Brown Rudnick

Taking a practical approach to change

Post pandemic, Brown Rudnick’s leadership felt that its research staff could benefit from becoming more efficient with its resources, so the team began to look closely at Vable.

Helen took a practical approach to automating current awareness provision. She outlined what she and her team wanted to achieve:

• Organize, streamline and professionalize all curated “news watch” delivery.

• Surface quality content from multiple news resources.

• Automate client and industry alerts for attorneys and other firm departments.

• Present all “news watches” and current awareness in professional-looking branded newsletters.

• Generate statistics on who is opening and reading emailed news alerts.

• Maximize their budget by identifying under-utilized subscriptions.

• Ensure that the new current awareness solution was affordable and fit for purpose - with opportunities for future growth.

Choosing an automated current awareness system

Helen makes it clear that implementing a new system is a great opportunity to rethink processes. She explains that “we weren’t accustomed to using an existing system in a specific way,” so the team was open to automation and change.

As part of the due diligence/vetting process, she compiled a wish list which outlined what the team wanted from a new system. For example, it was important for the research team to continue adding some standard information to their current awareness emails and “news watches”. In the past, that had to be done manually. However, Vable’s branded templates and email settings meant that formatting could be automated. 

Consistent branding gets you noticed

Helen notes that “newsletters are one of the best ways to be visible and the templates make a stronger impact”. She outlines two key ways that Vable has elevated the service’s branding and visibility:

• Same logo, multiple templates: The two types of regular updates are the research team’s “News Watches” and distribution of various current awareness subscriptions. Although the templates and format differ, the branding and logo are the same, so the newsletters are instantly recognizable.

• Email addresses: Alerts used to go out from individual staff email addresses, but now everything is sent out from the same central research services inbox. 

Statistics and return on investment

Helen confirms that receiving consistent and comparable figures across multiple publishers is challenging. She has been able to make use of Vable’s valuable reporting capabilities in the following ways:

• Clicks, opens, and engagement. Helen has been pleasantly surprised by how many end users are reading and engaging with their current awareness. She says it is gratifying to see that end users value their current awareness service.

• Return on investment. Statistics are helpful with return on investment decisions about usage and duplication.

For example, if only one person is receiving a subscription update and they aren’t opening and reading the content regularly, the team can make a good case for cancelling the subscription. Helen confirms that the Vable reports have helped the team review subscriptions and identify duplications. “Duplication can be a problem, so the Vable reports were a real a-ha moment!”

Helen hopes more publishers will allow firms to use a tool like Vable. The goal is to route all subscription content through the platform, so we get a complete statistical picture. But not all publishers are there yet.

Immediate benefits and future plans

Helen sees Vable usage growing over time. As part of the future-proofing, she is currently evaluating their existing current awareness processes, what they want to change, and how they can be improved. They have become more efficient because they have a single place where they can work on their alerts and newsletters.

The Vable platform has broken down internal silos and enabled better communications. The research team curates custom “news watches” and distributes awareness material, and the platform has brought the two areas of the service together.

She is exploring ways that the platform can improve resource utilization rates. For example, she can combine different publishers and sources, both free and subscription. They currently do a lot of curation, and while the goal is to automate as many alerts as possible, they still need flexibility. 

The Vable team becomes an extension to your team

With outside assistance from Vable as a trusted vendor/partner, Helen can clarify how to develop a new streamlined way of delivering current awareness.

She says that the Vable team has become an extension of her own, enabling the team to collaborate more effectively, both internally and externally:

• Internal collaboration: It is hard to collaborate when current awareness is coming in and going out from different team members’ email addresses. Holidays, leave, and other absences present particular challenges. The Vable platform resolves this issue.  

• External collaboration: Helen confirms that the Vable team is responsive, patient, and helpful. Although there is a substantial knowledge base with articles and videos, someone is always available to assist. As Helen says, “You have an addition to your tech team, which is great.”