Case Study: Merck improves legal cost management and invoice timeliness with Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions

How one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world addresses legal cost management

One of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, Merck, faced significant challenges after a merger. Its legal operations needed to consolidate matter management data from both merging entities, reduce reliance on its internal IT department, consolidate its panel of outside law firms, and implement a new system without disrupting ongoing legal matters. Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions was engaged to address these needs with its TyMetrix 360° enterprise legal management solution.

The solution from Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions introduced a new workflow to direct legal work to preferred firms and utilized billing metrics to improve processes. This implementation led to a dramatic increase in efficiency, with 85% of outside counsel invoices now being submitted within 10 days of the month's end. The system provided the legal department with deep metrics and analytics, enabling improved efficiency and significant cost savings for the corporation.