Unlike the conventional law firm where lawyers spend a significant proportion of time buried in paperwork, practitioners at Covenant Chambers do everything with the swipe of a hand — from updating case files in real time, to assigning tasks and getting each other up to speed on deadlines.

“Processes are much more streamlined and efficient. (Tech solutions) help us save time to focus on the more important things as lawyers, which ultimately, is about facing our clients,” said Mr Ronald Wong, the firm’s associate director.

Theirs is the kind of practice the Ministry of Law aims to nudge the majority of small- and medium-sized firms here to become through a new S$2.8 million tech grant scheme launched yesterday.

The six-man practice, which started last year, uses a cloud-based client management system called Clio to update and share records of cases in real time.

For assigning and keeping track of tasks, they use Asana, a task management system built by Facebook co-founder Justin Rosenstein. Intelllex gives them ready access to a comprehensive database of cases, commentaries and regulatory material across different jurisdictions.

With their database integrated across various platforms, lawyers can work from anywhere — when they are with their clients, at a cafe, or when they are overseas. Mr Wong said: “I work mostly digitally ... It gives us more control over our time, which makes lawyers happier.”

Some IT platforms also translate to cost savings for clients, he added, such as by cutting down time spent on research.

While there are benefits that technology brings, Mr Wong acknowledged that going completely paperless could still be some way off for firms.

“For litigation matters, we often still need to hand in hard copies to the court,” he said. KELLY NG