Look up any UTBMS legal billing code in our searchable UTBMS Code Database, with original guidance on when to use each code, what reviewers watch for, and what invoice review checks.
The Challenge
ELM implementations fail more often than they succeed.
Scope creep, poor data migration, inadequate training, and technology that does not fit the process are the usual culprits. Most implementations are run by people who have read the manual, not people who have run the program.
The consequences are real: expensive shelfware, user resistance, failed go-lives, and a legal department that has spent 18 months and significant budget only to end up with a system nobody trusts. The problem is almost never the technology. It is the implementation team behind it.
Where most implementations break down
Scope defined by the vendor, not the business
Data migration treated as an afterthought
Change management bolted on, not built in
Integrations (HR, finance, e-signature) underestimated
Implementation team only knows one platform, and recommends it regardless of fit
Platform Experience
We work where you work.
Our practitioners hold implementation and migration experience across the platforms that run enterprise legal departments, not just the one we are certified to sell.
If you are migrating from a legacy or homegrown system, consolidating platforms, or implementing for the first time, our team has done it before, on the system you are moving from and the one you are moving to. We recommend what fits your processes. Not what we are incentivised to sell.
Our Approach
Full-cycle ELM implementation.
ELM · CLM · Document Management · Entity Management · Legal Holds · Information Governance
From system selection to post-live optimization.
01
System Selection & RFP
Vendor-agnostic evaluation across Onit, Mitratech, Wolters Kluwer, Thomson Reuters, and others. We recommend what fits your processes and your people.
02
Implementation & Configuration
End-to-end configuration aligned to your legal workflows. Deepest certification on Onit, with proven delivery across the major ELM platforms.
03
Data Migration
Including large-scale single-wave migrations from legacy and homegrown systems. We have delivered migrations that others would have staged across 12 months.
04
Systems Integration
HR, finance, e-signature, and middleware integrations built correctly from the start, not retrofitted after go-live.
05
BI & Dashboards
A business intelligence and analytics layer built on top of your ELM data, so your investment surfaces insight, not just reports.
06
Change Management & Training
Dedicated change management and adoption programs across all implementations. Technology that people actually use requires a change program, not a training day.
07
Go-Live & Hypercare
We stay through go-live and the hypercare period. Issues get resolved immediately, not logged in a queue for the next sprint.
08
Post-Implementation Optimization
A successful implementation is a starting point, not a finish line. We continue to tune the system as your legal function evolves.
Spotlight on ELM Leaders
Named practitioners. Proven delivery.
Sam Lu
Senior Advisor, Legal Technology
Onit Level 4 certified. Sam has led ELM implementations for global enterprise legal departments across North America, with delivery experience spanning Onit, Mitratech, and large-scale legacy migrations. His approach: build for adoption from day one.
Onit Level 4 • ELM • eBilling • Mitratech
Jonathan Gilman
Senior ELM / CLM / LSR Expert
Onit Level 4 certified. Jonathan specializes in ELM, CLM, and Legal Spend Reporting with deep experience across Onit and multiple competing ELM platforms, and a particular depth in complex data migrations and multi-system integrations.
Onit Level 4 • CLM • LSR • Data Migration
Roger Jarman
EMEA Leader
Onit Level 4 certified. Roger leads Swiftwater's EMEA practice with 35+ years of ELM and IP management experience. Widely regarded as one of the most sought-after ELM and IP consultants in Europe, with deep knowledge across the EMEA vendor landscape.
Onit Level 4 • IP Management • EMEA • Wolters Kluwer
Danish Butt
Managing Director
20+ years of strategic technology planning and standing up legal operations and technology functions for enterprise legal departments. Delivery experience spans ELM, CLM, IP, and board management implementations, with particular depth in international e-billing and building managed services teams that keep the system running after go-live.
Strategy • Legal Operations • E-Billing • Managed Services
Platform Highlight
Onit ELM: What our team has delivered.
Our team has delivered some of the most complex Onit engagements on record, including one of the largest eBilling implementations by spend and data migration volume in the industry.
A separate engagement delivered LSR, ELM, CLM, and eBilling across 90,000 employees in 8 languages, a multi-platform, multi-jurisdiction implementation of a scale most firms have not attempted.
All delivered in active partnership with Onit as a certified referral and implementation partner.
Full capability overview (coming soon)Also relevant to this practice
Reduce Legal Spend
→Outside counsel optimization and eBilling, often implemented on the same Onit platform.
Operate Your Legal Function
→Managed services for legal departments that need an ongoing operational partner post-implementation.
Manage Contracts at Scale
→CLM implementation, frequently delivered alongside ELM on an integrated platform.
Also relevant to this practice
Where ELM connects to the rest of the stack
An ELM rarely stands alone. It shares data with contracts, it is where outside counsel spend becomes visible, and it sits inside a broader technology practice that decides which system owns which record.
The full legal technology practice: strategy, selection, and implementation across the stack.
10% of your outside counsel spend is recoverable. The eBilling data your ELM captures is where that starts.
CLM implementations designed around adoption, for departments of every size.
Common questions