Case Study: Manley Deas Kochalski
Default litigation law firm automates manual court filing processes, reduces processing times by up to 80% and cuts costs.
About our customer
A reputable legal services firm, Manley Deas Kochalski (MDK) provides unparalleled counsel to mortgage lenders, servicers, and financial institutions. Specializing in foreclosure and default-related legal matters, MDK serves a diverse range of clients throughout the U.S. Their forward-thinking approach seamlessly blends the use of innovative technology with seasoned legal acumen to ensure swift and efficient resolutions for their clients.
For more than a decade, MDK has been working with Ricoh to streamline and automate their document management workflows, leveraging the support of Ricoh on-site employees for case e-filing with the respective jurisdictions' case management systems.
“In the past, relying on manual processes often led to errors and potential compliance issues. Now, with our automated approach, we are significantly minimizing those risks and ensuring a higher level of compliance.”
‒ Edward J. Rudd
Executive Director of Information Technology
MDK
Challenge
Transition to electronic court filing systems retained manual processes, causing inefficiencies and bottlenecks
Standardization and accuracy of e-filing submissions needed improvement
The long employee training curve impacted the firm's ability to handle volume fluctuations more easily
In the past, the court filing process relied on the submission of physical documents to the respective counties through mail. Once received, the counties would return a file-stamped copy, and the team at Ricoh would then manually scan and attach these physical copies to their corresponding cases.
As many counties gradually transitioned to electronic systems and online portals, the court filing process, while becoming more streamlined, remained a highly manual and tedious process involving document creation, exhibit compilation, and data entry. The manual and time-sensitive nature of the e-filing process resulted in inefficiencies and bottlenecks, impacting the firm's ability to promptly handle a high volume of cases. MDK needed to automate their e-filing process and standardize the submission processes to increase accuracy.
Furthermore, MDK’s operations span multiple states, each with its own set of regulations, legal processes, and jurisdiction-specific web portals. This complex landscape required MDK to quickly adapt to the requirements of each jurisdiction and ensure that employees are trained to handle various e-filing processes. For an employee to proficiently file on multiple websites and states, the training curve could range anywhere from 60 - 180 days, hindering the firm’s ability to effectively handle a large volume of court filings.
Solution
“The collaborative solution by Ricoh and Nintex has helped us meet our service levels in a challenging labor market.”
‒ Greg Smith, Site Manager, Ricoh USA
The Ricoh team implemented Nintex Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Ricoh partnered with MDK to implement Nintex RPA in order to meet the e-filing and compliance needs of various states and jurisdictions
Upon Ricoh’s recommendation, MDK implemented Nintex RPA to streamline the e-filing process by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
Once Ricoh’s on-site employees have reviewed and packaged the case document files, Nintex RPA is deployed to upload the files to the respective county’s e-filing website. This is accomplished by programming a desktop RPA interface to mimic clicks and keystrokes, replicating human input for typing information into various fields, accessing systems, compiling information in spreadsheets, and transferring data between disparate systems. By using Nintex RPA, e-filings are executed accurately, minimizing the risk of errors associated with manual handling. The RPA interface can also be modified to meet individual e-filing variations for each county and contains an audit log for measuring performance of the system.
Nintex RPA is designed to handle tasks and manage increased workloads, making it an ideal solution for MDK to efficiently accommodate higher volume of court filings when needed. In a day, the firm can process up to 300 court filings, handle more than 2,000 documents, and encounter fluctuations on demand. Nintex RPA’s intuitive design and automation capabilities allow employees to quickly understand and execute various e-filing procedures, minimizing employee training from months to days.
Results
Reduced overall case filing processing time by up to 80%
More accurate filings and reduced human error
Reduced labor cost
Improved compliance
The implementation of Nintex RPA significantly reduced the time required to process cases and file them with the respective jurisdiction’s case management systems, ultimately yielding substantial savings in labor costs. This also empowers MDK with greater ability to meet important legal deadlines and milestones.
Nintex RPA’s efficiencies have a ripple effect across various departments, accelerating the speed at which cases progress through their respective milestones, ultimately enhancing workflow and service delivery. By shortening timelines, improving productivity, and streamlining interactions with their clients, MDK achieves higher performance evaluation scores from their clients, contributing to overall client satisfaction.
Nintex RPA also plays a crucial role in ensuring compliance with court rules and regulations throughout the entire case and e-filing process. The automated solution ensures the accurate inclusion of necessary documents and metadata into the online portal, resulting in significant improvements in compliance by eliminating errors that were more likely to occur under manual processing.
"Implementing Nintex RPA through our partnership with Ricoh truly embodies our commitment to innovative technology, aligning seamlessly with our mission to create uncommon paths to success for our clients and ourselves. It complements the other automation initiatives we are driving, and as we move forward, there's immense potential for further integration of Nintex RPA across our operations," said Edward J. Rudd, MDK’s Executive Director of Information Technology.