Am Law 200 Firm Removes Permanent Withdrawal Fees, Consolidates Vendors and Saves 24% in Off-Site Record Storage

This 250 attorney, AmLaw 200, Washington D.C.-based firm has 11 offices nationwide. The firm had multiple offsite records storage contracts in place and was interested in investigating cost-savings and efficiencies by consolidating vendors as well as creating a short and long-term strategy to reduce their offsite storage commitments.

OPPORTUNITY
This 250 attorney, AmLaw 200, Washington D.C.-based firm has 11 offices nationwide. The firm had multiple offsite records storage contracts in place and was interested in investigating cost-savings and efficiencies by consolidating vendors as well as creating a short and long-term strategy to reduce their offsite storage commitments.

SOLUTION
The firm hired Mattern & Associates to lead the project. The team at Mattern reviewed the onsite records operation, created a strategy based on the firm’s contractual commitments and outlined a Request for Proposal (RFP) process that would fulfill the firm’s storage destruction strategy.

RESULTS
The firm opted to select a completely new vendor from the field of competitors to service each of the firm’s 11 office locations nationwide. Mattern’s consultants led the negotiations which achieved substantially improved pricing, terms and conditions, including no minimum storage increased destruction allowance, performance penalties and a reduction of permanent withdrawal fees to $0.

As part of the engagement Mattern & Associates oversaw the implementation, and the monitoring of the agreement with the newly selected vendor. This included managing the implementation of the new vendor and the transfer of storage from incumbents; preparation and finalization of appropriate implementation documentation/communications (i.e. notification to vendors and to firm’s internal staff); and coordination of any necessary implementation requirements with the offices.

Monitoring includes pricing and reconciliation of monthly invoices during the contracted period – as well as for the incumbent vendor until transfers are completed; provision of annual Contract Compliance Reviews to determine that all terms, conditions and performance standards of the contract are being adhered to on a regular basis; updates to the firm regarding destruction utilization; provision of a detailed report, including year-over-year data, at the completion of each Contract Compliance Review, and more. If non-compliance issues are identified, appropriate notification and vendor resolution will be provided by Mattern & Associates.

The following, key winning terms are listed below:
- 10-year contract with a 2.5% annual increase
- Elimination of all permanent removal charges
- Annual compliance reports from the new vendor
- Reimbursement of all transfer costs (perm out fees, retrieval charges) from the new vendor
- Reimbursement of all Mattern fees and expenses
- Yearly savings of 24%

The firm’s CIO, who was part of the client project team stated, “I was impressed with the breadth of the RFP and the in-depth knowledge I saw from both Joe Grubb and Rob Mattern. They were professional and updates came in a regular, timely fashion.”

The procurement of office supplies is back to pre-pandemic levels and firms are once again looking to optimize their spend. After years of decline due to hybrid work and the shift to digital output, the overall dollar spend is back, or in some cases, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

AmLaw 200 Firm Streamlines Procurement and Saves 43% on Office Supplies

Establishing and maintaining a successful contract negotiation is a situation in which there needs to be two winners, not a winner and a loser. While every firm wants to procure the best contracts through informed negotiation, it is also important to preserve the long term, industry relationships with the vendors. You’ve got to pick the competitors wisely, and you must know the best practices in your region. To that end, there’s a great deal of strategy involved in an Open RFP; one might say an art.

Prominent IP Law Firm Achieves Win-Win & 10 Year Contract with Open Off-Site Records RFP

With more than 1,100 lawyers and consulting professionals in 24 offices worldwide, this firm is a leading business and litigation practice with global reach. As is the trend with many successful large firms, this particular one had undergone a merger in 2009 with an established Atlanta-based firm.

National Firm Gains 33% Reduction in Permanent Withdrawal Fees and 22% Monthly Savings on Outsourcing Contracts in Dual RFPs

Best Best & Krieger, LLP is a 180-attorney law firm that has been in business for more than a century. The firm has grown to include several dynamic practice groups across eight offices throughout California.

Mattern & Associates Spearheads Vendor Consolidation, Achieves 23% Monthly Savings in Support Services for Best Best & Krieger

Established in 1891, Best Best & Krieger (BBK) is a highly regarded, full-service law firm of over 350 professionals, including more than 200 attorneys across nine offices in California and in Washington, D.C. Maria D’Aquila is the firm’s Operations Manager.

Mattern’s Phase III Contract Compliance Program Achieves Maximum Value for Best Best & Krieger’s Office Supplies Contracts

This 320 attorney, AmLaw 200, Houston-based firm was in the throes of implementing a “work-cell” environment for their secretaries per practice area. The restructuring of staff and office layout required a different output strategy to be deployed in order to provide the tools and technology within close proximity to the work-cells, while also looking to reduce expenses. However, the firm had several expiration dates for their existing multi-function devices, requiring a creative plan for addressing replacements that also substantially improved the convenience and efficiency for the new work-cell environment.

AmLaw 200 Firm Shifts to Work-Cell Environment, Captures 24% in Cost Savings while Substantially Improving Operational Efficiency

This AmLaw 200, Chicago-based firm had taken advantage of outsourcing methods over the last couple of years; however, its current outsourcing and equipment contract was soon to expire. Since the firm renewed with the incumbent vendor the previous five years, they were interested in learning what other service bureaus were providing in the outsourcing marketplace. The firm also desired to determine whether they were staffed appropriately and operating under industry best practices and service levels with competitive pricing.

Chicago-based Firm Improves Workflow and Achieves 33% Annual Savings

This 250 attorney, Am Law 200, Washington D.C.-based firm had specific areas in which it was struggling; in particular, they were finding it difficult to keep current with technology, flexing to meet demand, and recovering costs for the internal systems and storage related to litigation support services (e-Discovery).

Am Law 200 Firm Gains Competitive Advantage and Charge Back Model to Recoup Costs for eDiscovery Managed Services

This 350 attorney, Am Law 200 firm based in Ohio had decided to outsource their in-sourced back-office operations and multi-function devices (MFDs) on a firm-wide basis five years prior. The contract was expiring and the firm was now considering outsourcing the on-site centralized Records and Information Management functions. As a result, the firm was interested in what other outsourcing companies’ capabilities were in the records space, how they may improve current services to the firm, and whether they had a competitive contract.

Am Law 200 Firm Saves on Costs, Improves Service Levels by Outsourcing Records and Selecting New MFD Vendor