Setfords, a UK law firm that uses a franchise-type model of self-employed consultants, has built its own technology platform for managing cases and running its business.
The private-equity backed firm, which has about 650 “consultant” lawyers and solicitors, built the platform to give it more control over its technology, avoid becoming too dependent on any software supplier’s technology and improve client service.
The in-house build reflects the growing importance of legaltech to law firms’ daily operations and strategy.
“We simply couldn't innovate at pace with an off-the-shelf product,” said Guy Setford, co-CEO of Setfords, in an interview. “[We wanted] to be in control of our own destiny with our business and to have proprietary software that we own and control.”
The platform, called “Halo,” is based on proprietary software code built by the law firm’s technology department of about 30 people. It uses cloud, application, database and “integration” technologies, and third-party tools such as Docusign.
It links to a separate data system, also built in-house, that stores 20 years of legal data, including financial data and compliance information and checks it is accurate and stored in the right format. The data system, which is still under development, was built using open-source data-processing technology from the Apache Software Foundation.
Over a single weekend, the firm says it migrated millions of historical documents, back-office IT systems and consultants onto Halo.
Benefits of the new system include getting “daily feedback” from its user, which can help to save its lawyers’ time, said Setford, although he was unable to estimate any early or future tangible benefits – for example, financial payback or time savings – from building Halo, which went live in April.
“… We're constantly improving and innovating, which ultimately improves the service offering to our lawyers, clients and other users on the platform,” Setford said. “…that's an immediate benefit we've seen from launch."
Although Halo does not include artificial intelligence, both it and its data platform will be “the foundation for our future plans within AI”, said Setford, without providing further detail.
Setfords, which is headquartered in Guildford, Surrey, reported revenue of £67m in its most recent financial year.
Last year, it was the fastest-growing firm in The Lawyer's Top 100 and, according to the firm, the only law firm to feature in the Financial Times' Europe's Long-Term Growth Champions.
Consultants at Setfords work on a self-employed basis and earn up to 80% of their billings, according to the firm. They receive support with legal administration, accounts, marketing and business leads.
Other platform law firms include Keystone, Taylor Rose and Gunnercooke.
The platform model – which allows lawyers to keep a larger percentage of their billings than in a traditional partnership model, work remotely and decide which clients they take on – has grown rapidly over the past 10 years.
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