Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was created to be an essential stabilising and revitalising tool established to revive the financial system by efficiently resolving the non-performing loan assets of the banks in the Nigerian economy. Like many other organisations, AMA’s legal department faced numerous challenges when handling its legal operations in-house. The legal team had to manage a large volume of court cases, legal documents, external solicitors, and other case-related information, which took excessive time and effort. They realised that technology could significantly improve their legal operations and make the process more streamlined and efficient, which brought about implementing of the nextPLOS Application.
The Problem
Due to the bulkiness of the number of court cases and the inability to ultimately oversee them, the in-house legal team at AMCON needed help with several key issues that could have improved their productivity and efficiency.
- The legal team was grappling with a high volume of legal cases they had to handle in court.
- The in-house counsel recorded a high rate of court appearance absences.
- Engaging and managing their external solicitors became an arduous task.
- Multiple software solutions needed to be centralised, which caused a problematic retrieval of documentation and data.
- There needed to be a central repository of all case information, matter data and reports.
This process was time-consuming, prone to errors and outrightly a waste of time. The legal team needed help finding and retrieving important information related to ongoing cases and legal matters, leading to delays and inefficiencies.
The Solution
Organisations like AMCON carry out several legal activities either by an in-house or external solicitor on matters. To tackle these issues, AMCON implemented a comprehensive legal technology solution called nextPLOS, a product of NextCounsel, a central management tool for the legal department’s internal processes — Case management.
The system allowed the legal team to create, manage, and store case information electronically, engage and manage external solicitors, and set notifications that eradicated the possibility of missing a court date. The case management system provided a centralised repository for legal documents and made it easy for the legal team to retrieve and access relevant information.
The Impact
Implementing the legal technology solution profoundly impacted the legal operations at AMCON. The in-house legal team was able to streamline its processes and reduce the time spent on manual tasks such as document management and legal research.
The Case management system improved collaboration between the legal team, the external solicitors and brief watchers, thereby increasing court appearances significantly.
The solution has improved the organisation’s access to relevant information, collaboration and easy data retrieval, leading to increased efficiency and accuracy.
Conclusion
Adopting technology in legal operations can bring significant benefits to organisations, and AMCON’s experience is a testament to that. By implementing a comprehensive legal technology solution, AMCON’s legal team was able to streamline its processes, improve efficiency, and focus on higher-value tasks.
The use of technology has revolutionised legal operations, and the firm is well-positioned to handle the demands of an ever-changing legal landscape. This success proves that technology implementation is a practical reason for other organisations looking to modernise their legal operations and achieve greater efficiency and productivity.