Client of the Quarter
Hughes & Coleman
Congratulations to Hughes & Coleman for being selected as the Needles Client of the Quarter! This large Kentucky based firm first began a relationship with Needles back in the days of our dos-based software known as PINS. That relationship that began more than 20 years ago continues to prosper to this day. Hughes & Coleman takes advantage of frequent Needles trainings, attends seminars and Usergroup meetings, and keeps current with Needles updates. Their unwavering commitment to the program and to law office efficiency has resulted in them recently opening their 200,000th case in Needles! We spoke with Executive Director Micki Love about the firms' growth both in size and in maturity with the Needles program:
When did you install Needles?
1986/1987 (I think)- We were PINS clients and converted to Needles!
What was the turning point of efficiency for the firm?
Hughes & Coleman knew that growth was the key to success, and we needed to find a way to keep our caseloads growing, without burdening the staff. By adopting the Needles program, we were able to continue to add new cases and work them more efficiently and effectively.
What do you attribute that to? Needles manager? Case type development?
As the firm grew, we knew organization was important. We worked with our friends at Needles to customize the best use of the program for Hughes & Cole-man. We knew where we wanted to go, and Needles helped us get there. By using the options available to us, we were able to build Needles to work for us.
With 200,000 cases behind you what are the key lessons you have learned in managing such a large and diverse case load?
One of the main lessons we learned is junk in - junk out. Early in our use of Needles we were very flexible when allowing staff to enter data and how it was entered. However, as we began to approach the business side of the law firm and looking for a way to get the competitive edge, we knew that we would have to monitor the input of data so that the output could help us reach our long term goals. For success in today's market place you need a competitive edge and we believe Needles delivers that for us.
Has remote hosting helped managing the database more than it would be onsite?
Definitely. At our firm, we try to stick to what we do best. We believe that is client service - not computer service. Server maintenance was not something that we were great at and often our database did not get backed up like it should. From a management stand point I feel more secure knowing that my database is backed up every night and is available on a number of different servers - preventing downtime. No longer do I worry about our server crashing and losing all of our client data. We could not function without Needles.
Congratulations again to Hughes & Coleman. Keep up the great work!