Like watching your child score the winning run in the tournament game or hitting that slot-machine jackpot, investing in a case management system can feel like winning the lottery! When you first thought about all the amazing things a case management software could do for your firm, you felt that surge of excitement. You saw solutions to the everyday challenges you faced and were ready to take that leap.

Full steam ahead, you scheduled and conducted demonstrations of all the incredible case management software available, chose the one that was right for you and your firm, and breathed a sigh of relief that the daily struggles would soon come to an end.

You made a valuable investment!

Thrilled by the gains this investment would bring, you couldn’t wait for:

• Centralized case-related data
• Organized and streamlined workflows
• Automated document generation
• Comprehensive reporting for informed decision-making
• An end to paper stacks

Above all else, nothing was more welcome than the peace of mind, organization, and stability it would bring. The decision to invest seemed like a no-brainer.

Recognizing the Investment Beyond the Cost

Your investment in case management software is about transforming how you operate, creating structure, team collaboration, and supporting future growth. You invested in:

• Your Firm: Creating an environment with defined data points and standards for each client’s case was deemed crucial to improving your operational inefficiencies. Dedicating time and resources to build a case management system tailored to bringing your firm’s vision and mission to life was the first step in your commitment to a streamlined and systematized environment within your firm.

• Your Team: Providing the tools needed to manage their work is the foundation of your team’s success story. Offering necessary training on system use, implementing well-established workflows, and streamlining communications impact their ability to be efficient and effective in their roles while helping them meet their professional and personal goals.

• Culture and Morale: Your case management system sets the standards and expectations for all to follow, fostering an environment of shared goals and responsibilities in which team members can be – and help each other be – successful.

• Client Satisfaction: With a system in place to ensure that each client’s case is documented and developed completely, where value-driving information is not just stored but visible and accessible, and tasks are completed diligently, client communication is improved, and case value is maximized.

Considering all this, you hold strong to the determination that this was, and is, the way forward. 

When Implementations Go Wrong

Some firms, unfortunately, also come to the realization that their investment may be unraveling due to inconsistent adoption, resistance to change, and a lack of enforcement and accountability. It might even feel too far gone to fully recover. Poorly executed implementations can create significant challenges for law firms, often leading to frustration, inefficiency, and wasted resources. Without proper planning or support, even the most promising systems can fall short of expectations. Common issues include inadequate training for staff, resulting in low adoption rates, and a lack of integration with existing tools, which can disrupt workflows rather than streamline them. Additionally, failing to assess a firm's unique needs beforehand can lead to overcomplicated solutions that do not address their most pressing pain points. These pitfalls underline the importance of choosing a tailored, well-supported product and implementation process backed by strategic planning and continuous improvement.

Because when inefficiencies creep in, data becomes unreliable, collaboration breaks down, and the return on your investment dwindles. The good news is you can turn things around – but only with decisive leadership and firm action.

The Pains of Non-Compliance

So, here you are. Your system is in place, it’s got all the bells and whistles you wanted, but it’s not being utilized as it’s meant to be. Despite its potential, not everyone is on board, and it’s causing even more difficulties. As important as it was to build, train on, and launch your system, it is equally important to oversee and enforce your team's use of it. Failure to recognize and intervene with those struggling or refusing to adopt your system has a drastic impact.  

You’re lucky to have found and have some team members who have picked up the system naturally and use it consistently. At the opposite end of the spectrum, however, are those who have not embraced the system and make little to no effort to do so. With no measures of accountability or rectification, this separation in system adoption is where consistency, collaboration, results, and culture break down. 

Tough decisions lie ahead involving team members unwilling to alter their approach to the system you have put into place. The damage is real: They are also undermining the vision and mission you have established. The action steps you take, or fail to take, with these individuals set the stage for what you are willing to accept from everyone. Any lack of accountability will breed an uncontrollable outcome, one where your team members set their own standards and preventing all the benefits of your system from materializing. You’ll continue to risk and experience: 

• Breakdowns in Communication: Team members working in silos, unaware of how this separation hurts the firm.
• Inconsistent Data Entry: Missing or incorrect information leading to poor reporting and costly errors.
• Reduced Efficiency: Workflows disrupted by team members who refuse to adapt.
• Lowered Morale and Frustration: Employees who follow the system grow resentful of those who don’t.
• Diminished Client Satisfaction: Poor case information and management results in delays, miscommunication, and lost revenue.

