‍Company Profile 

• This in-house legal department operates within an organization that is a Canadian multi-strategy alternative asset manager.
• The legal department has been a customer of Athennian since June 2020. 

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Challenge 

Prior to migrating to Athennian, the in-house legal team was working off of spreadsheets. This method of data management was unreliable and time-consuming. The team faced several frustrations due to cumbersome and labor-intensive processes, but the main challenge they faced was that their spreadsheets did not provide any tracking history. This became an issue when the in-house team could not provide any sort of data history, or find the information they needed without manually sorting through hundreds of data points. 

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Top 3 Goals 

1. Migrate to an entity management platform that is capable of managing multiple jurisdictions, in-house boards and committees, federal corporations, limited partnerships, and resolutions effectively.
2. View tracking history, directors, officers, shares, authorized resolution signatories, and database insights in seconds. 
3. Collaborate with other teams within their organization as well as external law firms using up-to-date and reliable data.

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Action 

“Athennian has improved our processes and we’re able to find the answers we need in 5 minutes or less. As an example - it used to take us hours to find authorized signatories. Now, I open up my resolutions in Athennian, scroll through my notes, and I can find the information I need quickly.” - Paralegal Manager, In-House Legal Department

Similar to other in-house legal departments, this team required very specific document templates to do their work effectively. Using Athennian’s feature-rich interface, in-house legal teams can let their data work for them through document assembly and automation. Athennian supported the legal team in coding custom corporate information sheets, which the leader of this project stated is one of their favorite features of the platform. 

“I’m managing eight external law firms right now, so I’m collaborating closely with the main paralegal contact at each law firm. I need to have accurate data information in order to do this, and spreadsheets made this impossible. In Athennian, we’re able to easily and accurately track directors, officers, shares, LPs, investments and more.” - Paralegal Manager, In-House Legal Department

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Result 

Due to Athennian’s ease of use, the team felt that upgrading to the platform allowed them to hit the ground running and start managing their data better than before. 

“Our experience with Athennian has been very positive. I’m getting feedback from my team about the platform, and they love that it’s so user-friendly. Although the project has not yet been finalized and training not yet provided, the team has already felt comfortable exploring it and using it on their own as it is so user friendly.” - Paralegal Manager, In-House Legal Department

With modern technological advancements in platforms such as Athennian, in-house legal departments do not have to pay for external law firms to manage their data. It’s more affordable and easier for legal teams to manage their processes with Athennian’s cloud-based interface. 

Why Athennian 

This in-house team reported that Athennian’s ease of use and levels of customization are a major selling feature for their team. 

“I love the virtual minute book section. I created our virtual minute books my own way - I prefer to have the tabs in a very specific order, and I’m able to give team members different levels of access so that the data stays consistent throughout the organization.” - Paralegal Manager, In-House Legal Department

The project leader reported that the team feels aligned with Athennian’s mission to give paralegals superpowers. Athennian is committed to listening to user feedback and integrating updates frequently based on this. 

“Athennian’s in-app live chat is great. With my past experiences, when I needed support with something, it would take forever just to get someone to respond. Then it would take forever to get a solution - there were times when I would be waiting weeks. With Athennian, my issues are resolved within a day. Athennian listens to our priorities. That’s fantastic compared to what I’ve dealt with in the past.”  - Paralegal Manager, In-House Legal Department

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