The law firm of Stikeman Elliott is a leader in business-law practice. Chambers Global honored it as Canadian Law Firm of the Year for 2006. In an effort to save money by bringing its Web conferencing service in-house, the firm deployed Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007.

It found that this solution would not only provide it with on-premise conferencing, but also improve communications with advanced presence and voice over Internet Protocol technology. Firm members can now choose how to best contact colleagues based on dynamic availability and contact preference information. Stikeman Elliott anticipates long-term cost savings through reduced telephone and travel costs; and trainers look forward to improving the accessibility of the resources they provide, while freeing up time for other projects.

"The ability to share a document with the conferencing feature, and to co-edit that document with a colleague—it’s going to be great. It’s just not something we’ve had a way to do until now."

CUSTOMER PROFILE

The law firm of Stikeman Elliott is recognized nationally and internationally for the sophistication of its business-law practice. Chambers Global, the leading international legal directory, honored the firm as Canadian Law Firm of the Year for 2006. The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory recently ranked the firm’s national litigation group among the top-three business litigation practices in Canada. Some of the company’s core practice areas are corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, banking, and real estate. Founded in Quebec in 1952, Stikeman Elliott has offices in Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, Calgary, and Vancouver, in addition to maintaining a strong international presence.

BENEFITS

By using Office Communications Server 2007, Stikeman Elliott members can reach each other more quickly and efficiently. The firm expects to see widespread cost savings through reduced telephone usage, lower conferencing fees, and less interoffice travel. Stikeman Elliott anticipates that integrating the solution with mobile devices will help lawyers who are away from the office respond to clients faster. And the training department is looking forward to offering employees a wider range of 24/7 training sessions.