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This article first appeared in the August 2007 issue of PLC Magazine.

Martha McQuay of PLC talks to Catherine Flutsch, head of knowledge management at Bird & Bird, about the firm's new know-how system. 

The system allows all the firm's lawyers, across its 14 offices, to carry out one search to search the firm’s internal repositories and external subscription sources. The upgrade retains some elements of the firm's original Solutions Lab system, including its name and some design aspects, but also implements substantial changes, such as the incorporation of new search technology, conceptSearching.

Fast but phased 

Because the system was built to search repositories that were already in place (such as the firm’s existing document management system), the team were able to achieve the overhaul fairly quickly. "We pointed the search at all the repositories, both internal and external, added some bespoke functionality and then presented the information in the way that our lawyers told us they wanted to see it.” 

Catherine Flutsch
Head of Knowledge Management
Bird & Bird