Written by:


Grant Yuill

Head of Marketing & Customer Engagement


If your law firm is new to leveraging technology, or if you’ve become accustomed to working with a certain type of legal practice management software, it can be difficult to make a change, even when you know it’s the right thing to do. You might be feeling like it’s going to be too difficult, time consuming or disruptive to move forward with updating how your law firm uses technology. But it doesn’t have to be. We exist to help you through this process, supporting your firm in becoming more productive and efficient.

And make no mistake, remaining up-to-date with technology is no longer optional, it is a requirement. All you need is a roadmap to complete a successful software change.

Why change to Denovo?

Over 500 UK law firms have moved across to Denovo – many were firms like yours. They had concerns about their existing provider – be it outdated software, the system not being intuitive enough for fee earners or the personal support you receive starting to dwindle.

At Denovo we create an implementation and project plan, tailored specifically for your firm. And unlike other legal software providers we believe that effective, personal support is essential, which is why you can always speak to a person to get the help you need. Our support service is staffed by experienced SOLAS qualified Legal Cashiers, Law Accountants, qualified Bookkeepers, Legal Document Specialists, legal Software Training Specialists, and those with law firm experience who understand exactly what you need to succeed.

Our whole practice management solution, CaseLoad, incorporates Case Management, Legal Accounts and Cashroom Services into one integrated system, with the ability to have all data available and shared between the different areas of your law firm. Our aim is to provide smart, simple, time-saving and bespoke solutions to fit your needs, while being flexible enough to change and grow as you and your team evolves. Our case management system allows law firms to operate in a realistic fashion – customisable to the way your practice works.

How difficult is it to change?

Let us be honest…we’re not going to suggest that changing your software isn’t a pain. It is. What you need to do to make the transition easier is work with a provider who understands all the reasons why this process is challenging. From there, guidance is given to make the transition as pain free as possible.

So, lets start by asking a couple of questions:

Is this you?

  • You know your server-based, software hasn’t changed in 10+ years. You know you need to switch to a modern solution.
  • You know, in theory, that this change would make your life easier and your law firm more profitable.
  • You’ve heard from your peers that they’ve made the switch and their working life is starting to improve.

But then, you just didn’t do it. Why?

  • The thought of transferring the data from all the lawyers in your firm sounds like a nightmare.
  • The thought of convincing all of the lawyers and support staff in your firm that this is even possible and that they also have to deal with it is a nightmare.
  • The thought of finding software that would make all of that pain worth the risk sounds daunting.

If this sounds familiar, you know you’re in the right place. We get it and we can help. And trust us, this process is easier than you think – mainly because we do most of the work and we walk you through it every step of the way.

Getting started – What is data migration?

For you own piece of mind, be aware that our data migration experts have most likely already transferred data from the same software you’re using to Denovo. We have done this for hundreds of (very relieved) law firms. We’ve been in this software game a while (30 years in fact) and there isn’t much that can surprise us.

In its simplest form data migration is the process of transferring data from one system to another system. Unfortunately, it is not a simple copy and paste task, the process is a lot more complex. But that’s where we come in.

Data migration is required when moving systems to stop firms losing business critical data necessary to allow firms to move seamlessly to a new application and work efficiently.  Re-entering data manually would be costly and impractical exercise especially with amount of data stored, which could go back many years.

To allow firms to use a new system, the existing data needs to be examined to determine what data can be migrated from the old system to new.  There is an initial emphasis on the Legal Accounts data to make sure the new system will be square once the data is migrated.

After the analysis of the data, a trial conversion of the data is started to build a test system with the data from the existing system.  This trial database can be used for training purposes before the go live date to allow users to feel secure that their data is present in the new system.

Once the trial conversion is completed, we will check to see if there any unexpected issues with the data and if it is a successful trial migration, we will schedule a live migration.

Balance Forward Data Migration

The balance forward conversion is a basic migration of data to allow firms to work with a new system within a quicker timeframe (well that is the theory).

The simple migration of data will import the following:

  • Accounting Years & Periods
  • Work Types
  • Fee Earners
  • Clients (generally includes addresses, phone numbers)
  • Matters
  • Other Funds
  • Offices
  • Matter Balances
  • Banks
  • Bank Balances
  • Nominal Ledgers
  • Nominal Balances
  • Outstanding Fees

Transaction’s Data Migration

  • Accounting Years & Periods
  • Work Types
  • Fee Earners
  • Clients (generally includes addresses, phone numbers)
  • Matters
  • Other Funds
  • Offices
  • Matter Balances
  • Banks
  • Bank Balances
  • Nominal Ledgers
  • Nominal Balances
  • Outstanding Fees
  • Matter Postings
  • Current year’s nominal transactions
  • Nominal Movements for current year.

Depending on the competitor’s system we are transferring from we can migrate the following components of a system at an additional cost.

  • Time Recording Balances
  • Time Recording Transactions
  • Vault Documents (Wills, Titles, POAs)
  • Events/Activities/Document History against a client or matter
  • AML Items
  • Purchase Ledger Accounts

Time for a change?

When it comes to effectively implementing new technology changes, you need to be ready. While making software changes and migrating data isn’t easy, it’s not optional either. Law firms who fail to use technology tools that will benefit their client’s and their staff risk being left behind by the competition. Plus, once the switch is made many law firms grow and thrive like never before. You’ll find out quite quickly that the pain of the process is well worth it!

To find out more about how we can help you change to a more modern, whole practice management software solution please email info@denovobi.com or call us on 0141 331 5290.

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