Editorial
Welcome to the Summer edition of Mattern Matters, the newsletter of Mattern. My name is Rob Mattern, President of Mattern, unbiased support services analysts and cost recovery experts.
2020 continues to keep us on our toes. We are now entering into the 5th month of the pandemic, and we remain hopeful as we also put in the work to ensure we move into a better and more intelligent place when we emerge fully on the other side. Here are some things we have been working on and discussing with other thought leaders.
Team Member Spotlight: Jodi Carroll, Director of Client Services
Q: What do clients like best about working with you?
A: I am responsive, thorough, prepared, have exceptional follow-up – and work hard at listening to their needs.
Q: What is unique and valuable about your expertise?
A: I have 30+ years of experience in both consulting and selling strategic solutions for law firms' back and middle office operations. I am organized, disciplined,
detailed oriented and have strong analytical skills. I am always focused on creating cost-effective solutions while being mindful of both the advantages and disadvantages.
Am Law 100 Firm Leverages Mattern Plan B Cost Recovery™ and Reduces Overhead by 28%
This Am Law 100 firm with over 500 attorneys was outsourcing traditional office services and equipment in several offices as well as on-site digital and e-Discovery services with the same service provider.
Although the outsourced employees working in the traditional office services department supported various services for the firm (i.e., reprographics, mail, hospitality, reception), the employees working in the digital and e-Discovery departments were only supporting this service area. The firm was paying a base management fee and a transactional fee for both departments.
What’s Next for the Legal Back and Middle office? A conversation with Brian Schare
Recently, in our first ever LIVE! Coffee Break, over 70 attendees signed up to join a conversation between company president, Rob Mattern, and special guest, Brian Schare, COO of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. These two industry leaders had an open conversation about what’s in store for the legal back and middle office and how firms should be positioning their operations. Below is a snapshot of that conversation.
New York Office of International Firm Goes from In-house to Outsourced Operation
This Am Law 25, international firm has over 1,100 lawyers, across 16 offices worldwide. The firm approached Mattern to assist in the review of its New York location’s back and middle office services in anticipation of an upcoming move to Hudson Yards. The primary objective of the project was to modernize and improve the services to the end-users either by improving the in-house operation or by outsourcing it.
Further, the firm wanted this process to be a test pilot in the event the firm wished to repeat it at other offices. If successful, the firm would use this process as a template.
Mattern Talks: The Time is Now — What Firms Need to Do to Reduce Expenses Strategically
Mattern Talks, the podcast series of Mattern, has been focusing on back and middle office challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, we talked to president of Mattern, Rob Mattern, and consultant, Nathan Curtis, certified Information Governance Professional, about strategic expense management and what firms need to do now.
The episode begins with Rob explaining the difference between reducing expenses and strategic expense reduction. Here’s a sneak peek...
New York-based Firm Leverages Technology & Equipment to Improve Workflow, Saves $1.4 Million over 5 Years
This Am Law 200 firm with over 300 attorneys based in New York City, was looking to implement changes in production workflow to maximize efficiencies and reduce consumption and reliance on paper.
With the expiration of its current Xerox Multi-Function Device (MFD) fleet pending, office renovations underway in New York, Miami and Washington DC as well as plans to replace a mono-function printer fleet with a shared, multi-function replacement fleet, the firm’s operations and IT teams were seeking a comprehensive solution to meet the current and future needs of the firm.
How Mattern Can Help Align Operations to New Business Mandates
At the end of 2019, analysts were already recommending businesses take a hard look at expense reduction.
While we find ourselves now in one of the most challenging financial times on record, business perspectives are shifting carefully from crisis to return-to-office modes.
Business leaders are, therefore, looking ahead now to try to understand how to manage an indeterminate period of increased operational complexity combined with increased pressure on margins as revenues may flatten or decrease.
Mattern Benchmarking Analysis Helps Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Improve Outsourcing, Administrative Resource Center & Document Processing Agreements
Based on the West-Coast, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is an Am Law 50 firm who had been in a long-term relationship with two vendors for outsourcing and document processing services provided at its domestic offices. One of the vendors provided services for the majority of the firm’s offices, including traditional outsourced services (production,
mail, hospitality, office services, supplies services, and reception), word processing, transcripts services, an administrative resource center (ARC), and multifunction devices (MFDs). The second vendor provided services at two of the firm’s offices for traditional outsourced services and
MFDs.
