ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: June 8, 1995
Dept. File No. Law
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: City Manager
SUBJECT: Law Department Automation Project
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve the automation project for Legal
Services outlined in this report at a cost of $433,300;
financing to be provided as an interest bearing loan from
the Service Improvement Reserve, to be repaid over a five
year period through expenditure reductions in the
departmental budget.
B .
THAT Council approve the extension of the contract to Sierra
Systems to include the implementation portion of the automation
project at a cost of $200,000 (including net GST) without a
further proposal call.
C. THAT Council authorize the establishment of 1.0 FTE Systems
Analyst II position within Information Services, but
assigned to the Legal Services department, for the
implementation and management of the automation project
and ongoing development and support, subject to
classification by the General Manager of Human Resource
Services. Funding for this position will be from
reallocation within the existing Legal Services
departmental budget.
D. THAT the renovations to the Legal Services workspace be
approved at an estimated cost of $160,000; source of funds
to be the 1995 Capital Budget. And further, that plans for
alternate space in the VanCity Building, as outlined in
this report, when finalized, be reported back to council.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager supports this project strongly, noting that the
technology and methods proposed for the Law Department will
increase productivity significantly, and likely will provide a
valuable precedent for other City operations. The direct
savings offered offset the majority of the cost, and increases
in productivity will more than offset the residual payment from
the revenue budget to replenish the Service Improvement Reserve.
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of A to D above.
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COUNCIL POLICY
On December 8, 1994, Council approved the following:
THAT Council authorize the City Administration to proceed with the
implementation of the strategy outlined in the Information Systems
Plan, as well as Internet connections and online systems, subject to
follow-up reports on those components of implementation which require
Council's approval.
SUMMARY
The automation requirements in the Law Department have not been
previously addressed. As a result of the lack of automation, most
staff rely on manual processes to complete work. The current manual
processes do not allow the Department adequately to cope with the
requirements of the practise of law and the volumes of work.
Through the months of October to December 1994, the City of Vancouver
undertook a project to perform a work flow analysis within the Law
Department. The objective of the work flow analysis was to assess
the current work flow situation and propose solutions that would
increase productivity within the Law Department and improve customer
service. The analysis recommended new processes that would be
supported by the right technology. These new processes will improve
the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department. The technology
should include PCs for all Law Department staff, the networking of
the PCs and software packages directed at managing information,
document preparation, basic work flow and scheduling activities.
This project will result in improved customer service, improved work
flows, better management information, and reduced costs. Without
implementing the proposed changes, the Law Department will be faced
with significant increases in staff in an attempt to cope with the
current and future business requirements and volumes or to continue
to effectively represent the City in sophisticated and adversarial
negotiations. Increasing staff is not seen as an effective way to
address these requirements or volumes. Funding can be provided
internally as outlined in Appendix A. An immediate start date, and
subsequent implementation of the project, will ensure an immediate
improvement in Law Department productivity and workload capacity and
will provide a foundation for continuous improvement within the
Department.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to recommend action to pursue
improvements and savings in the Law Department through changes in the
operation of the Law Department, brought about by investment in
computer technology. - 3 -
BACKGROUND
The Law Department for the City of Vancouver presently consists of
fifteen lawyers and fourteen support staff. The lawyers are split
approximately 50/50 between solicitors and litigators. The
solicitors do legal work for the City, the Park Board, and the School
Board, involving all nature of corporate/commercial matters, real-
estate development, conveyancing and leasing. The litigators do all
nature of Court work (including work for the Police Department) and
take and defend major claims involving the City.
Today, competent legal practise requires that law firms be leaders in
the area of automation. Lawyers handle complex information processes
with a high need for coordination and the sharing of information.
The current environment mandates that lawyers have immediate access
to complex information. Automation requirements in our Law
Department have not, however, been previously addressed. Currently,
this Department has few automated tools to aid in responding to
customers' requests for service. Lack of automation has been noted
as one of the main frustrations of staff in the Law Department. Lack
of automation has necessitated on occasion, that the Department rely
on external resources for assistance in meeting the needs of the
City. This is not always practical. In addition, the Law Department
is often dealing at a disadvantage to opposing parties. Indeed, lack
of automation contributes significantly to difficulties faced by the
Law Department, as it affects everything from processing a request
for service to storing closed files or communicating effectively with
outside law firms.
As a result of the lack of automation, most staff rely on manual
processes to complete work, which translates into the following:
- the legal process is very labour intensive and a high degree of
cross-functional involvement is required;
- there are more chances for errors to occur (e.g., misplacing
messages, misfiling);
- some decisions are highly subjective (e.g., indexing); and
- the time it takes to process a response to a request for
service may be unacceptable.
