Baker Donelson has made a significant investment in our Client Solutions Group (CSG), an in-house department composed of nonbillable lawyers and professionals who work hand-in-hand with our attorneys and clients to identify and implement client-focused solutions. These nationally-recognized professionals are subject matter experts in project management, process improvement, pricing, data analytics, knowledge management, artificial intelligence/machine learning, litigation support, and research. Unlike other firms that charge for these services, our CSG team members assist our lawyers at no additional cost to clients and often serve as dedicated liaisons and advisors to their in-house counterparts.

Our Suite of Solutions

Legal Project Management

Baker Donelson is one of the first firms in the U.S. to develop its own LPM system, BakerManage^®. BakerManage^® is our award-winning LPM platform and the foundation for planning, budgeting, reporting, and management of any type of legal engagement, whether business or litigation. Since its creation ten years ago, we have implemented the system on more than 13,000 client matters and/or portfolios. Continued usage has proven to reduce matter costs by 30 – 45 percent for select clients. To learn more about BakerManage^®, click here.

Creative Pricing

Baker Donelson takes a holistic and consultative approach to helping clients achieve greater cost predictability. We utilize historical matter data to evaluate opportunities for alternative pricing models and then collaborate with clients to develop mutually beneficial and creative pricing solutions. Through the implementation of more than 11,000 pricing models and 200 new models each year, we are able to develop accurate pricing in an efficient manner and further refine, tailor, and be creative with our models. To learn more about our pricing capabilities, click here.

Intelligent Budgeting

Baker Donelson recognized the need for improved budgeting techniques and developed an intelligent budgeting approach as a result. By "intelligent," we mean a thoughtful analysis that evaluates scope of work, timekeeper tasks, resource allocation, and estimated time for completion. Our Client Solutions Group (CSG), which is made up of in-house subject matter experts in pricing and project management, works closely with our lawyers in the budget development process at no additional cost to our clients. Once a budget is established, we utilize budget-to-actual reports and automated threshold alerts to provide our clients with enhanced communication and transparency and help our lawyers monitor and control legal spend proactively. In certain instances, our budgeting techniques have proven to reduce clients' legal spend by 10+ percent. To learn more about our budgeting capabilities, click here.

Artificial Intelligence

Baker Donelson is proud to be an early adopter of artificial intelligence. By using cutting-edge technology to increase efficiency on day-to-day tasks, we save time for higher-value activities: developing sound strategy, understanding the bigger picture, and helping our clients achieve their legal and business goals.

We deploy Kira, the market-leading, machine learning AI technology for contract review, M&A due diligence, and other applications. Our attorneys use Kira to complete contract reviews faster for our clients while mitigating the risk of error. Kira users report time savings of 20 – 40 percent for initial implementation and 90+ percent on subsequent uses, because the system gains strength and accuracy as the machine learning algorithms grow. We also employ Drafting Assistant, an AI tool that streamlines the legal document creation process for both transactional and litigation documents. Drafting Assistant allows our lawyers to draft documents faster and with greater accuracy through the use of model documents and automated templates. The software fully integrates with another legal AI tool we employ, Westlaw Edge, which brings together a suite of legal research tools. The integration of these two tools makes it easier and more efficient to complete common drafting tasks such as inserting citations, locating authority, creating a table of authorities, and proofreading. To learn more about how we use AI, click here.

Knowledge Management and Technology

Baker Donelson offers clients a wide range of customized web-based tools and applications that promote collaboration, efficiency, and cutting-edge legal support. Our extensive menu of online resources includes over 600,000 precedents and forms, online collaboration sites, practice-specific mobile applications, research and educational materials, and more. We develop and maintain all tools and content, provide system training and support, and handle all software updates at no cost to our clients. Clients control access to their online sites, which are accessible 24/7 from traditional and mobile devices. With more than 15,500 sites created to date, we tailor and build each site specifically for a client's individual needs and budget concerns. To learn more about our knowledge management and technology resources, click here.

Process Improvement

Our process improvement model, BakerLean, is modeled after the Toyota Manufacturing Production System and assists with the evaluation of our timekeepers' and clients' existing processes to help identify areas of waste and opportunities for continuous process improvement and innovation. Our CSG professionals, who are certified Project Management Professionals (PMP)^TM and Lean/Six Sigma specialists, use our BakerLean techniques to provide clients with a road map for enhanced management practices.

Flexible Staffing

Our flexible staffing options are tailored to each client's unique needs. We collaborate with contract attorneys to staff up and down a matter quickly and effectively to help clients achieve the highest productivity at a low cost. We also routinely place attorneys onsite at clients' offices to help fill gaps in staffing. Several factors are considered when determining the cost of placing a secondee, including the type of expertise and level of experience required, scope and amount of work to be performed, and the length of the secondment.

eDiscovery

Baker Donelson's dedicated eDiscovery team has been in place for more than 15 years. Our continuous commitment to enhance client value gave rise to our LeanDiscovery method, which uses a rapid feedback loop to integrate the review team with the trial team. To learn more about our eDiscovery team, click here.