Dickinson Wright’s long-established commitment to client service and diversity, along with the exceptional quality and expertise of its attorneys, is matched by a leadership position in the legal services industry in terms of the firm’s approach to client-based information technology.

The advent of global, electronic communication has brought about dramatic changes in the way the world does business. Technology has fostered an unprecedented level of collaboration between Dickinson Wright attorneys and their clients, enabling firm lawyers to provide more timely, comprehensive and cost-effective solutions to clients’ business challenges on a global basis.

The firm uses a broad array of the industry’s latest and leading information technology capabilities, including Cisco software such as VoIP and Meeting Place, to facilitate highly efficient and collaborative attorney/client relationships. Historically, the delivery of legal services has been via one-way, paper-based communication. Today, the firm’s extensive technology-based information sharing capabilities enable our attorneys to work with clients in an “anytime, anywhere” virtual environment.

Every Dickinson Wright employee is linked via laptop and a firm-wide portal to the latest Lotus Notes software, which has been integrated with the Microsoft Office 2003 suite of programs. From virtually anywhere in the world, attorneys can gain remote, secure access via laptop computers to internal firm resources. Through intranets and extranets and secure electronic mail, this “virtual office” environment enables the instantaneous sharing of information not only among the firm’s attorneys and staff, but those of its clients – regardless of location.

For example, this client-centered approach to technology eliminates the need for multiple versions of draft documents, which often create an inefficient and unmanageable volume of information. These capabilities permit attorneys and clients to work from a single document source, improving response times and the overall quality of the product. Many of the firm’s Notes-based applications have provincial patents, having been designed to enhance client efficiency. Individual practice groups use Caseworks for case management, summation for deposition management, evaluation and trial preparation.

By enhancing the timeliness and quality of its work product, Dickinson Wright’s investment in information technology also makes the firm’s services more cost-effective. Simply put, “cost efficiency on the front end saves client dollars at the back end.”