Akin Gump Commits to Prosperoware's New Legal Process Management Software

PHILADELPHIA, June 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- When Akin Gump looked to upgrade their tools to better support their client-focused approach to delivering legal services, the firm turned to Prosperoware's new Umbria software platform.

"Prosperoware's Umbria is a fresh approach to the technology for legal process management," said Toby Brown, Akin Gump's chief practice officer and a leading expert in pricing and project management. "This investment allows us to be considerably more nimble and in how we serve our clients."

Prosperoware LLC announced the general release of its next-generation software today.

Umbria is a web-based platform that takes aim at the critical challenges faced by today's law firms – clients want efficiency, predictability, and cost-effectiveness, while firms need to closely monitor margins. Umbria starts with a matter opportunity and tracks the matter through its entire lifecycle.

"Umbria helps firms to balance clients' requirements and the firm's need for profitability," said Keith Lipman, president of Prosperoware. "It fuses the work with the cost, allowing lawyers to easily link the budget of an engagement with the work delivering the services."

Changes in the legal landscape mean that firms can no longer ignore these issues, and need to make it easy for lawyers to capture data and make the right decisions about allocating the firm's – and the client's – resources, Lipman said.

"Gone are the days of the 'perfect service model,'" according to Lipman. "Now is the time for firms to provide the right service at the right price. Umbria makes that transition easier and faster."

What is Umbria?

Umbria currently features two modules – Core (Budgeting and Pricing, Experience, Analytics and Monitoring) and Litigator – but will grow to encompass additional practice areas and more processes.

Umbria Core (Budget, Pricing, Experience, Analytics and Monitoring)
Increase client value through metrics-driven predictability and economic transparency.

What can you do with Umbria?

• Competitively pitch and price services
• Track spending to keep matter budgets on target
• Ensure your matter process is profitable through KPIs
• Create a directory for firm and matter experience
• Provide matter and client analytics
• Provides a checklist to track the approval of budgets and manage activities working the matter

Umbria systematically captures and consolidates critical information around lawyers, staff, costs, and matter profiles. Firms easily ascertain who is most qualified to take on the work, what similar matters and engagements have cost the firm to deliver, and budget and monitor for new matters.

Umbria provides four approaches to budgeting: (1) monitoring at the matter or budget level; (2) determining a budget from an amount (e.g. top down); (3) building budgets with hours and resources; and (4) building a budget using task templates.

Umbria allows both pricing and professionals to monitor the progress on the matter on a constant basis.  The monitoring can involve simply sending an email, but also includes powerful analytics which provide a snapshot on a current-month basis or from the inception of the matter.

In addition, Umbria's ability to compile firm and matter experience provides crucial information for marketing, sales and RFPs. The availability of firm and client analytics allow lawyers to quickly determine if a client – or a matter – is profitable for the firm.

Umbria Litigator

Litigator solves one of the missing parts of the enterprise legal technology, the ability to maintain an index.  The use of an index is critical for litigators to work their matters.  Uses include pleadings, evidence and witness indexes.  With Litigator, the document can be ordered and then easily located through the use of both profile and full-text search.

Why is Umbria better?

Umbria is a new class of software that has been designed from the ground up to address today's issues. Umbria breaks down silos of information – documents, budget, pricing, experience, analytics and monitoring data – and fuses it all together to provide better understanding of a particular matter, client relationship, or practice area.

Check out Umbria at the Legal Marketing Association's P3 Conference at the Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile, June 12-13, 2014, and at Prosperoware's Lunch and Learn, June 25, 2014 at Lutyens Restaurant, 85 Fleet St., London.  For more information, call 1-484-895-1900.

About Prosperoware

Prosperoware delivers a family of software products and integrated platforms to improve matter centricity, information governance, remote access, WorkSite and SharePoint integration, and pricing and experience management. Prosperoware enables lawyers and professional staff to manage a wide range of document-intensive processes without IT support across multiple systems, including iManage WorkSite, Microsoft SharePoint, and any system that stores security in a SQL database. In addition to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Prosperoware clients include BakerHostetler, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Cravath Swaine & Moore, DLA Piper, Duane Morris, Hill Dickinson, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, and White & Case.

Prosperoware has offices in Europe, Asia, and the United States. To learn more, visit Prosperoware's website at www.prosperoware.com.

About Akin Gump

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 850 attorneys in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. To learn more, visit Akin Gump's website at www.akingump.com.

Media Contact:

Maria Archangelo

Director of Communications, Prosperoware LLC

484-436-2492 - 802-371-8559

Email

SOURCE Prosperoware