Author: Onit

E-Billing, Matter Management and Beyond: 2017 is The Year of Change

Posted on February 6, 2017 by - Business Process Management, Company News and Events

From our many awards and accolades to meeting so many great people at tradeshows and events, Onit had a fantastic 2016. We want to thank all of our valued customers. We appreciate you trusting us to help you with your business process automation needs.

We started last year strong with recognition in Gartner’s February 4, 2016 Market Guide for Enterprise Legal Management Solutions1 report. As stated by Gartner, “purpose-built enterprise legal management solutions can improve legal department efficiency and lower overall enterprise risk.”

Mid-year was also when Onit was recognized by multiple publications for our innovative technologies. Onit was featured in TechnoLawyer NewsWire (TL NewsWire), outlining our Contract Management Suite in an exclusive report.

One of our proudest achievements of 2016 was making the Inc. 500 list. Every year Inc. 500 puts out their ranking and it’s a list we are proud to be a part of for the first time. Onit ranked 387 with three-year growth of 990%.

It was also an incredible honor to be recognized by the Houston Business Journal on both the Fast 100 and Fast Tech list.

We added two major players in the Enterprise Legal Management space to the Onit team. It’s been a pleasure to have both Cole Morgan and Matt DenOuden join the Onit executive team.

All of this hard work helped us raise $8.25 million to expand in 2017. Read more about our big funding news here.

2017 The Year of Change

2017 is already zooming by and we want to make sure your company is running at maximum efficiency. Many corporate legal departments are still using outdated processes and we want to help bring them up-to-date. Whether it’s contract management or legal service requests – we can configure our solutions just for you.

We also want to hear from YOU more this year. Your feedback is vital in making our solutions the best they can possibly be.

Connect with us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin) and let us know business process pain points. If you are a current customer that is finding success utilizing Onit’s solutions please share your thoughts with others via a Capterra review. Your engagement means the world to us. We truly love to hear from you!

Onit is the industry leader when it comes to Enterprise Legal Management (ELM). We work hard to consistently innovate our solutions and tailor them to the needs of busy law departments.

Our solutions are flexible, lightweight, and easy-to-use. We’d love to have a one-on-one conversation about how we can help your legal department save time and resources.

Click here to learn more or feel free to reach out and schedule a demo with us.

Onit Achieves Momentous 2016 Milestones in its Pursuit of Revenue Acceleration, Strategic Growth and New Client Wins

Posted on January 31, 2017 by - Company News and Events

Onit announced today that it has achieved significant milestones in 2016, validating the company’s strategic growth plans and corporate vision and further setting the stage for continued success in 2017. These milestones include new capital funding, notable client wins, strategic management hires and prestigious awards and nominations.

“2016 was an impressive year for Onit; our milestone achievements far exceeded our original expectations,” said Eric M. Elfman, CEO and founder of Onit. “Our team’s innovation, drive and dedication to our clients were critical to our growth and success in 2016. Last year’s funding and appointment of key management hires validates our commitment to client-driven innovation and client success,” added Elfman.

Key 2016 Milestones

  • Raised $8.25 million, led by a New York growth equity firm, to fuel its expansion
  • Bookings grew 78% and revenues 75% compared to 2015, significantly exceeding planned growth
  • Pipeline growth of 177%, nearly tripling compared to 2015
  • Client base grew to more than 80 in 2016, an increase of 46% compared to 2015, 32 of which are Fortune 500 companies

Management Team

Onit’s commitment to thought leadership and legal domain expertise was a contributing factor to its aggressive growth with the hiring of two key management positions in 2016. Matt DenOuden joined Onit as the vice president of global sales with nearly 30 years of industry experience and was a seasoned leader at TyMetrix (now part of Wolters Kluwer) for nearly 13 years. He has been on the front lines of the Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) revolution for decades.

Cole Morgan was appointed Vice President of Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) in 2016. With more than 20 years of management experience in the legal technology and legal operations sectors, Cole works with corporate legal department clients to help develop strategies that define the value of legal services within the corporation.

