management solutions.
Lexis Everyfile is available on the Azure marketplace and integrates with Microsoft 365 applications.
Speaking to Legal IT Insider, general manager of LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions, Andrew Lindsay (pictured above) said: “We set out initially to think about how we cloud-enable Visualfiles. You’ll remember that we tried to rewrite Visualfiles around 15 years ago with a product called Streamline, but the amount of time and cost it took to try and replicate 30 years of development, we just could never get there.
“My strategy when I took over the business was to ask how do we retain all of that knowledge and how do we cloud-enable it? How do we look at a hybrid cloud model in a Microsoft environment, so initially it was about getting Visualfiles to work in Azure.”
Visualfiles involves high volume work and has not historically been relevant to higher value practices but Lindsay says: “If you’re not using a system like Visualfiles where is your data? How do you measure it? And if someone rings up and says, ‘I’ve got the right to be forgotten’ how do you ensure that happens when their name could be in hundreds of different places?
“There’s a lot more competition in the marketplace and some of the traditional areas of law that have never really had to be massively efficient are now being pressurised to do something to be more transparent. Clients want to see how firms are investing in technology to drive down costs.
“So we began to wonder, how do we offer that marketplace, something that that satisfies clients’ needs without being case management, without being prescriptive, because they’re very much in complex law. When we engage with people and show them Visualfiles they may say ‘hey, look, I don’t work like that.’ So we began the concept of Everyfile.
“We were able to build a web-based product with a brand new front end that could sync back into the system and then essentially when you look at some of our larger clients, you have volume users and over here and what can you do over here for your value users?
“We started to build out ways where you could capture the data. Curate the data. To hold it all. Normalise it to the database and entity relationship database behind the scenes. So, the data only exists once and you can start capturing all that knowledge.
“If you think about what large law firms use, all of them have PMS. All of them have a document management system. And all of them have a CRM system. But where is that you store your matter data? How do you have a centralised database for everything else you do on a file? That is what Everyfile was born out of.”
Everyfile is intended to complement other best of breed solutions and already has integrations with iManage. Lindsay says: “Through our pane of glass you should be able to pull it all together. At its simplest, it’s a user interface. But our intention is that you’ll ask what else you can do with it, and might switch on a bit of workflow, automation or document production.”
Lexis began developing proof of concepts for Everyfile in 2020/21, culminating in working with the UK top 50 law firm that has yet to be announced. Lindsay says: “They were thinking of building something themselves when we showed them what we were doing and our vision for where we wanted to take Everyfile. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been delivering their project.
“I’ve been in our organisation for a long time. I didn’t want to rush to market and tell everybody that ‘we’re doing this but you’ll have to wait for two years.’ I wanted to say, ‘Hey, we’ve built something, it’s referenceable, do you want to see it?’”
Lexis is exhibiting at London Law Expo today at stand A03 if you want to find out more.
caroline@legaltechnology.com