What could this look like at your firm?

OPPORTUNITY
Marshall Dennehey is a highly regarded Am Law 200 firm with 500 attorneys across seven states. They have been practicing law for over 60 years and are one of the nation’s largest law firms devoted to civil defense litigation.

With 19 offices to be serviced, Marshall was experiencing fluctuating spend in their office supplies due to the hybrid work environment. When the firm’s contract came up for renewal, Marshall’s leadership wanted to know whether they should just sit tight with their current office supplies service provider and extend their current contract or look at the market--even with their fluctuating spend.

PROCESS
Based on the success of multiple, previous projects with the firm, leadership engaged Mattern as an expert consultant. Mattern reviewed the firm’s contract and spend, applied their market knowledge and curated industry benchmarks, and assured that seeking competitive proposals would be worth the effort.

The firm agreed with the recommendation and, with Mattern’s assistance, defined the following objectives:
- Improve pricing and terms
- Maintain or improve service levels
- Continue cost effective purchasing practices
- Consider the consolidation of other spends such as Managed Print Services, coffee, and water coolers.

With Mattern managing the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, the firm selected three service providers they wanted to include, the incumbent and two others.

RESULTS
After a review of the RFP submittals, vendor interviews, reference checks and numerous rounds of pricing, firm leadership decided to enter into contract negotiations with WB Mason for general office supplies, paper, coffee supplies and coffee service as well as custom printing.

Based upon the analysis provided by Mattern, the firm executed a 7-year agreement with WB Mason that delivered the following:
- Projected savings of 33% on their current spend
- Volume rebates
- Large order discounts
- All annual increases on core products capped
- Discounts on non-core products

In addition, all Mattern’s fees and expenses were reimbursed by the service provider resulting in $0 out of pocket for the firm.

The firm looked at including water coolers in a new office supplies agreement but ultimately chose to focus on service providers whose core business is providing this type of service. The firm had Mattern conduct a Request for Quote (RFQ) from service providers who focus on water coolers and filtration systems. Based on the RFQ results, the firm selected Quench to provide upgraded touchless water coolers firm-wide with no increase in cost.

The project was deemed an overall success as evidenced by Marshall Dennehey’s Chief Financial Officer, Frank Stransky, who commented:
“We rely on Mattern's team to help us navigate decisions that impact our entire firm. One reason we partner with Mattern is because of their relationships within the legal industry. That in turn provides double-edged market insights that help foster informed decisions. The personal attention we receive is highly regarded and we look to continue working with Mattern in the future."