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Intapp Builds the Foundation for Law Firm Client Success with Intapp Risk & Compliance and Terms of Business

  • Intapp Risk & Compliance adds new client scoring system
  • Intapp Terms of Business software to centralize management of client-specific requirements
  • Intapp launches Business Acceptance Maturity Model with Risk Roundtable Initiative

PALO ALTO, Calif. and LONDON, United Kingdom, September 2, 2015 – Intapp, a global leader in legal software, today announced the latest updates to Intapp Risk & Compliance, the new business intake (NBI) and conflicts management application adopted by more than 120 organizations worldwide. The new enhancements include a client scoring system which formalizes the evaluation of new business opportunities and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance as part of the intake process. In addition, Intapp is launching Terms of Business, a new system that enables firms to programmatically capture, index, report on and enforce client obligations throughout the matter lifecycle. Together, the new functionality will help firms to expand the view of client inception to better position client engagements for success.

“Clients are demanding more than ever from their law firms, and the firms that will thrive tomorrow are rising to the occasion by transforming how they serve clients today,” said Dan Tacone, President, Intapp. “Intapp Risk & Compliance is already playing an important role in this transformation – and Intapp is committed to delivering even more new ways for firms to use technology to their strategic advantage. Our newest innovations – in formalizing client scoring and evaluation, in assessing AML compliance and in centralizing terms of business – will enable greater visibility, further enhance efficiency, and help lawyers and firm management make better informed decisions.”

“From the point of view of the AML / Risk Assessment team at Ashurst, we saw tremendous potential to add value to the firm’s business by being prepared, being ahead of the curve and anticipating the regulatory, statutory and client-driven changes happening in the market. Working together with Intapp, we developed our risk assessment system based on Intapp Risk & Compliance, which leverages the business intelligence we gather for wider business purposes in a very focused and dynamic way,” said Muriel Marseille, Head of Risk Assessment, Risk and Compliance, Ashurst. “The risk assessment system now provides a real global view of Ashurst’s legal practice, and is helping to support the firm’s business strategy. Our lawyers are also able to take a more integrated approach in advising clients and in managing large, complex multi-jurisdictional transactions, disputes and projects, and our clients benefit tremendously from a high level of consistency and efficiency in client service worldwide.”

A Structured Framework for Client Evaluation

The client scoring system helps to formalize the evaluation of new business opportunities by enabling firms to rate them according to a pre-defined set of rules. The criteria can be configured to reflect firm-specific priorities and concerns, such as:

  • Professional Risk – Does the client present potential risks or concerns from an ethical, regulatory or reputational point of view?
  • Financial Suitability – What is the financial health of the client? Is the client likely to fulfill its financial obligations to the firm?
  • Strategic Alignment – How does the client align with the firm’s long-term market strategy with regard to practice areas, sector focus and geographical focus? Will taking on a specific matter now impact future business opportunities, or otherwise constrain firm conduct?
  • Resource Alignment – Do the resourcing, expertise and staffing levels required by this engagement align with firm priorities? Does the matter align with cost-saving measures such as outsourcing without sacrificing client service?
  • Terms Alignment – Does the firm impose terms or policies that conflict with how the firm generally operates?

An important use case this address is AML compliance. Today, firms in many key jurisdictions need to take strong steps to comply with “know your client” (KYC) background checks and other enhanced due diligence mandated by increasingly stringent regulations. Intapp Risk & Compliance streamlines AML/EDD compliance not only by helping to automate the review process, but also by storing and applying the regulatory rules themselves. Firms retain complete control of which rules to adopt and check against for each jurisdiction; how to weigh and score results; and when decisions need to be escalated or flagged for further review. In addition, Intapp Risk & Compliance maintains a record to assist with any audits, and can help to streamline any recurring checks post-intake.

Coming to Terms with Tougher Client Requirements

With clients issuing increasingly stringent guidelines, firms today face the challenging task of keeping track of a complex set of client requirements. In practice, client agreements frequently aren’t stored centrally and are difficult to access, putting firms at risk of non-compliance.

Available as a standalone product or integrated with the full Intapp Risk & Compliance suite, Intapp Terms of Business provides a structured approach for storing, indexing and then enforcing client mandates and other firm requirements. These can include formal outside counsel guidelines; engagement letters; internal requirements and standards which firms wish to institute; and documentation of a client’s overall expectations for a successful engagement.

A straightforward workflow, which can be integrated into the NBI process, allows firms to convert written client requirements into structured rules, which can be categorized, reported on and executed by matter teams, as well as other staff including Finance, Operations and IT which interact with clients. Intapp Terms of Business also provides analytics that enables firms to better understand the commitments they’ve made across industries and practices, providing new insight to support future decision making. By weaving client guidelines and requirements into the fabric of business operations and matter execution, Intapp is enabling firms to focus on delivering an exceptional client experience.

Business Acceptance Maturity Model

In addition to the risk management product updates announced this week, Intapp has launched a new resource – the Business Acceptance Maturity Model (BAMM). Developed in conjunction with the Risk Roundtable Initiative, the Business Acceptance Maturity Model gives firms a straightforward way to self-assess and rate their policies and procedures against overall industry practices and standards.

Firms can choose to take an abbreviated self-assessment, which provides a high-level sense of how they rank in approximately 15 minutes. Firms that are interested in a deeper dive can take a much more comprehensive review – covering client evaluation, intake process, conflicts standards, compliance policies, lawyer conformance and more – that takes approximately an hour to complete.


Product Availability

Client scoring functionality is now available with Intapp Risk & Compliance. Intapp Terms of Business will be generally available in early 2016. For information on how to join Intapp’s early adopter program for Terms of Business, please contact your account manager.


Demos and Sessions at ILTACON 2015

On Thursday, September 3, Intapp will be discussing and demonstrating Intapp Risk & Compliance in several sessions related to new business intake at ILTACON 2015. A full list of sessions and times is available here: j.mp/ilta15


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