Awards and Nominations

Onit was recognized by various software, legal industry and financial publications and organizations for its innovation, thought leadership and entrepreneurship in 2016. This commitment to its unsurpassed technological excellence and user experience has garnered the company several distinctions in 2016:

  • Ranked #387 on Inc. 500’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies List with three-year revenue growth of 990%
  • Recognized in Gartner’s Market Guide for Enterprise Legal Management Solutions
  • Ranked fifth on the Inc. 5000’s Houston’s Top 10 Fastest Growing Businesses of 2016
  • Ranked #2 on theHouston Business Journal Houston Fast Tech list of 2016
  • Won the Enterprise Champion Award and ranked #8 on the Houston Business Journal Fast 100
  • Nominated by Corporate Counsel Magazine as one of the Best Matter Management Vendors of 2016
  • Recognized by Capterra as a Top 20 Contract Management vendor for four consecutive years

The New Normal: Elite Clients Require Their Elite Law Firms to Compete

Posted on January 19, 2017 by - Legal Operations

“It was a growth story in the 1990s, but since 2008, it’s a more competitive world where there is less growth,” Jeffrey Hammes, Kirkland & Ellis

“Law firms today must make a persuasive case for their retention. [The] new reality is marked by hypercompetition and bears little resemblance to the world even five to 10 years ago, and virtually no resemblance to the legal industry 20 years ago.”  Brad Karp, Paul Weiss

“For every mandate, you have to prove your talents.  Our clients have the right to kick the tires.”  William Voge, Latham & Watkins.

Last week, the New York Times published a revealing piece about the business model pressures faced today by even the most elite corporate law firms.

While it may be common knowledge that there is general softness in the market, Elizabeth Olson’s story demonstrates how the pressures affect even the small corner of the practice occupied by the elite of elite law firms — that where elite clients call on elite relationship firms for work that was once thought to be absolutely price-insensitive.

Two fundamental economic trends are clashing.  

Trend 1: There is more pressure on firms and their leadership to BOOST profits per partner every year. This is due to:

  • Increased competition for rainmakers between the top law firms.
  • Greater stratification of pay and status among partners within individual firms eroding firm loyalty.
  • Consequently, rainmakers receive and will leave for better offers at higher rates than ever before.

Trend 2: There is a secular trend DEPRESSING profits per partner. This is due to:

  • Increased willingness of the top clients to make relationships firms compete for work rather than reflexively going back to relationship firms.
  • Less consistency within firms of lawyering as partners jump around further eroding loyalty to firms by clients.

In other words, at the same time that clients are demanding to pay less for their legal services, firms need to find ways to pay rainmakers more to keep or poach them through a combination of boosting overall profits per partner of the firm and increasing partner inequality.

We discuss these trends every day with our clients. Understanding the change in business pressures among law firms is essential to being a smart consumer of legal services as they affect how work is performed including through how staffing is managed.  

Indeed, the most telling part of the New York Times article is the striking commentary, quoted above, by the chairs of three of the top global law firms confirming the realities of this new world — one where the most sophisticated clients expect their legal providers to compete as never before.

To put it simply, GCs and legal departments that just assume costs and prices of legal services “work out” because of relationships in the absence of competitive pressure and analytics are quickly becoming the exception and are not getting value (in price and quality) out of their legal dollars.

Using an Inferior Legal Hold System Hurts Your Bottom Line

Posted on January 13, 2017 by - Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management, Enterprise Legal Management

In the 2014 Ethicon legal hold case, the court awarded monetary sanctions against the defendant, as they had failed to implement a comprehensive and timely litigation hold notice. The court concluded that defendant’s failure to properly preserve data after it should have reasonably anticipated litigation was negligent, but there was no evidence that the defendant acted willfully or intentionally to delete evidence. Instead, the court found that the system used by Ethicon to implement litigation holds was “riddled with holes.” Part of the problem occurred when an employee left the company and a technician in the IT department unknowingly deleted or repurposed the hard drives.

