What could this look like at your firm?

Let’s explore it.

Kansas City Based Firm Improves Offsite Records Terms and Pricing

This law firm based in Kansas City, Missouri has an international practice with over 500 attorneys across all offices. In 2018, the firm approached Mattern to assist it with its offsite records storage services.

OPPORTUNITY
This law firm based in Kansas City, Missouri has an international practice with over 500 attorneys across all offices. In 2018, the firm approached Mattern to assist it with its offsite records storage services.

For its offsite records relationship, the firm was mostly pleased with its current provider and the services it was receiving. However, the firm saw room for improvement. Specifically, the firm wanted to reduce overall storage expenses and improve its contractual terms. In addition, the firm wanted to see where its offsite records agreement stood in comparison to the market place. Finally, the firm wanted to have its offsite records contract dovetail with its short and long-term inventory reduction goals.

SOLUTION
Mattern did a comprehensive review of the firm’s offsite records contracts and service provider relationships. In addition, Mattern did an on-site assessment at the Kansas City office to evaluate the firm’s offsite records processes.

Based upon its assessment, and utilizing its industry knowledge, benchmarks, and long history with offsite records, Mattern was able to make key recommendations for the firm’s consideration to improve its offsite records situation. This included ways to improve contractual terms and pricing, such as unbundling its storage and services from a single rate to an a la carte model as the firm was paying for more than it was using.

Mattern and the firm then collaborated to tailor a unique RFP which captured the learnings from the evaluation process and which suited the firm’s objectives. Mattern was subsequently able to guide the firm through a successful RFP process, award and contract negotiations.

RESULT
Given the substantial permanent withdrawal fees the firm would have faced should it change providers, the RFP process was able to produce viable and competitive alternatives which still saved the firm money. In fact, the RFP processes yielded service providers who were willing to help the firm by absorbing the permanent withdrawal fees and spreading the cost to the firm out over the term of a new agreement. Even though there were options that saved the firm money by switching providers, the firm ultimately elected to remain with its current provider as they offered the firm the savings it was looking for without having to engage in a lengthy transfer process.

As part of the firm’s new contract with its offsite records vendor, the firm received the following terms:
- Improved pricing for storage and services in line with market competitors.
- Migration from wasteful bundled pricing to a la carte pricing, ensuring the firm only paid for what it used.
- Reasonable retrieval, withdrawal and destruction rates to fit with the firm’s short and long-term inventory reduction goals.
- Annual 5,000 c.f. allotments for free destruction to assist with inventory reduction goals.
- Fixed costs for first two years of the agreement. 3% fixed rate increases year over year thereafter.
- Agreement to penalty based service level agreements.

Through the Mattern process, the firm was able to enter into a firm-friendly contract that guaranteed the firm would see the savings it was anticipating and coincide with its short and long-term inventory reduction goals. Overall, between incentives and costs reductions, the firm saved 11% over its current costs. In addition, the firm reduced its permanent withdrawal fees by 27%.

Mattern Leads Strategic Outsourcing for AmLaw 25 Firm, Lowering Costs and Enhancing Services

To elevate service quality and secure more competitive pricing, this global AmLaw 25 firm needed to refresh more than a decade-old outsourcing model across multiple administrative and support functions. Mattern partnered with the firm to restructure leadership, optimize staffing, and integrate technology, ultimately delivering savings of more than 10% and reducing off-site facility costs by 71%—all while strengthening vendor accountability and aligning operations with the firm’s long-term strategic goals.

Future-Ready Legal Operations: How Mattern Helped a Leading Law Firm Optimize Outsourcing, Technology, and Governance

To stay ahead of shifting demands, this California-based NLJ 500 firm needed to align its outsourcing, equipment, and information governance practices with a hybrid work environment. Mattern helped the firm optimize operations, strengthen policy, and secure long-term stability across 12 offices—all while recovering the full cost of the engagement.

A prominent Boston-based law firm undergoing an administration transition identified a pressing need: many of its vendor contracts supporting office and administrative services had not been reviewed in years. The new administration recognized that they lacked both the in-house expertise and bandwidth to evaluate and renegotiate these agreements effectively.

MatternPILOT in Action: Total Savings of 34% and Better Yet, Proper Contract Management

Like so many firms, the Firm had boxes of paper records that hadn’t been touched in years. The attorneys responsible had retired or moved on, and the boxes of records lay idle.

Mattern Assists Law Firm in Unraveling Decades of Paper Records and Rebuilding Information Governance Strategy

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).