For firms whose Salesforce project left intake, conflicts and business development disconnected, we assess the build, fix what risks ethics or client service, and complete it.
A legal rescue typically involves a firm that wanted intake, client relationships and business development in one place but ended up with a system attorneys ignore. Intake forms might duplicate the practice management system, conflict checks might happen outside the flow, and partners might keep relationship notes in personal files. We review the build with the people who run intake, conflicts and marketing, correct anything that creates professional responsibility risk, and then finish the parts attorneys benefit from directly. Success is measured by whether lawyers open it without being chased.
Law firms have structures that generic builds rarely respect. Clients, matters, parties, adverse parties and referral sources all need distinct records, and the same organization can be a client in one matter and an opponent in another. Confidentiality obligations mean information barriers may be required between practice groups, so broad sharing defaults are unacceptable. Partners are also the scarcest users anywhere: they will not adapt to a system that feels slower than asking an assistant. Stalled legal projects frequently tried to replace the practice management and billing platform, rather than complementing it, and collapsed under that scope. A rescue has to narrow the scope before it can succeed.
Intake should collect prospective client, matter type, parties and fee arrangement once, then feed conflicts review and matter opening. We map the current path from first contact to engagement letter, remove duplicate entry, and connect the result to the practice management system. Intake staff test each matter type, and approval steps reflect who in your firm can accept new work.
Stalled builds often left conflicts checking as a separate email exchange. We connect intake to your conflicts process so party names, related entities and adverse parties are submitted consistently, results and waivers are recorded, and matters cannot move forward before clearance. The conflicts team decides how much of the check runs in Salesforce and how much stays in its existing tool.
Where the firm needs ethical walls, we restructure sharing so restricted users cannot see screened clients or matters, including in reports, search and related lists. Barrier requests and approvals are logged. We test with real user profiles from affected practice groups, because a wall that leaks through a report or activity timeline defeats its purpose entirely. Barrier changes are logged for the ethics partner.
Business development data often failed because partners were asked to enter too much. We reduce it to relationships, pitches, referrals and key client plans, capture activity automatically from email and calendar where the firm permits, and give marketing and practice leaders dashboards showing cross-selling opportunities and client coverage by partner without asking lawyers to fill in forms. Partners see their own relationships at a glance.
Recovery starts with the managing partner or chief operating officer, the intake and conflicts leads, marketing, and IT or knowledge management. We review the build, data and integrations, then fix anything that affects conflicts, confidentiality or client communications first. Functional work follows in small releases, each tested by a staff member from the affected team and a willing attorney. Integrations with the practice management and document systems are staged carefully, since those platforms hold the firm's official records. General counsel or the ethics partner reviews barrier and data retention changes before they go live.
Approved matters open in the practice management platform with matching client and matter numbers, and billing summaries return for relationship reporting.
Party and entity names from intake are submitted to conflicts review, and results, waivers and clearance dates are recorded on the matter.
Engagement letters and intake documents are filed to the correct workspace, with links from Salesforce rather than copies stored in two places.
Leave timekeeping, invoicing and trust ledgers where the firm already manages them. Salesforce should manage relationships, intake and development. Rescues that remove overlapping functionality usually recover faster and cost less to support over time. Draw that line clearly in the recovery plan and share it with every practice group.
Information barriers must hold across records, reports, search, activity history and mobile access. Test each with screened user profiles and document results for the ethics partner before announcing the wall is in place. Retest after every release that touches sharing.
Partners will not enter data that assistants or automation could capture. Pull activity from email and calendars where firm policy allows, keep forms short, and give partners something useful in return, such as a quick view of their client relationships.
It can support them, but many firms keep their established conflicts tool. The rescue usually focuses on making intake submit complete party data, recording results and waivers, and blocking matter opening until clearance. If your current tool is weak, we can assess moving searches into Salesforce, while the conflicts team keeps control over methods and final decisions.
Lower the input and raise the payoff. We automate activity capture where allowed, remove optional fields, and build views that answer questions partners already ask, such as who knows a prospective client. Launching first with a few supportive partners, then sharing their results, persuades colleagues better than training sessions or reminders. Their endorsement carries weight.
We identify which system owns each piece of information and remove duplicates from Salesforce where the practice management platform is authoritative. Matter numbers, billing rates and time entries typically stay there. Salesforce keeps relationship, intake and development data, reading key matter details through an integration so users do not maintain the same record twice. Staff then trust one source for each field.
Duration depends on how much of the build is usable and how many integrations need repair. We give you a phased plan after the assessment, typically measured in weeks for stabilization and months for completion. Busy periods, such as fiscal year-end or major trial dates for key staff, are scheduled around rather than through. Stabilization fixes usually come first.
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