A key point here is that even though a company issues a legal hold in a timely manner, other things can go drastically haywire if something is missed along the way. For example, if the issued hold was not broad enough in scope, some employees failed to comply with the order, or the company’s legal hold system was simply “broken,” severe court sanctions may result.

Some of the lessons learned from this case:

  • Litigation holds should be specific to the case at issue, but also broad enough in scope to preserve potentially relevant information
  • Companies must take all necessary steps to adequately implement any litigation hold in place and ensure compliance in a timely manner
  • Companies must institute policies and procedures for lifting the hold when the company no longer has a duty to preserve evidence
  • A robust legal hold system must be in place so the company is prepared for the threat of legal holds

In our new white paper, “Is it Worth the Risk? How to Implement a World Class Defensible Legal Hold Process” we discuss the significance of legal holds in today’s corporate environment, why you need gold-standard legal hold automation software and the strategies to fuel your company’s path toward a robust legal hold process.

Download this new white paper to discover how a cutting edge legal hold platform allows team members to gain real-time access to the status of collection requests, know when actions were issued, which tasks are in progress and which legal actions require immediate attention.

Our new white paper offers the following insights:

  • Why you need a world class legal hold process
  • A little history of recent landmark legal hold cases and why they should concern you
  • Current best practices of legal holds
  • Essential features to know before shopping for legal hold software
  • The problems associated with using antiquated or inappropriate legal hold tools

A powerful legal hold solution offers a quick and highly cost-effective way to supercharge your automated business processes, as well as your bottom line. Reduce the ever-present risk of costly court cases. The stakes are high, and the time to act is now.

Reduce the Peril: Best Defense Against Legal Hold Threats

Posted on December 14, 2016 by - Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management, Enterprise Legal Management

In our new white paper, “Is it Worth the Risk? How to Implement a World Class Defensible Legal Hold Process” we discuss the significance of legal holds in today’s corporate environment, why you need gold-standard legal hold automation software and strategies to fuel your company’s path toward a robust legal hold process.

Legal holds involve the preservation of information when litigation is reasonably anticipated. Recent legal hold cases and their subsequent negative outcomes for the corporations involved have highlighted the need for companies to be highly proactive in dealing with legal holds. Among these negative outcomes were several multi-million dollar fines imposed on corporations; one fine was in excess of $29 million dollars.

In recent history, landmark legal hold cases such as Zubulake v. UBS Warburg have underscored the importance of companies maintaining a tight grip on their legal hold processes. As we continue learning from past mistakes, there are fewer excuses for not implementing a strong legal hold process. Simply put, companies must have a well-documented process for executing legal holds, and exercise the proper care to preserve and collect electronically stored information.

Download this new white paper to discover how a cutting edge legal hold platform allows team members to gain real-time access to the status of collection requests, know when actions were issued, which tasks are in progress and which legal actions require immediate attention.

Our new white paper offers the following insights:

  • Why you need a world class legal hold process
  • History of recent landmark legal hold cases
  • Current best practices of legal holds
  • Features to know before shopping for legal hold software
  • Problems associated with using antiquated or inappropriate legal hold tools

A powerful legal hold App offers a quick and highly cost-effective way to supercharge your automated business processes, as well as your bottom line. Reduce the ever-present risk of costly court cases. The stakes are high, and the time to act is now.

Click here to download the eBook today.

Change is a Good Thing: Why Enterprise Legal Management is So Much More than Just E-billing and Matter Management

Posted on December 2, 2016 by - Business Process Management, Enterprise Legal Management

For quite a few years, enterprise legal management (ELM) has focused on matter management and spend management. It’s fair to say that effective ELM platforms were, and still are, good at what they do best – only matter and spend management. But many of these platforms were designed solely for the storage and access of data; not a whole lot more than that. This is the problem and these systems need to be laid to rest.

Now for the good news. Onit has spent decades studying what’s worked for other legal corporate legal departments to develop enterprise legal management (ELM) solutions that are flexible and easy-to-use. In our eBook, “Matter and Spend Are Just the Beginning: A Guide to the Enterprise Legal Management Paradigm Shift” we outline the evolution of these solutions.

