CM Charterhouse Associates Ltd is a recently established Estate and Asset planning practice located in the centre of Glasgow. As a newly formed organisation the firm adopted a hosted version of Advanced Legal’s PCMS, ALB Express to help with their growth plans.
Kim Calder, Associate Partner picks up the story;
“When we started the firm in 2014 we knew that it was important to get up and running as quickly as possible – we had neither the time nor resource to waste. With previous experience of working with large law firms we also knew that a Practice and Case Management System would be a vital element for our new firm.
It was key for us to have a single, central location for all our client and matter details that could be easily accessible and auditable. Our work with referrers meant it was important for us to track work, business sources and contacts so we could easily identify our most profitable avenues and maximise them. Finally any technical solution that could help a small, new firm without impacting too much on cash flow was always going to be attractive to us.
We engaged with Advanced Legal during the summer of 2014. The team there spent time working with us to understand our business plans and to find a solution that could suit us now and adapt to our needs in the future as we would undoubtedly grow and change over time.
Advanced proposed a hosted solution – an ideal fit really as it gives us the minimal technical footprint and is an ideal solution for a start-up like ourselves as it reduces the initial capital outlay on equipment, offering instead a simple monthly rental plan. It can also easily scale with the businesses – so if we see a quick growth in the practice and need to move premises then a hosted solution can help with that too.
Their PCMS was as equally straightforward – ALB Express delivers Client and Matter management well, with a centralised solution and management reporting that would help us track our income streams and performance. It’s a joy to use and the simplicity it provides with tasks like document creation makes managing matter easy.
Advanced have been great – they understand the drivers and challenges for start-up legal firms like us and spent time working with us on our business plans to ensure we maximised our investment, supporting us ever since.
I’m happy to say we’ve seen an upturn in work since adopting ALB and are looking to expand further over the next 12 months. I’d certainly recommend any firm who is starting out or looking for a supportive technology partner to turn to Advanced Legal.”
