Infinity Law – an agile, responsive legal practice management system developed in NZ, had its annual user conference earlier this month in Wellington. The event was the biggest in the product’s 22 year history.

Roger Richardson, Infinitylaw’s General Manager says the principal reason for its enduring, and growing popularity, is that from the very start the company strove to meet its user’s best interests.

We prided ourselves on talking to our customers: involving them in the development and design process.

 He says, that legacy continues to drive the company today.

The challenge of growth

Roger says it’s become more of a logistical challenge to personally meet and discuss with every customer their individual needs but they are developing ways to make sure the wishes of users are heard.

An example is the rating system they use on their customer request web page.

Historically customers have been encouraged to register any changes or additions that would enhance their use of Infinity Law through the customer request page.  Once received, those change requests were reviewed by Infinity Law’s technical team. Requests that were seen to benefit a larger number of user rather than just the individual logging the ticket were more likely to be worked on ahead of others.

This, as a system of deciding what got developed or refined, worked very well for many years, says Roger.

These days, user wishes are registered through a rating system on each suggested amendment.  The development attracting the most votes (ratings) moves higher up the list. The higher it goes, the more likelihood there is that the ‘wish’ will be acted on. In this way the Infinity Law user community prioritizes what the technical team works on and when.

Next year’s conference 2015 – topics and training

A similar system is planned for choosing the subjects/topics for exploration at the conference next year. Suggestions will be circulated to all users in time for them to vote on the final selection.  Again, those attracting the most votes will be chosen ahead of other topic areas.

Another improvement planned covers how the training sessions will be run.

Roger says because of the unprecedented number of people wanting training, next year they will plan multiple break-out sessions, re-running the same topic several times to make sure everybody who wants to attend can.

Why do users flock to the conference?

Roger says they come for three main reasons:

1. They want a say in new developments – being there ensures their voice will be heard.
2. They want tips on how to best use their Infinity Law modules.
3. They want to net work - to hear from other law firm representatives – what works and what doesn’t. Roger says the conference gives attendees an opportunity to mix with peers and colleagues from all over NZ. Whereas they are unlikely to talk to a direct competitor from the same region about their practice, they will happily share ideas with those who come from a similar sized firm within a similar practice area as long as they are in significantly separate locations.

[caption id="attachment_6422" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Conference attendees - Infinity Law 2014[/caption]

For more information

If you’re on the lookout for a replacement legal practice management system and want to explore the possibilities of Infinity Law you can find out more by:

•  visiting http://www.thomsonreuters.co.nz/infinitylaw
• calling our customer care team 0800 10 60 60