Client: Nationwide Challenge: Transform the error-prone process of managing several hundred million dollars in legal fees from 700 outside law firms. Solution: Web-based software that eliminates paper invoices and automatically reviews bills for accuracy and compliance with fee guidelines. Results: Nationwide cut its legal costs 8 percent. The firm can quickly evaluate trends among outside law firms and enforce guidelines. Want More Information? Contact us to learn more about CSC's Legal Solutions. Only CSC will use the information you provide. Download the full case study (PDF) below. Download the file

Nationwide Financial Services, the seventh-largest U.S. P&C insurer, works with 700 outside law firms on more than 87,000 legal matters each year. The job of reviewing and paying the resulting legal bills is a costly, time-consuming process that’s fraught with errors.

With hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees at stake, Nationwide turned to CSC in 1999 to develop software tools to automate the entire process.

‘A Fairer, More Efficient Process’
Nationwide co-developed CSC’s Legal Solutions Suite, a Web-based billing system that eliminates paper invoices and automatically reviews the bills for accuracy and compliance with fee guidelines. The system, which tracks the performance of Nationwide’s outside attorneys, has helped the company cut its legal costs by 8 percent. Nationwide estimates the savings lowered its combined ratio by half of a percentage point.

“For a company the size of Nationwide, that’s significant,” said Lori Lehmann, legal initiatives director at Nationwide. “Automating the litigation management process helps us clear invoices faster and on a consistent timetable, while helping to make sure that what we’re being charged falls within our guidelines. It makes for a fairer, more efficient process for everyone involved.”

Analyzing Law Firm Performance, Improving Outcomes of Legal Matters
CSC’s system automatically tracks suspected errors across invoices, such as billing for attorneys that exceed 20 hours in a 24-hour period, or line items that duplicate submissions from previous bills.

In addition to helping Nationwide avoid paying out fees in error, the system’s reporting tool gives Nationwide detailed data about charges, performance and outcomes that enable the company to quickly evaluate patterns and trends among law firms and individual attorneys.

“It gives us information about law firm billing practices that we at Nationwide have never previously had, and the strength of that data is amazing,” Lehmann said. “We can look at how counsel performs and we can look at what areas of the case they work on more than others. Legal Bill Analyzer helps you go back and assess all of those performance metrics, not only externally with the outside counsel, but internally with your claims associates.”

Client Involvement Drives Development Program
A continuing relationship with CSC and its team of product specialists has been key to the success of the software. In addition to ongoing development efforts, Lehmann serves on CSC’s Legal Solutions Advisory Council, which is composed of clients who meet regularly to chart the future direction of the product.

“We work very closely with CSC,” she said. “We have regular updating sessions, we understand each other’s processes, and it shows in the processes we employ every day.”