There has been a distinct paradigm shift and evolutionary branching off from those older ELM systems. Nowadays, the best ELM platforms facilitate engagement, are focused on process, offer an environment where the user experience is crucial and can be augmented to manage other legal processes.

While matter management tracks various details in a centralized database and spend management gives good visibility into financial information, it would hardly be accurate to say that these areas make up the totality of what law departments need to track and manage. In truth—there is so much more. Today’s definition of ELM includes all of the following tasks:

There are solutions available that are highly focused on each of these tasks. Many innovative legal departments have acknowledged the evolutionary ELM paradigm shift and have augmented their matter and spend management arsenal with this cutting-edge technology.

With clients like ADM, The Home Depot and Under Armour – Onit is one of the most trusted names in the industry. Check out our customer success stories and learn more about bringing your legal department into the future with Onit’s ELM solutions.

Schedule a demo today for more information about the many benefits of ELM.

The Evolution of Matter and Legal Spend Management

Posted on November 17, 2016 by - Business Process Management, Enterprise Legal Management

Onit has spent decades studying what’s worked for other legal corporate legal departments to develop enterprise legal management (ELM) solutions that are flexible and easy-to-use. In our eBook, “Matter and Spend Are Just the Beginning: A Guide to the Enterprise Legal Management Paradigm Shift” we outline the evolution of these solutions.

Today, ELM systems are in use among 20% of legal departments and that number is expected to rise to 50% by 2020 according to Gartner. As the pace of business increases, legal departments find themselves required to provide a wider range of services with less resources and time. At the same time, data breaches have become more common and the risks associated with them have gone up a great deal.

These and other trends conspire to create an environment where robust ELM solutions are required. But do the big players in the field offer solutions that really respond to those needs?

Today, companies require in-house counsel to accomplish much of what outside counsel was entrusted with in the past. In decades past, a semiannual process may have been sufficient for the small internal legal staff with a focused set of responsibilities. 

As internal teams get bigger and the scope of work grows, old processes tracked on Excel spreadsheets or rudimentary databases no longer fulfill the team’s needs. On top of falling short on tracking and data storage, these solutions either do not include process enhancements that are slowly becoming standard or will require a significant ongoing development investiture that a company may not be able to afford to maintain.

With 15% of legal teams using homegrown solutions, (on top of a third using none at all and another third claiming they “don’t know,”) the true value of intelligent ELM will continue to become more pronounced as the gap between early adopters and those left behind grows….

Click here to download the eBook and read more.

 

Onit is the industry leader when it comes to Enterprise Legal Management (ELM). Our solutions are flexible, lightweight and easy-to-use. Click here to schedule a demo with one of our ELM experts.

Join us for the In-House Innovates SuperConference and the 28th Annual All Hands Meeting

Posted on November 2, 2016 by - Company News and Events

It’s been a very busy and exciting fall for Onit so far. We’ve had some big funding news and recently attended the ACC Annual Meeting in San Francisco. We’ve met a lot of great people whose corporate legal departments are seeking to automate processes such as e-billing, matter management, legal service requests, legal holds and contract management (to name a few).

Onit is the industry leader in Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) solutions and we’ve spent years developing tools that are easy to implement. Onit will be at two different conferences this month, giving you the chance to ask us about e-billing and matter management offering in person.

Join us November 15-16 for the In-House Innovates SuperConference. We’d love to have you stop by our table and learn more about our legal solutions. This year’s conference will be held in Chicago at the W Chicago City Center. There’s still time to get registered.

Why attend the In-House Innovates SuperConference?

“Now in it’s 16th year, the Annual SuperConference is a legal conference that addresses the current legal issues facing today’s businesses and provides in-house counsel with real-world examples and usable take-aways from speakers and peers to help them do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. SuperConference has continuously offered the highest educational investment within a constructive learning and networking environment. CLE credits will be offered in multiple jurisdictions and IL attorneys receive the benefit of receiving credits. Network with hundreds of peers and legal service providers and hear strategies to tackle corporate legal issues that are top-of-mind concerns and return to your office with practical and useful advice…“

Read more on the official In-House Innovates website for details.

