Australian Legal Practice Uses Zoom to Increase Efficiency Around the World

Colin Biggers & Paisley has undergone a number of changes since its inception in 1900. With large offices along Australia’s eastern seaboard and in Dubai and business interests in the United Kingdom and Asia, Colin Biggers & Paisley has grown into a trusted national legal practice with international expertise. That steady growth has led to the development of a wide range of practice groups, including construction law, insurance law, and property law. With multiple practice groups working in offices across the country and a long list of international clients and connections, document sharing, collaboration, and seamless communication are critical to the organisation.

Disparate tools = Decreased productivity

Colin Biggers & Paisley previously was using a collection of disparate tools to meet its communications needs. While these were effective most of the time, using a collection of products and tools together for video conferences and presentations was extremely cumbersome. This led to longer meeting times, increased burden on its IT department, and a decrease in productivity.

“When someone came to present to our partners or clients and we tried to get all of these solutions to work together, it created a lot of challenges for us,” said Colin Biggers & Paisley CIO Sam Sofianos. “It meant our IT team had to stop focusing on other issues and spend most of their time setting up our meeting rooms.”

With limited integration between these products, devices, and tools, it was difficult for Colin Biggers & Paisley’s legal teams to effectively collaborate. And without the ability to easily share and collaborate on documents, team members were often required to visit their clients across the country to work on projects in person. Frequent travel, constant back-and-forth emails, and a lack of real-time collaboration made these long-distance communications inefficient and difficult to maintain.

The document collaboration capability was something that just really wasn’t there,” Sofianos said.

Using a trusted partner & Zoom Rooms integrator

Colin Biggers & Paisley decided to use Zoom as its video conferencing solution after seeing how well it worked for some of its clients and affiliated organisations, including the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association. With Zoom deployed, the practice quickly realised that the issues it had surrounding integration and support with other applications were no longer a problem. Sofianos said: “When I compared our other technologies to Zoom, it always came back to, ‘Well, we never had that problem with Zoom. Why don’t we try that?’ ”

Colin Biggers & Paisley chose Peace of Mind Technologies (POMT), a Zoom partner reseller and certified Zoom Rooms integrator, to help integrate the platform into its communications infrastructure. “I loved the product already, but with POMT being a respected Zoom reseller, it was just a perfect scenario. It just proved to us that POMT really does integrate best-of-breed solutions for its clients.”

Colin Biggers & Paisley’s employees immediately took advantage of the ability to share and annotate documents in real-time during video conferences. International clients were able to attend meetings from their mobile devices and see those documents live, which helped them craft a better understanding of the issues at hand and quickly provide meaningful, effective solutions.

One of the big things with our strategic plan was around collaboration and the ability to collaborate more within our organisation, our different offices and with our clients,” Sofianos said. “So, the ability to see each other, to work on things together and to share and work on documents in real-time is a massive win for us.”

Zoom’s real-time document sharing and annotation ultimately helps Colin Biggers & Paisley serve its clients more effectively. With some clients spanning multiple practice areas, Colin Biggers & Paisley can now connect clients and multiple legal teams at the same time. This allows separate legal teams to collaborate on projects that require their specific knowledge and develop a better understanding of the client’s needs.

Improved conference room experience

The reliability and functionality of Zoom’s video conferencing platform improved how team members collaborate internally and with clients. “The Zoom Room Crestron equipment is so simple to use that users can walk in and start a meeting,” Sofianos said. They can present from their laptop and don’t need to engage with IT. That simplification is just tremendous for us.”

And while the platform has improved communication and collaboration, it also has made Colin Biggers & Paisley’s day-to-day operations more efficient. When team members need to find each other in the office, they don’t have to wander around looking for each other. They can use the Zoom Team Chat function to see whether the person they need is available.

Over the next year, the legal practice plans on expanding its use of Zoom Rooms and the collaborative whiteboard functionality, which will increase the practice’s ability to work across different teams and clients. With the consistency and ease of use of the platform, the team is confident it can quickly adopt these new solutions. “Because of the familiarity and simplicity of the interface, the adoption of the Zoom Room application can be just as fast as the regular Zoom application,” Sofianos said.

And as Colin Biggers & Paisley continues to grow, the value and innovation that Zoom offers will play a crucial role in its success. “For the users, you want to show innovation, and you constantly want to evolve based on the constantly changing environment,” Sofianos said. “And you can do that with the Zoom platform because it is always evolving with your needs.”