Cost reduction through enterprise search software for lawyers

“Our customers are often confronted with clients handing them a data carrier with tens of thousands, even millions, of documents and e-mails, which then have to be searched according to certain criteria,” explains Christoph Wendl, CEO of the Viennese IT company Iphos IT Solutions, which has created searchit law edition, an innovative enterprise search software especially for lawyers and lawyers. “Conventional software solutions – if they offer a full-text search at all – simply cannot cope with such an unstructured amount of data,” Wendl continues.

Full-text search for unstructured data collections and email archives

Regardless of whether it is client information provided by the client in the form of documents or e-mail archives, trial or court files – searchit law edition makes it possible to search them precisely and quickly. Automatic text recognition (OCR) ensures that text from scans or photos is also included in the search. Artificial intelligence can be used to automatically identify and extract topics in the data archives. Automated classification and assignment of documents to predefined categories also helps to easily search and structure these large volumes of documents. Considerable time and cost savings are thus pre-programmed.

“Our customers particularly appreciate the ability to search client e-mail archives, so-called pst files, using full-text search. Because this saves a lot of time, especially for law firms,” Wendl reports from experience.

Extensive features for targeted data management

In addition to the fast, AI-supported full-text search, the search software developed in Austria also offers other features that are advantageous in the daily work of lawyers. Contextual graphical filters make it easy to intuitively select the appropriate search results and can be saved for recurring searches. If new files are added in the course of a process that have to be searched and assigned according to the same criteria, all it takes is the push of a button and the data is available.

“In contrast to pure document management systems, searchit law edition has two other features that are often used by law firms,” explains Wendl. “In addition to the automated classification of documents, tags can also be assigned manually, which enable documents to be structured and assigned according to criteria relevant to the law firm.”

The current version of the Enterprise Search Software for Lawyers also has the option of adding notes to the individual documents, which can then also be searched using full-text search. A plus when it comes to collaboration and knowledge management.

Data security is a top priority

“Especially in the legal field, sensitive issues often play a major role. Confidentiality and secrecy in the handling of client data are unavoidable. The issue of data security is often addressed in this context,” says Wendl. “Access to the sources connected to searchit law edition is of course also regulated here via an internal company authorization system, which ensures that data does not fall into the wrong hands. Only employees who are allowed to access certain sources and folders can also find them via the search software,” Wendl concludes.