When these issues occur, it’s time for some leadership control regarding your case management system adoption.

Composing a Recovery Plan

A failed case management software implementation can feel like a significant setback. By acknowledging the challenges you’ve encountered, analyzing the mistakes made, and creating a focused recovery plan, you can still achieve a return on investment and move your firm toward greater efficiency and success. 

Think of your plan forward as a reinvestment period. Depending on the size of your firm and what your team is demonstrating in terms of system use, you may need to come to terms that the reinvestment period may be a lengthy one. Most crucial is setting a plan in place for recovery to get that trajectory back in the right direction. Regain control with leadership intervention:

• Assess the Current State: Begin by taking an honest look at where your firm stands. This includes gathering input from all stakeholders, including attorneys, support staff, and administrators. Identify specific pain points such as:
  • Areas where the software isn’t being utilized or is creating friction in workflows.
  • Misunderstood or misconfigured features that have led to inefficiencies.
  • Breakdown in communication or lack of clarity during the initial rollout.

Use this assessment to create a comprehensive list of the core issues impeding success.

• Acknowledge Mistakes: Transparent leadership is key to restoring trust and confidence. Admit what went wrong during the initial implementation phase. Common pitfalls might include:
  • Insufficient training or onboarding for staff.
  • Lack of alignment between the software's capabilities and the firm's actual needs.
  • Overlooking the importance of staff buy-in for adopting the new system.

Acknowledging these missteps demonstrates accountability and fosters commitment across the team for the recovery phase.

• Get Back to Basics: Schedule a refresher training course on core features. Reset the foundation for all-around understanding and utilizing the basic features and functions of your system while communicating that it is not optional – it is mandatory for operational success. By taking a step back to reassess that everyone on the team knows and understands the core functions of the system, you can create a fresh starting point to further develop from, as well as enforce accountability.

• Set Clear Expectations: Communicate clear expectations on how the system is to be utilized. This may include required fields, frequency of touchpoints, or guidelines around task completion or deadlines. If you are not clear, direct, and straightforward in your message, it will become ambiguous and be interpreted differently by your team. Clear expectations are the foundation of consistency, which then results in uniformity, reliability, and quality.  Explain why compliance is so important and cannot be compromised. Revisit and recirculate expectations regularly to ensure they are widely known. This recurring communication makes the expectations widely accepted and understood as the standard.

• Schedule Progress Benchmarks: After identifying your top areas of priority to address, create a schedule outlining what improvements are expected, by when, and who is responsible. For example, if your team isn’t working from your system’s task lists, focus on updating a different task firmwide each week.  If you need to improve a specific case information data piece, like your case value ranking, set a target date by which all case rankings are to have been evaluated and updated. Setting benchmark tasks and dates will help your team move forward together, promote continuous data integrity improvements, and clarify expectations for each focus area.

• Enforce Compliance and Provide Continued Assistance: Address non-adherence promptly. By knowing that certain team members are not in compliance with the standards you have set, and not taking steps to address those individuals, you must consider the message you are sending to the rest of your team.  Provide support, not excuses. Enlist the help of your trainers, subject matter experts, or other team champions where needed. Ensuring available resources to provide additional training and learning where needed makes a world of difference. 

• Lead by Example: Your leadership sets the tone, so it’s essential to model the behavior you want to see. Demonstrate your commitment to system standards and inspire your team to follow suit. When team members witness your dedication to success, they are more likely to strive for excellence themselves.

Take Back Control

Investing in a case management system is a serious and necessary commitment to your firm’s efficiency, productivity, team performance, and client satisfaction. It is not without its challenges by any means. The success of your firm’s case management system, and by extension, the success of your firm itself, depends on your willingness to enforce standards and demand compliance. Revisiting foundational training, setting clear expectations, establishing benchmarks, and leading by example can ensure that your investment pays off in the long run by steering you and your team toward consistent and effective system use. Will you let your investment go to waste, or will you take decisive action to ensure its success? The choice is yours.