Outproduce
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For managing partners and practice directors running fee earning teams across a matter book.

Who knows the state of every matter? Usually a senior person, and that is the risk.

Enquiries arrive by phone, email and web form, and the matter file is built by hand after the fact. Outproduce installs the path from the enquiry through conflict and identity checks into an opened matter file, with key dates captured, the document bundle assembled, and the billing narrative prepared from recorded time. Anything that states a legal position or reaches a client waits for the fee earner.

Book a callSee the workflows
  • Case management system
  • Practice management
  • Inbox
  • Document store
  • Client ledger

By hand today

What your team does by hand, and what we build.

You do this by hand

A new enquiry is noted in an email, then retyped into the case system when somebody has time.

We build this

An enquiry intake path that captures the parties, the matter type and the source, and opens a provisional record.

What changes

Enquiries stop sitting in an inbox waiting to become matters.

You do this by hand

Conflict and identity checks are run by searching the case system and the document store manually.

We build this

A pre engagement check that searches the known parties and assembles the result for the fee earner to clear.

What changes

The check is evidenced on the file rather than remembered.

You do this by hand

Key dates are diarised by whoever opens the file, in whatever way they prefer.

We build this

A key date capture path that reads the matter type and the correspondence and places dates on the matter with an owner.

What changes

Deadlines belong to the matter, not to an individual diary.

You do this by hand

Bundles are built by hand, with documents renamed, ordered and paginated repeatedly.

We build this

A bundle assembly path that draws from the matter file, applies the agreed order, and lists anything missing.

What changes

Bundle preparation becomes a check rather than a rebuild.

You do this by hand

Billing narratives are written at month end from fragmented time entries.

We build this

A billing preparation path that gathers recorded time and matter events into a draft narrative for the fee earner.

What changes

Bills go out with a narrative drawn from the work actually recorded.

Most firms already hold matter data properly. What is missing is the path between the enquiry, the checks, the file and the bill. That path runs through senior people, and their capacity is the cap on the firm.

Client expectations and regulatory expectations have moved the same way: show the basis, show who approved it, show when. A file that depends on individual habit cannot answer that quickly.

Lifecycle

Where the system runs and where a person decides.

Typical lifecycle in this sector
  1. 1Enquiry receivedPhone, email or web form.
  2. 2Parties and matter type captured into a provisional recordAutomated
  3. 3Conflict and identity checks assembledAutomated
  4. 4Fee earner clears the checks and opens the matterHuman approval
  5. 5Engagement terms prepared from the matter recordAutomated
  6. 6Key dates placed on the matter with an ownerAutomated
  7. 7Correspondence and documents filed to the matterAutomated
  8. 8Billing narrative prepared and releasedHuman approvalThe fee earner approves before anything reaches the client.

Workflows

The workflows we install first.

Each one names the manual version, the installed version, and the approval point that stays with a person. Figures show sample records, never client data.

01

Enquiry to opened matter

The enquiry becomes a provisional record immediately, with the checks assembled behind it. The fee earner opens the matter once the checks are clear.

Expected impactExpected impact: fewer enquiries lost in an inbox, and a consistent opening record.
Illustrative trace of a matter openingIllustrative
  1. 01
    Enquiry captured

    Parties, matter type and referral source written to a provisional record.

    Automated
  2. 02
    Conflict search run

    Known parties checked across the matter book and the document store.

    Automated
  3. 03
    Possible conflict found

    The record stops and names the matching matter.

    Escalated
  4. 04
    Fee earner clears the checks

    Named approval recorded on the file.

    Human approval
  5. 05
    Matter opened and engagement terms drafted

    Drawn from the confirmed matter record.

    Automated
02

Key date and limitation control

Dates are read from the matter type and the incoming correspondence, then placed on the matter with a named owner and a reminder state.

Expected impactExpected impact: deadline exposure becomes visible at the firm level.
Illustrative key date handling · Illustrative
Source of the dateWhere it landsWho owns it
Court order or directionKey date on the matterNamed fee earner, confirmed on reading
Statutory limitationProtected date with earlier warningsSupervising partner
Client undertakingCommitment item on the matterFee earner who gave it
Internal review pointMatter review dateTeam supervisor
03

Bundle and document assembly

The bundle is drawn from the matter file in the agreed order, with gaps named. The fee earner approves the final index before it is used.

Expected impactExpected impact: bundle work shifts from assembly to checking.
Illustrative ladder for bundle readinessIllustrative
  1. Documents gatheredMatter file read and ordered against the agreed index.
    Automated
  2. Gap identifiedA missing exhibit is named on the matter.
    Automated
  3. Fee earner reviews the indexNamed approval of order and inclusion.
    Human approval
  4. Privilege or redaction questionHeld for the supervising partner before release.
    Escalated
04

Time to billing narrative

Recorded time and matter events are assembled into a draft narrative for the fee earner, with unbilled work and write off candidates shown.

Expected impactExpected impact: billing becomes a review rather than a reconstruction.
Illustrative comparison of billing preparation
CaseBy hand todayInside the installed path
Recorded timeRead line by line at month endGrouped into a draft narrative by work type
Unrecorded workOften discovered too lateMatter events without time are flagged
Client approval limitChecked from memoryHeld when the draft passes the agreed limit

Go live

How it reaches production in your firm.

  1. 01

    Fit Review on live matters

    We follow enquiries into matters with the team that actually opens them.

    Free
  2. 02

    Operating Map

    The map names the records, the checks, the date owners and every point that needs fee earner approval.

    Paid, yours to keep
  3. 03

    Production Install on a scoped practice area

    A chosen practice area goes live first, tested on real matters with an agreed acceptance test.

    Human approves
  4. 04

    Managed operation or handover

    We hold the exception queue with the team, or hand over the documented system with an owner named.

    Monitored

What we measure

Baseline first, then the delta.

We record each of these before anything switches on, so the result is measured against your numbers, not a benchmark.

first builds: enquiry to opened matter with checks · key date capture and ownership · time to draft billing narrative

Related

Questions from law firms.

Does anything leave the firm without a fee earner reading it?

No. Client communication, engagement terms and anything stating a legal position wait for named approval.

Can it work with our existing case management system?

Yes. The case system stays the record of truth and the installed path works inside it.

How is client confidentiality handled?

Access follows the matter permissions you already operate, and every action on a file is recorded with its basis.

Other sectors

Start here

Show us the workflow.

Tell us what starts it, who owns the result, which tools carry it, and where it stalls. We will tell you whether it is ready to map.

Book a 20-minute callOr send it in writing
Strong fit

The workflow repeats

One person owns the result

The records exist

Several tools carry the work