UniCourt Influencer Q&A with Jonathan Reed of AdvoLogix

For decades, law firms have been working to increase their efficiency, and the pandemic has brought this need into sharp focus. With caseloads as heavy as ever, law firms are forced to find new ways to increase their profitability while adjusting overhead costs – adapting to a “new normal” as the traditional work landscape continually shifts.

To help them do this, legal technology companies like AdvoLogix are developing systems and processes firms can use to reduce the need for human capital, allowing them to maximize their profit margins during uncertain economic times. Specifically, AdvoLogix exists to bring legal teams the data they need with innovative matter management solutions, so they can act on complete, timely information in making critical decisions. AdvoLogix recently integrated with UniCourt’s Legal Data APIs to provide users with docket information and case updates, so they can continually improve the body of data they need to operate more efficiently.

We were fortunate to sit down with Jonathan Reed, the Co-Founder and CEO of AdvoLogix, to discuss his motivation for starting the company, its new integration with UniCourt, and what lies ahead for the legal tech industry as a whole.

UniCourt: Tell us your story. What is your background, and what led you to what you are doing now?

Jonathan Reed: I am a life-long commercial software guy. Since the day I graduated college and began work as a quality control laboratory technician for a company testing the efficacy of anti-tumor treatments, I started to find and use computers to automate workflows. Since then I have worked at a number of large commercial software companies and several startups. I like taking technology and solving people’s problems in a way that makes sense to them and is a commercial success for the technology vendor.

UC: What is AdvoLogix? How does it work?

JR: AdvoLogix is a leading law practice and legal matter management platform that helps law firms, general counsel, and state and local governments automate their unique business processes and simplify legal matter management. The AdvoLogix cloud-based enterprise solution centralizes matter management, conforms to unique workflows and legal practice standards, and provides industry-leading security and reliability. AdvoLogix offers comprehensive configuration and integration with thousands of add-on applications that extend the solution to meet specific business needs.

UC: What inspired you to start AdvoLogix? What specific need or problem in the legal field does it address?

JR: I was inspired by our co-founder, Paul Deschenes. He and I had worked together at a software company and he approached me one day with an idea to leverage what was then the evolving cloud to solve problems for legal teams. The rest was – and continues to be – a lot of hard work, trial and error, and keeping going that resulted in the success we enjoy today.

UC: What are two of the most pressing issues law firms face when it comes to matter management?

JR: First, law firms are striving to operate more efficiently so they can increase profitability for themselves and reduce costs to their clients. Many firms are currently under a hiring freeze or significantly scaled back their plans for hiring. At the same time, cases are on the rise and firms want to be able to capture this opportunity to gain new business without adding staff. To do so, they need to have systems in place that can automate more processes and reduce the need for human intervention at every routine step. By automating more processes, firms can deliver services more efficiently, reduce costs to clients and increase satisfaction – among both clients and staff.

Second, even before the pandemic began, law firms have increasingly utilized a dispersed workforce, with back-office functions outsourced to lower-cost regions, and more professionals working from dispersed locations. When the pandemic hit, law firms suddenly needed to send all their workers home but continue to operate without disruption. A single source of record for every matter – that was accessible from everywhere – became an important priority for every law firm.

UC: AdvoLogix recently partnered with UniCourt to help your clients access court data within your system. Can you explain a bit about how this integration works and, more specifically, the role of APIs in getting legal professionals the real-time data they need?

JR: A key goal of AdvoLogix is to bring data to a legal team so they have timely and accurate information on which to act. We want to do this by inverting the model of users having to enter data to one where data is collected, produced in context, and insights are presented for evaluation. AdvoLogix users can now benefit from rich matter data provided by their UniCourt integration. The integration will ensure that users have court dockets, updates and critical documents associated with specific matters in the AdvoLogix system for action, analysis, and legal process improvement.

AdvoLogix has built an ecosystem of APIs that are important to legal professionals today, and has integrated them with the AdvoLogix Matter Management System. With more integrated platforms, users can benefit with more information in a single source of record, less time spent entering and maintaining data, reduction in the potential for errors, and vastly improved workflow. When more systems are integrated, management can gain more data to make informed business decisions about their practice.

UC: What are some of your favorite sayings? Do you have any real-world examples of how you have seen these sayings come to life?

JR: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain. A lot in life is just showing up and getting started. You may fail at something at first, but you just show up and keep going. Show up at meetings, show up at training, show up at customer sites, show up on calls, show up for employees. Simply get going. No one knows it all up front. Preparation is overrated, especially in technology. Get going, fail fast, figure out what works and forget about your mistakes.

UC: What are your goals for the coming year? What projects are you working on? Are there any upcoming events in the legal tech space we should be aware of?

JR: Our goals for the coming year are to continue to improve the AdvoLogix Matter Management platform by adding tools and functionality that legal professionals need to operate more efficiently. We do this by anticipating trends in the legal space and researching new technology, but we also listen to the needs of our current users and adapt as they change and grow.

It will be interesting to see how legal technology events evolve in the coming year. After just supporting the ILTA>ON event, we recognize the need for ongoing education but also the desire for people to gather and learn from each other. The pandemic, sadly, will make it hard for legal tech professionals to gather.

UC: Where can we learn more about you and your work?

JR: You can learn more about me on LinkedIn where we can connect and discuss any topics of interest. You can find more about AdvoLogix on our website, and I encourage you to subscribe to our blog and to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Making Automation and Legal Innovation Possible

As Jonathan notes, for law firms to automate processes to deliver services more efficiently, reduce costs, and increase client satisfaction, they need to have the right systems in place. With AdvoLogix’s powerful matter management system combined with UniCourt’s industry leading APIs, law firms, legal departments, and other organizations now have the legal tech tools available to make their automation and legal innovation possible.

To learn more about AdvoLogix and UniCourt’s integration, contact us and we’ll be in touch.

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