Through the months of October to December 1994, the City of Vancouver
undertook a project to perform a work flow analysis within the Law
Department. The objective of the work flow analysis was to assess
the current work flow situation and propose solutions that would
increase productivity within the Law Department and improve customer
service. Integral to the success of this project was the need for
involvement from all areas of the Law Department and key customer
departments to ensure the solutions developed as part of the analysis
met organization-wide goals. - 4 -
As noted the current processes within the Law Department do not allow
the Department adequately to cope with the requirements of the
practice of law and the volumes of work. During the analysis, new
processes were developed by management and staff to support the Law
Department's work. These processes were based upon several
principles, including:
- channelling service requests through a single customer
contact point;
- eliminating duplication of effort;
- pooling individual experience into departmental experience;
- eliminating non-value added work.
The analysis recommended that the new processes be supported by the
right technology to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and
capacity of the Department. The technology should include PCs for
all Law Department staff, the networking of the PCs, and software
packages directed at managing basic work flow, document preparation
and scheduling.
DISCUSSION
During the summer of 1994 a Request for Proposal was issued to
perform a work-flow analysis study within the Law Department. From
the many proposals received a short-list was derived. Sierra Systems
Consultants Inc. was chosen to carry out the work flow analysis on
the basis of their cost competitiveness and experience working with
legal firms and municipal governments.
As a result of the work flow analysis, it was concluded that within
the Law Department:
- the current legal process is largely a manual process;
- requests for service arrive through many channels and in
many forms;
- there are many different standards for managing files;
- there is a lack of common information sharing;
- intradepartmental, interdepartmental, and external
communications can be slow and ineffectual;
- there is no reliable system for meeting deadlines and acting on
important dates;
- file storage, security, and backup procedures are
antiquated.
Given that the processes and systems do not allow the Department to
adequately cope with business requirements and volumes, the
Department cannot always respond in a reciprocal and effective
manner, to law firms negotiating with the City on behalf of clients
who, on many issues, are adverse in interest. Responses to customer
requests take longer than necessary, resulting in the deterioration
of customer service levels. The new processes and supporting
technological solutions are designed to overcome the current
obstacles within the Law Department.
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Law firms everywhere have been forced to become sophisticated users
of high-value document intensive applications. They must handle
complex information processes with a high need for coordination and
sharing. Assimilating, analyzing and compiling information is
paramount in the legal profession. The time has come for the Law
Department substantially to modernize by replacing manual, labour
intensive practices with automated solutions. The implementation of
the proposed solutions will yield significant change and opportunity
for the Law Department.
The most notable will be:
Process Orientation: the Department will take a more process-oriented
view of the organization. This will result in a transition from an
informal, ad hoc style of doing business, with limited procedures, to
a more formalized, structured environment. The Department will gain
a thorough process knowledge and will work together in teams.
Increased use of Knowledge Roles versus Administrative Roles: the
skills required throughout the Department will change as a result of
the new systems. In general, jobs will require more team work, be
less clerical, increase the need for analytical skills and require
knowledge of the process as a whole.
Function Restructuring: there will be a re-alignment of functions
based on the proposed groupings of staff (i.e. customer, legal,
research). The ongoing organization will also require new functions
to support the proposed solutions.
An Increase in the Use of Technology: as the knowledge role becomes
more prevalent, all personnel must have access to the new tools and
they must be trained and feel comfortable working with the
technology.
Interdepartmental Involvement in the Legal Process: the implemented
solutions will require active involvement from other departments
within the City. This interaction will be more structured to ensure
the Law Department receives the correct information in order to
provide the best service possible.
The new processes are based on several principles, including:
channelling service requests through a single customer contact point,
eliminating duplication of effort, pooling individual experience into
departmental experience, and eliminating non-value added work.
Supported by the right technology, these new processes will
significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Law
Department. It is recommended that:
- PCs be purchased for all Law Department staff and the PCs be
networked together;
- software packages be purchased and integrated to manage
basic work flow and documents, and to perform scheduling
activities; - 6 -
- scanners be purchased for incorporating external documents
into internal files;
- communication links be established within the Law
Department, as well as between the Law Department and other City
departments and outside law firms;
- subscriptions be made to legal research databases.
It is suggested that a systematic approach be taken in implementing
the new processes and technological solutions. The approach will
involve establishing the technological infrastructure and creating
systems for the new processes in the customer, legal, and research
functional areas. Final implementation involves the roll out of the
applications across these three functional areas.
Sierra Systems, who carried out the work-flow analysis discussed
above, were selected, among other reasons, because the Law Department
had confidence in their ability to successfully implement the goals
particularly related to the critical training component. The project
plan calls for implementing important changes that will move the
Department with virtually no automation to the forefront of workgroup
technology. This major transformation will result in a significant
increase in productivity and reduction in response time, but will
also require extraordinary consultant support. For these reasons,
and to achieve continuity from the work-flow analysis phase (Sierra
has a complete understanding of the current work processes within the
Law department), it is recommended that Sierra Systems Consultants be
retained to carry out the recommendations set forth in this report.
This project will result in improved customer service, improved work-
flows, better management information, and reduced costs.
