The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/57001
For most firms, the idea of making support work globally is both appealing and intimidating. The promise of leveraged resources, 24/7 support (without overtime!) and streamlined processes for all offices is an ideal worth striving for. That said, everything global is still local, which means figuring out how to weave cultures, expectations, languages and processes into a coherent whole is easier said than done. Support experts from one of the world's largest global law firms, Mayer Brown, have gathered to share their experience and wisdom. Their roles span customer service, administration, training, communications, the service desk and more. Let's see how they have approached the challenge of global support and made it successful at Mayer Brown. What does global really mean? Nina Gratrick: In an ideal world, global means that the entire firm has agreed on a way in which to deliver services and support to its clients, regardless of location, language or culture. Law firms are often challenged with delivering a truly global support model due to the high demand and historical culture of providing personalized service for clients and internal customers/users. This presents a huge challenge for us as an IT department that implemented a global organizational structure a few years ago; while we want to be able to leverage our departmental resources across the globe, our internal customers still prefer to deal with local representatives. If we can show the business that we can deliver personalized service regardless of location, then we have accomplished a truly global service model. Angelos Kokkinos: The word "global" has a vast array of meanings, which largely depend on each person's experience, whom you are addressing and the context of the discussion. In my opinion, there exists a spectrum. At one end of the scale, it could simply be a phrase designed to create a feeling of reliability and confidence. I have worked with many suppliers over the years who consider themselves global, but when you start to dig deeper you discover they are nothing of the sort. Has anyone tried to put together a truly global contract for mobile phones? Further, the word "global" could be stretched to assert that the business Nina Gratrick is the EMEA Customer Services Manager at Mayer Brown LLP, where she is responsible for all of the user-facing services within the EMEA region. Nina has worked in various customer-facing roles over the last 18 years, starting out as a trainer before moving into the service and support arena. She has been working in the legal sector for 10 years, joining Mayer Brown in 2010, and has recently been responsible for the regional deployment of BigHand and the re-implementation of an ITIL-based problem management process across the IT organization. Nina can be reached at ngratrick@mayerbrown.com. Angelos Kokkinos is the Assistant Director of Global Planning and Administration and the Assistant Director of EMEA Customer Services at Mayer Brown LLP. He has over 20 years of legal IT experience, 17 years of which have been in various management positions. Angelos has been part of Mayer Brown's global IT leadership team for the last eight years and serves on the firm's Technology Committee. He can be reached at akokkinos@mayerbrown.com. Peer to Peer 39