From case management to risk management

With the recent reports that professional indemnity insurance premiums had increased by an average of 36% over the past 12 months (see [2003] Gazette, 3 April, 5), it is hardly surprising that implementation of risk management strategies and procedures now has a high priority in many solicitors' practices.

What may not be apparent is that if a firm has invested, or is currently considering investing, in case management software, then it will effectively also be acquiring a risk management system.

Consider the traditional features of a case management system: there will be a case plan or workflow for handling a worktype from inception to completion.

These plans will have to comply with general practice principles, such as the Civil Procedure Rules, as well as client-specific requirements, such as those rules which mortgage lender and insurance company panel members are required to follow.

There will be a matter or file management system, so anyone working on the case can immediately see what has been done and what has still to be done.

There will also be strict diary controls to keep track of key dates and remind fee-earners of looming deadlines and tasks that need completing.

There will be a way of assigning tasks and delegating responsibility to more junior fee-earners.

There will be extensive management reporting facilities, so partners and department heads can monitor actions and remain in effective control.

And there will be some form of fail-safe system to ensure that deadlines are not overlooked because a key member of the team is on holiday or ill.

Compare these features of case management with risk management principles in general, such as the need to identify key areas of risk, to set up structured systems and processes to avoid such risks, and to have fail-safe systems to back up and manage these processes.

Or, compare them with some of key steps the Lexcel quality standard identifies in risk management: the need for case plans, appropriate fee-earner skills and team working, the supervision of staff, file management and diary control.

For all practical purposes, they are identical.

In effect, case management and risk management systems address the same problems and issues but from different perspectives.

So, while it is true that risk has become a serious concern, if you are running case management software you may already have most of the infrastructure in place to implement a risk management strategy.

Charles Christian is an independent adviser to the Law Society's Software Solutions guide