Furthermore, these improvements are consistent with the aims and
objectives as outlined and approved by Council in a series of reports
described as The First Step to Better City Government. To achieve
these improvements, there is a need to establish an Information
Services position (Systems Analyst II) assigned to the Law Department
for the coordination, implementation and management of the new
computer applications and systems as recommended in the Information
Systems Plan and the work-flow analysis study. This position will be
assigned full time to the Law Department for the first two years of
the project. Thereafter it will be a shared position with other
departments.
Funding
The project detailed in this report involves two components;
installation of a local area network and completion of associated
building modifications to support the new process-oriented approach.
The estimated cost for the acquisition, implementation consulting
services and support staff is $433,300. This will provide for
purchase of hardware, network wiring, software purchase and
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training associated with the installation. Details of these
costs are included in the Financial Analysis presented in Appendix A.
It is proposed to finance this project over five years with an
interest bearing loan from the Service Improvement Reserve to be
repaid from operating savings in the Legal Services Department
through staff reduction ($123,500 annually) and reduced photocopying
and book purchase expenditures ($12,000 annually).
While not replacing a lawyer can be expected to have some short term
impact which may lengthen the turn around time for some work, the
long term benefits of this project far outweigh that impact. In
terms of efficiency and quality of product, automation will provide
an essential capacity once it is up and running. Retaining a lawyer,
or even hiring additional lawyers, could not produce the same
capacity.
In addition to the one time costs to purchase and install the system,
it is proposed to add an Information Services support position to
oversee the system implementation and development. The cost of this
position is estimated at $63,000 annually for the first two years
with declining responsibilities and costs in years three to five.
Appendix A indicates that the project has a deficiency of
approximately $32,000 in each of the first two years, declining to
$6,500 in year five. However, there are a variety of productivity
improvements available from this project that will more than offset
this additional cost, including potential savings in outside legal
fees and additional legal staff costs. While these savings are
virtually impossible to quantify at this point of the project they
are real. In addition, automation will permit the department to
undertake projects designed to reduce the City's exposure to
liability, which has the potential of significant savings to the
self-insurance programme.
The second component of this project is completion of associated
workspace renovations at an estimated cost of $210,000. Of this
amount, $160,000 will be required to make physical changes in the
Legal Services East Wing workspace to support the workflow changes
recommended by Sierra Consultants. Funding for this work is
available in the 1995 Basic Capital Budget. The balance of these
costs ($50,000) go to eliminate a larger power supply problem in the
East Wing that is currently being addressed and will be required
regardless of the use made of the Legal Services space in the future.
Funding for this work is available in the 1995 Supplementary Capital
Budget.
Facilities Development are presently undertaking a space study to
identify the departments that should be considered for relocation to
space (50,000 sq.ft.) in the VanCity Building,
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which will become available when VanCity vacates its space on
September 30, 1995. Options which are being considered include
relocation of the By-Law Fines from rented space and other functions
of Engineering, Corporate and Community Services to the ground floor
of the Main Building, in order to create a one-stop public service
centre; relocation of Information Services to VanCity to free up
space on the sub-ground level for a larger, more functional Committee
Room, and possibly relocation of the Law Department to the VanCity
Building to free up space in the East Wing for Community Services.
If this study concludes that Law should be relocated to VanCity, it
is estimated that the interior fit-up work can be completed by mid-
November 1995. Such schedule should not affect the schedule proposed
for implementing the new process and technological solutions which
could commence immediately. It is likely, however, that the costs of
constructing new offices in VanCity will be higher than that
projected for renovating the existing space in the East Wing. Should
such additional costs materialize the net differential cost could be
funded by the PEF, and be reimbursed through rent.
It is expected that the implementation of the proposed solutions will
result in the freezing of current expenditures and the elimination of
the need for an increase in staff, assuming a current workload, for
the next five years. The Corporation Counsel notes that the workload
presently committed to does not meet the expectations of all
developers seeking to secure development rights before the next
election. As noted photocopying/book costs ($46,000 per annum) can
be reduced by 25 percent and there is a potential to reduce the
external legal costs, the latter is not included in the financing
estimate. These quantifiable benefits will help to offset the
project costs. Other benefits, which will be realized, include a
reduction in the backlog of files, faster legal processing, an
increase in job satisfaction, and more consistent, quicker, and
better customer service.
CONCLUSION
Without implementing the proposed changes outlined in the Work Flow
Analysis Report, the Law Department will not be able adequately to
cope with the current and future business requirements and volumes or
to continue to effectively represent the City in sophisticated and
adversarial negotiations. The new processes and technological
solutions outlined in this report will allow the Law Department to
provide the effective and efficient service demanded by other staff,
and most importantly, the public. Funding can be provided internally
as outlined in Appendix A. An immediate start date, and subsequent
implementation of the project, will ensure an immediate improvement
in Law Department productivity, and will provide a foundation for
continuous improvement within the Department.
* * * * *