How Lisa’s Law migrated 14 years of data to LEAP Enterprise
LEAP Enterprise details how Lisa’s Law transitioned to a new case management system — outlining how the vendor supported the law firm through key challenges including ensuring accurate data transfer
When a firm has relied on the same case management system (CMS) for more than a decade, moving away from it is never a small decision. For Lisa’s Law — a London-based Legal 500 firm with around 75 people and offices in Elephant and Castle — that moment arrived as the practice grew steadily in both size and the range of services it offers. This is the story of why the firm made the move to LEAP Enterprise, how it migrated 73 users and 14 years of matter data, and what it learned from a project that touched almost everyone in the business.
A long-serving system, now outgrown
Lisa’s Law provides services across most major areas of law, including residential and commercial conveyancing, immigration, litigation, wills and probate, family law and commercial law. As the firm grew, both in the size of its team and the range of its services, its requirements from a CMS became increasingly sophisticated — and it reached the point where it had outgrown the platform it had relied on since 2012.
The decision wasn’t driven by a single issue. As the firm grew, it increasingly found limitations in what it wanted to achieve, experiencing challenges with speed, email uploading and workflow functionality. It also wanted access to more modern technology and capabilities, including AI. As Anne Dalipe, legal practice manager at Lisa’s Law, explains, the firm’s requirements had evolved considerably since 2012, and the primary driver for change was the need for “a more modern platform that could support the size of the firm today and give us greater flexibility as we continue to develop.”
The concerns before migrating
Migrating an entire firm is a significant undertaking, and Lisa’s Law was clear-eyed about the risks. The biggest concern was data integrity. Having used its previous system since 2012, the firm held a substantial volume of live and historical matter data and documents, so ensuring this transferred accurately was extremely important.
The firm was also conscious of the impact on its people. Many colleagues had used the old system for years, so moving 73 users onto a completely different platform was always going to be a significant change. Training, user confidence and support around go-live were therefore major considerations.
Why LEAP Enterprise
Lisa’s Law wanted to invest in a system suited not just to the firm as it is today, but to its future development. With 73 users and a wide range of practice areas, it needed a platform capable of supporting a business of its size and complexity.
LEAP Enterprise offered functionality that better matched the direction the firm wanted to take — particularly around workflows, integrations and the opportunity to make greater use of technology and automation. Those three things are what LEAP Enterprise is built for: a single cloud platform that can be shaped around how each department works, rather than forcing every practice area through the same process. The firm saw the move as an opportunity to modernise the way it works, not simply to swap one CMS for another.
Preparation and implementation
This was not a small migration. It involved moving 73 users and 14 years of live and historical data off a system the firm had relied on since 2012, across seven practice areas, each with its own ways of working. It was very much a joint project involving Practice Management, IT and the wider management team, working closely with LEAP Enterprise and Thinkwild. A migration plan was prepared in advance and approved by the firm’s management team, with responsibilities clearly divided.
Internally, Practice Management coordinated the overall project, communication and training, while IT focused on the technical aspects. LEAP Enterprise managed the data migration and implementation end-to-end, its technical team working directly alongside the firm’s IT on testing and troubleshooting, while Thinkwild provided implementation support, training for more than 70 users and assistance around go-live. As Dalipe notes, that structure mattered: “With a project of this size, issues will inevitably arise, so being able to identify who was responsible for each area and escalate matters quickly made a significant difference.”
Considerable preparation took place beforehand. The firm’s IT Manager, Hassen Tlili, planned the migration carefully and worked to anticipate potential problems, while the firm kept its people informed throughout and arranged training in advance.
Go-live and beyond
Go-live was an intensive period, and two days of on-site support from Thinkwild proved extremely useful — employees could get practical help while using the system, building confidence and allowing issues to be identified quickly. LEAP Enterprise’s UK implementations team delivered go-live training alongside Thinkwild, and that support has continued since, as the firm moves from learning the system to configuring it around how each department works.
Strong internal IT made the difference too. As Dalipe puts it: “Having Hassen available internally to deal with technical questions, investigate issues and liaise with LEAP was invaluable.” That two-way line between the firm’s IT and LEAP Enterprise’s technical team kept go-live moving, with issues logged, owned and resolved together.
The results so far
Several weeks in, the firm considers it early to put firm numbers to productivity or time savings. For Lisa’s Law, the biggest achievement so far is that it has successfully moved onto LEAP Enterprise and passed the most difficult stage of the transition. Employees are becoming increasingly comfortable with the system, and the focus is now shifting from learning the platform to making better use of its workflows, integrations and automation. In the firm’s own words, it now has “a really strong foundation from which to develop and configure it around the needs of our firm.”
LEAP Enterprise is the unified cloud platform for mid-sized and large law firms that require deep systems integration, advanced configurability and enterprise-level financial control.
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