How a shift to the cloud has accelerated law firm Dechert’s digital experience

Founded in 1875, global law firm Dechert LLP has always taken a customer-first approach to its practice, continually evolving its business practices and technology to help its clients navigate complex legal landscapes. From expanding internationally to launching a digital portal for users to securely access documents, Dechert’s spirit of innovation has guided much of its success.

Today, the law firm’s website serves as the center of much of their client engagement. The company’s 20,000-page site, supporting 26 global locations, allows visitors to access a wealth of knowledge on topics such as the power of blockchain, or the need to digitize signatures in real estate deals, and even includes a micro-site filled with COVID resources, all accessible to current and future clients alike.

Image source: dechert.com

An easy decision

With a small team to manage the website and its over 100 contributors, Dechert needed a content management system (CMS) that didn’t require manual updates while being intuitive and agile enough for the marketing team to create content related to fast-evolving market trends. Previous updates to the firm’s CMS meant working with developers for months to redesign pages, develop templates, and create customizations such as a redirection system to preserve legacy web pages.

Anticipating a labor-intensive update to the website, Dechert chose to invest in new technology and moved its site on Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service, Adobe’s fully cloud-native solution for digital experience management.

By moving to Experience Manager as a Cloud Service, Dechert no longer has to worry about the CMS being outdated. Updates are automatically delivered, and new out-of-the-box features are instantly available. Instead of requiring technical assistance to build out landing pages or microsites, content creators can quickly create customized pages tailored to specific countries and market challenges.

Early results

One surprising result of moving Dechert’s site onto the cloud was a significant increase in site speed. The already-fast Dechert site saw an A+ rating from Bitcatcha after moving its site onto the cloud. Additionally, efficiency has increased 30-40% for content creators updating the site.

According to Alice Cervantes, senior digital marketing manager: “Our clients operate in increasingly challenging times. They face geopolitical uncertainty, complex modern markets and an ever-changing regulatory environment. Moving our site to Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service has given us the ability to experiment and explore more innovative ways to deliver the ideal digital experience and make a difference for our clients.”

With the CMS running smoothly, Dechert is already working on its next innovation - creating its own application that can collect information stored in the online client portal and consolidated into physical hard copies. An innovation that is sure to be a game changer in the firm’s client experience.