Best Use of Technology

Winner: Lovells

Two very different projects emerged as the front runners in this category. Reynolds Porter Chamberlain's (RPC's) ReWord is an internet-based service that allows reinsurers to automatically check their contracts for legal risks. It was delivered on time and within budget and is currently being used by 12 of the world's largest insurers.

"The system is not only a quality control," observes one client, "it also helps to make us more efficient and gives us more confidence in our advice and recommendations to underwriters."

The fact that RPC had developed a project that directly generated revenue and has already helped the firm win new clients greatly impressed the judges. ReWord has quickly established itself as one of the few systems in operation in the UK that effectively delivers legal advice online.

In the event, however, Lovells won through with its ambitious project to gather together all the firm's knowledge and information resources into a single, easy-to-search business tool, dubbed Inter Lovells. The scale of the project was huge and involved the rationalisation of more than 280 intranet sites and the integration of content from five existing systems.

A key element to its success was the attention to detail that was evident during the rollout, which extended to placing branded placemats in the canteens. Not only was the project rolled out on time within budget, but, crucially, the firm was able to win buy-in from the staff. By August the system had 2,700 active users.

"This was an example of an excellent rollout of a project designed to make a key element of Lovells' business simple, faster and better," said one of the judges.

2007BritishLegalAwards