Changing a law firm’s CMS is not for the faint hearted — but Thompsons Solicitors Scotland managed to do it, and do it well together with ShareDo. The firm’s director if IT and operations Ben Sears talks about the firm’s approach to this intricate endeavour, and how the transition to ShareDo’s system helped kick its productivity and efficiency into overdrive system, to enhance efficiency and deliver exceptional client experiences.
Industry: Legal
Location: UK
Size: Enterprise (200+ employees)
How do you replace ‘the beating heart’ of a law firm while continuing to operate as normal?
This was the conundrum that personal injury specialist law firm Thompsons Solicitors Scotland faced in late 2021, after deciding it was time to replace the outdated case management system (CMS) it had been using for many years. While certainly no small task, it was an opportunity for the firm to start afresh and lay the groundwork for a much better way of working.
After two years carrying out a comprehensive strategic review of its IT systems, and assessing each practice group’s workflows, Thompsons Scotland partnered with ShareDo, as it was attracted to its cloud-based CMS and its ability to integrate with a range of other tech solutions and began actively building and deploying the new CMS in 2024.
Rather than a firm-wide implementation, the firm proceeded gradually and implemented the CMS with its road traffic accident (RTA) department first. This was a calculated decision, as the division deals with high-volume work which would quickly benefit from a new and improved CMS, but would also not cause huge disruptions firm-wide should any issues arise. Sears adds: “This department also has quite a few young, digitally-native lawyers, and the partner who manages this team, David Adams, is really forward-thinking and tech-savvy — that made them the prime candidate for rolling out the CMS.”
The implementation process for the first department took six months, after which the firm moved on to integrate the ShareDo CMS into the General Accident and Lung & Disease departments next — its most profitable divisions, but also some of the most change-adverse. Having learned a lot from the first round, the implementation for these teams went much smoother, and within three months, the new system was up and running in the Lung & Disease division, with General Accident due for launch in June 2025.
Within the first six weeks of using the ShareDo CMS within its RTA division, Thompsons Scotland reported an over 80% increase in efficiency in matter creation and passenger logging — with 440 matters logged within a total of 14 hours and 182 passengers logged within 10 hours, compared to the lengthy time it would’ve taken them with the old CMS (73 and 60 hours respectively). “This has allowed us to scale our RTA team, reducing case holdings for our lawyers, while processing more cases and remaining highly profitable,” says Sears.
Thompsons Scotland was also able to integrate its existing transcription provider within the CMS, and is currently working on integrating AI (to allow case handlers to interrogate medical records and source valuable information in seconds), as well as its AML system and contact centre technology to further streamline and enhance its matter management.
Throughout each implementation, ShareDo’s team continuously supported the firm — not only building and customising the CMS to fit each division’s needs, but also providing in-depth training sessions to upskill Thompsons Scotland’s tech team on how to support the platform going forward. Ultimately enabling them to commission fewer external people to manage the CMS and have their own skilled in-house team – making them more cost effective and efficient overall.
The transformation at Thompsons Scotland is a powerful example of how a well-planned, phased implementation of the right technology can drive significant operational improvements, even in a traditionally change-resistant industry. By embracing ShareDo’s flexible and robust CMS, the firm has not only unlocked immediate efficiency gains but also laid a scalable foundation for future innovation. With more departments now eager to adopt the new system, and integrations with AI and other tools underway, Thompsons is proving that digital transformation — when done thoughtfully and with the right partners — can deliver measurable results and set the stage for long-term success.
