A “one-stop-shop” for managing information barriers and related security arrangements
Allens wanted a “one-stop-shop” for information barrier management and related security arrangements in its document management and matter management systems for their 1600 users. By deploying iManage Security Policy Manager, Allens automated a significant part of the implementation and management process, which included delegating access control to key staff and allowing changes to be made within minutes remotely from relevant employee desktops.
Allens is a leading international law firm serving clients throughout Australia and Asia. Together with Linklaters, its global network spans 40 offices across 28 countries.
Allens has built its reputation on the quality of its people, the strength of its client relationships and having an innovative approach to complex work. Technical excellence is combined with commercial understanding to provide the best insights. Allens’ focus on achieving excellent results for its clients has led to many accolades, including being named an elite “band one” firm in 16 practice areas and jurisdictions by Chambers Asia Pacific 2021. The firm was also awarded Best Law & Related Services Firm (>$200m) at Beaton Client Choice Award 2021, Law Firm of the Year (>500 employees) at the Australasian Law Awards 2019 and 2020, and was the highest ranked law firm on the Australian Financial Review and Boss Magazine’s Most Innovative Companies List 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 for Australia and New Zealand.
Challenge
Following the successful deployment of iManage Work 10 backed by RAVN search, Allens sought to implement a central portal for managing information barriers and related security arrangements.
Solution
Significantly streamlined the management of information barriers
The firm has an in-house legal team known as the Office of General Counsel (OGC). Amongst other things, it supports Allens’ partners and lawyers on professional risk management issues, including information barriers.
The OGC identified that Allens would benefit from a solution that would work seamlessly with their iManage Work DMS and their matter management system (Aderant Expert), as well as providing advanced governance features to help simplify and automate their current processes, create electronic real time audit logs of activity and reduce the resource burden on IT.
By implementing iManage Security Policy Manager (SPM), Allens has significantly streamlined the management of information barriers. Importantly, they reduced the resources and manual overhead involved in defining, managing and setting up information barriers – enhancing security and risk mitigation. A key benefit of the SPM system was the rapid application of changes made within the SPM system to the DMS and matter management systems (within minutes).
According to Clare Smith, a Senior Associate in the OGC, who was the Business Lead in relation to the SPM implementation, “Now we have a dashboard with all of the information at our fingertips. We are saving time which equates to a significant cost saving for the firm.”
Benefits
An efficient and accessible centralised portal for managing information barriers and related security arrangements
Security Policy Manager and its integration with iManage Work 10 came into its own in 2020, when Allens moved to a work-from-home arrangement for a period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Smith says, “Having iManage Security Policy Manager in place meant our information barrier management was not impacted. The key was being able to add people into a team and give them access and manage relevant restrictions and information barrier obligations quickly from anywhere – home or office – at any time of the day.”
Results
Allens has enhanced and streamlined the application of security and information barrier management through electronic automation.
- Set up and manage information barriers and related security arrangements within minutes
- Solutions scale seamlessly
- Authorised employees can manage information barriers at any time from anywhere
- System takes into account internal staff movements
- Kept consistency between teams without having to cross-check from both sides
