BLG Delivers Clients Closing Books in Minutes
James Mathers, a partner in the financial services practice at 700 lawyer firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG), knew all too well that clients were waiting months to receive closing books for a typical lending transaction. The most frustrating part was that these closing books could be sent within a few days but due to inefficiencies in process and technology they would frequently languish on lawyers’ desks and collect dust until the client followed up.
James learned about Closing Folders, a legal transaction management software tool, at a local lawyers group. “Closing Folders seemed to have actually delivered a product that brought together a bunch of ideas I’d had or heard of for a long time,” states Mathers. Closing Folders solved the disconnect between lawyers, paralegals, and records departments, allowing a deal team to keep their transaction organized in a central repository that could be seamlessly handed off to records following closing. This meant average delivery times for closing books were reduced from months to hours after the close of a transaction.
BLG was producing over 100 closing books a month for its clients using Closing Folders – reducing an hours-long process to a few clicks.
New software platforms often face issues with uptake at large law firms. Practicing lawyers are just trying to get the next deal done without introducing more complexity. Closing Folders is unique in that the product’s many efficiency features deliver immediate value to the mid-level and junior associates who work most closely with the tool. And the busiest partners don’t even need to log in for the tool to be incorporated successfully within their deal teams. In March 2017, BLG started a pilot project with the tool. A few months later they were live with over 30 active users and 50 active deals per month. Today, each month BLG has over 150 active internal users and 350 active deals. Most importantly, BLG produces over 100 closing books a month for its clients using Closing Folders – reducing an hours-long process to a few clicks.
Five key benefits
Vincent Frenette, Managing Partner of the Financial Services Group in BLG’s Montreal office saw the tool being adopted early on by a mid-level associate and made the decision to encourage usage of the tool on all of the group’s deals. Frenette sees five main benefits of using Closing Folders:
1. Reputation as a technology adopter
“We look good to the clients and to the other firms by showing that we are early adopters of technology.”
2. Clients have direct visibility on a deal’s progress
“Clients are amazed to be able to see what is going on in their deal by simply logging in.”
3. Workflow and action
“On a lending transaction, satisfying the conditions precedent of a business nature is made easier by the various parties simply uploading those in the system for the lender to review.”
4. Professional Closing books delivered quickly
“Custom-branded closing books are delivered literally minutes after closing.”
5. Reporting and deal visibility
“With digital closings you have all the information about all of the deals you’re working on at your fingertips.”
Closing Folders has a lot of features that help deal teams improve the quality and efficiency of their client service. Click here to to learn more about how it works.
