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Arena Group case study: Morrish Solicitors

Jaime Lockwood, Morrish Solicitors LLP [1]As Arena [2] were providing the law firm’s photocopiers, Jaime Lockwood, IT manager, asked them to do an audit with recommendations for providing an efficient and cost effective print service.

The print audit showed that the firm had 20 printers across its four sites, making it hard to assess volume of print or control costs.  Now Morrish have a combination of desk top printers, photocopiers and a high volume print room to deal with the heavy print and copy needs of a busy legal firm. When a consumable such as toner is running low, Arena automatically sends out a replacement to the designated person.

“What impressed me most was that Arena came in and listened to us,” explains Jaime. “The audit was no tick box exercise. As well as looking at our existing equipment they discussed our future plans and needs. They worked with us to get the right option for our business.

“One of the biggest factors in choosing Arena was the efficiency of the printers. We haven’t had an error and the machines are greener, faster and more efficient.

“How we work was also important. All the new printers have duplex (double sided) printing.  Not only is this greener because it uses less paper, but it reduces postage, filing and archiving costs. The new printers are fast too so where several people share the same printer they no longer have to queue up for their work.

“We always had to store a lot of spares for our printers and we would have one person managing each printer and another storing the toner. The new system has taken out a few layers of administration and management of the printers – freeing people up to focus on their jobs.”

Electronic Document Management

Jaime recently spoke with LPM Magazine (March 2015), discussing how being green means looking further than just the devices. “Looking at the bigger picture brings up other questions, outside the time factors and cost of new equipment. For example, what are the advantages for our clients as well as the firm in changing to a paperless environment?”

Jaime mentions that they are committed to being a flexible workplace for their employees; “A paperless future would mean all incoming post could be directed straight to the fee earner for example, whether they’re at home or in a branch office. I love that.”

It’s not only flexibility as he notes that it is also greener, more cost-effective, and certainly more efficient as Morrish have long been aware of; “We’ve been building in remote working for a number of years. Finding ways to make home working as efficient as possible helps our people run cases better.”

Although they are currently manually scanning documents into the system, Jaime recognises the benefit of automation. “When we can automate that process with Arena Group, we’ll be providing an even better service for the client and our people in a more sustainable way,”

Arena is a partner rather than a supplier to Morrish as the companies work together to ensure the best solution is offered; “Arena is very interested in finding out what we want from a solution that makes it good for us, which is the straightforward ability to scan documents straight into matters and get fee earners notified that those documents are in.”

This partnership has already taken Morrish beyond the initial carbon zero project, and now they are looking to take their paperless strategy even further. “Developing a more automated EDM solution, and at the same time being greener and more secure, will be a bit step forward.”