For those of you on the West Coast, Onit will also be attending the 28th Annual All Hands Meeting. This event will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center on November 16-17. There’s still time to register for Silicon Valley’s signature conference for in-house counsel and other professionals at technology and life science companies.

Why attend the All Hands Meeting?

“The All Hands Meeting is a unique, multifaceted and affordable annual event tailored to the special needs of in-house professionals whose companies rely upon intellectual property. Scores of cutting-edge CLE presentations address the spectrum of legal, regulatory and ethical issues this community faces on a daily basis. Attendees can also browse exhibits about the latest products and services to increase their productivity and effectiveness. And, as part of the largest gathering of its kind, attendees have abundant opportunities to meet and connect with similar professionals in a comfortable, enjoyable setting.”

Check out the official website for more information about the All Hands Meeting.

We hope you are able to join us for either of these two awesome events! If you can’t attend this year but you’d still like to learn more, please schedule a demo with us. We would love to talk to you one-on-one about your legal operation needs and how we can help – click here to schedule a demo.

To learn more about Onit’s ELM solutions, check out our new eBook, “Matter and Spend are Just the Beginning” below.

The Past, Present and Future of Enterprise Legal Management

Posted on October 12, 2016 by - Business Process Management, Enterprise Legal Management

In our latest eBook, we outline how Onit is transforming the way legal departments drive operational and process improvements.

While traditional enterprise legal management (ELM) systems were built “database-out,” companies today need systems that augment and facilitate engagement, instead of merely providing access and storage. What a business needs today to empower “a better way to work” is a system built from the user perspective with a focus on process.

Technology has come a long way. By expanding our concept of ELM to include more of the day-to-day work that limits legal’s ability to contribute to the bottom line, we can improve process, collaboration and workflow to achieve a higher level of performance that better serves current and evolving business needs. In addition to matter management and spend management, ELM also includes (or rather, should be understood to include):

The Future of ELM 

Gartner predicts the adoption of ELM Solutions will increase from 20 to 50% by 2020. While traditional ELM systems require constant IT maintenance and attention, modern ELM solutions are lean and nimble and tend to work in a more straightforward manner. In many cases, users can configure, deploy, and support Onit solutions with no corporate IT involvement. This is because they are designed and built in an intuitive, “no code” environment that can be learned without even the need for a training session. 

Click here to read the full eBook.

Learn more about bringing your legal department into the future with Onit’s ELM solutions. Schedule a demo today or check out our blog for more information about the many benefits of ELM.

Join Us in the City by the Bay for the ACC Annual Meeting Next Week

Posted on October 10, 2016 by - Company News and Events

The Onit team is gearing up for the world’s largest gathering of in-house counsel. We hope to see you October 16th -19th at the 2016 ACC Annual Meeting in San Francisco. We are looking forward to meeting everyone and spreading the word about Enterprise Legal Management (ELM).

Onit is the leader in ELM technology and throughout the conference we’ll be located at Booth #402 giving demos. Stop by and say hello! 

We help corporate legal departments keep their businesses running more efficiently. ELM solutions from Onit are lightweight, flexible, and easy to use. Built with more than two decades of experience from industry thought leaders, process efficiency, workflow and collaboration is core to our technology. Our ELM solution lets your legal department:

  • Drive operational improvement easily
  • Create workflows that are unique to your legal and business processes
  • Configure ELM solutions quickly with minimal IT involvement

We’d love an opportunity to talk with you more in-depth about your current automation needs. It’s not too late to attend the conference, get registered here. For details about the specific speaking sessions and potential CLE or ethics credits, click here.

If you’re unable to attend you can view some of the sessions via webcast. We’re also available for one-on-one conversations, click here to schedule a demo. To learn more about Onit’s ELM solutions, check out our new eBook, “Matter and Spend are Just the Beginning” below.