Barnes & Thornburg has announced the launch of CaseHub®, a proprietary web-based tool that facilitates collaboration and management of litigation and other projects through a central hub. CaseHub® can be used by firm clients, co-counsel, and outside legal teams, as well as Barnes & Thornburg legal professionals, to improve workflows, data sharing and efficiency for litigation and other legal matters.
CaseHub® is primarily made up of collaboration and case/project management tools, document repositories, and directories, all of which are searchable and customizable for firm attorneys and clients.
Some of CaseHub®’s key tools are case summary pages, with the capability to link to external sites such as a court website; a case calendar, which is customizable and filterable; a case chronology and timeline, in graphic form or exportable to Excel; a deliverables widget, highlighting upcoming case milestones and deadlines on the case calendar; a task list that can be tailored for each user; and budget and related matter information. The tool is scalable to any size and scope of project or litigation, from a single matter to multidistrict litigation, class actions or other multi-party litigation.
CaseHub® development was led by an interdisciplinary team including Charlie Edwards, a seasoned trial lawyer in the firm’s Litigation Department; Brendan Miller, who leads the firm’s practice innovation efforts; and Stacy Bales, who leads the firm’s technology innovation group.
“I’m extremely proud of the team effort that went into building this tool and am excited to see how it will bring greater efficiency and collaboration to our litigation and project portfolios,” Edwards said. “We have long imagined a single application, for our attorneys and their clients, where tasks can be assigned and tracked, internal and external team members can collaborate, and key case and project documents and information could be stored and easily accessed.”
This announcement comes on the heels of Barnes & Thornburg’s announcement of the formation of its Legal Operations Department earlier this year. The department brings together lawyers and developers, project management specialists, and other professionals with client-focused specialties to oversee legal operations functions such as pricing and alternative fee arrangements; budget control and forecasting; billing best practices; matter management software; customized client reports and dashboards; and attorney training and professional development, among others. The collective group is led by Jared Applegate, chief legal operations officer.
Applegate is also the co-creator of Barnes & Thornburg’s award-winning BT ValueWorks program, a suite of pricing, process and technology solutions that bring greater value, efficiency and predictability to the delivery of legal services.
With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Atlanta, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, Texas and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com or on Twitter @BTLawNews.
