Opportunity:

This NLJ 500 firm is comprised of more than 170 attorneys practicing from offices in Chicago, St. Charles, Rockford, and Woodstock, IL; Indianapolis, IN; St. Louis, MO; and Milwaukee, WI. The firm handles the transactional, labor and employment, and litigation needs of companies across the U.S. The firm engaged Mattern to assist with its outsourcing of labor and equipment which had expired and was in a month-to-month renewal.

The firm wanted to look at the outsourcing marketplace and the services being offered. They had concerns about the direction and longevity of their current service provider. The firm was interested in possibly adding services to the scope such as lit support, A/V and records services. In addition, the firm was procuring toner for their printers from a third party and was interested in learning what the outsourcing service providers had to offer in the area of printer maintenance service. They were satisfied with their current equipment platform (Canon) but interested in an alternative to the eCopy ScanStations (with embedded cost recovery) they were currently utilizing.

Process:

Mattern had negotiated the firm’s previous outsourcing agreement and they re-engaged Mattern to review its current operation which lead to a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP).

Mattern completed on-site assessment of outsourced labor at the firm’s headquarters. This included a review of the outsourcing service provider’s staffing levels, workflows, and processes. Mattern then reviewed the firm’s current agreements, processes, workflow solutions, and end-user satisfaction in order to gain a comprehensive snapshot of the firm’s current situation.

Based on this evaluation, and utilizing its industry knowledge, benchmarks, and long history with law firm operations, Mattern made several recommendations for the firm’s consideration, which included a decrease in staffing, modified contractual terms, and improved reporting requirements. Mattern then collaborated with the firm to create a customized RFP that addressed the firm’s areas of concern.

Result:

After careful evaluation and detailed review of all the RFP responses, numerous rounds of pricing, and vendor interviews the firm elected to make a change. In addition to a new provider, the firm now has a new agreement with the following additions/changes:
- Credits if the service provider is understaffed regularly or if untrained backfill is sent to the site
- Updated detailed performance standards
- Detailed and timely monthly reporting and performance scorecard requirements with associated penalties for non-compliance
- Termination clause for service provider performance
- Timely and accurate monthly invoicing and associated credits for non-compliance
- A staff reduction of one (1) FTE in the Firm’s headquarters
- The replace of the current eCopy Scan Stations (with embedded cost recovery) with uniFLOW for scanning workflow and cost recovery
- A 16% reduction in monthly costs