Fowler White Burnett has always valued technology training as a strategic investment in the firm’s long-term viability. Recently, the firm hired Savvy Training & Consulting to take their efforts to the next level.
“The law industry is witnessing incredible advancements in technology and software,” says the firm’s Executive Director, Robert D. McDougal, IV. “Tasks that humans have done for decades can now be done by computers in a fraction of the time. We receive tremendous document dumps that we’re supposed to review which would take humans weeks to accomplish. A computer can do it in a matter of seconds. It is imperative attorneys and their legal teams know how to use the tech tools the firm has invested in.”
He adds, “If a lawyer can’t demonstrate tech competence, the client loses faith in his ability to handle their matter efficiently.”
David K. Tobin, Fowler White’s Applications Development Manager and Trainer, has spent countless hours working with attorneys, paralegals and support staff to help them use the firm’s technology tools better. He even incorporated the Legal Technology Audit into the firm’s training protocol, rewarding employees who advanced their skills.
Tobin says he’s fortunate that the firm’s upper management has always understood the importance of training but that it can be tough to get seasoned attorneys to change their ways.
Tobin remarks, “I’m always reminded of the famous quote by Charles Kettering, ‘If you have always done it that way, it is probably wrong.’ We need to make sure our employees are open to change and training is critical to that process.”
McDougal adds, “We aren’t professional trainers or teachers. We’ve tried doing the training ourselves but decided that we needed professional trainers to increase proficiency levels.”
Therefore, Tobin and McDougal interviewed six training companies and ultimately hired Savvy Training & Consulting.
“A lot of training companies want to give you a template, a one-size-fits-all approach,” says Tobin. “Savvy was different. I told Doug [Striker, Savvy CEO] how I wanted to see things happen and he was really open-minded. No one else was. Savvy offered a very customized approach to our training needs.”
Fowler White now offers all of its training materials through the SavvyAcademy Learning Management System, which also came fully loaded with the SavvySMART Content Library.
In an email to the firm about the LMS, McDougal wrote, “There are many courses to choose from (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, NetDocuments, Acrobat Reader, Acrobat Professional and Outlook). Feel free to find something of interest, watch a couple of the tutorials, and let us know what you think. We will also be adding courses that address FWB workflow, such as cccStyles, Mimecast, Databases, Chrome River, Aderant, iTimekeep, Logikcull, Casemap, and Textmap and others.”
Additionally, Savvy trainers will visit the firm to provide one-on-one, customized user trainings, further reinforcing each user’s adoption of the firm’s new training opportunities.
Doug Striker, Savvy CEO, said, “The leaders at Fowler White are clearly committed to providing their clients with the most legally sound representation imaginable, and they want to do it efficiently using today’s technologies. Savvy is proud to help this client-focused firm achieve their goals.”