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Case Study: Debt Litigation System — Modernising Legal Workflows

The Challenge

A medium-sized law firm was managing debt recovery cases using a collection of Excel spreadsheets. This approach created major risks and inefficiencies:

  • Manual processes introduced data errors and security risks.
  • Multi-user access limitations slowed work and led to data conflicts.
  • Reports were time-consuming to produce and prone to mistakes.
  • Legal document preparation took hours of staff time each day.
  • Commercial off-the-shelf systems were expensive — and still didn’t fully meet the firm’s compliance, ownership, and workflow needs.

A bespoke solution was required — but budget was a key factor.

Our Solution

Dark Arts worked closely with the firm to design and build a custom cloud-based debt litigation system — still in active use and under our support 12 years later. We delivered:

  • A secure, cloud-hosted MVC5 application with a SQL Server backend and reporting.
  • Full migration of legacy data — including cleaning and converting dirty Excel files to SQL Server.
  • Workflow management — guiding users through each legal step from instruction to debt recovery.
  • Document automation — generating complex legal documents in seconds (previously taking hours).
  • Reporting — giving partners, staff and clients live visibility into case status.
  • Ownership, control and privacy — no ongoing licensing risks or cloud vendor lock-in.
  • Bespoke solution delivered at around half the cost of the cheapest off-the-shelf product — with far better fit for the client’s needs.
  • Ongoing hosting, maintenance, and enhancements — keeping the system modern and compliant.

The firm also gained self-service features — allowing clients to securely view matter status — improving transparency and client service.

The Impact

  • Time savings: Up to 3 hours saved per staff member, per day.
  • Document automation: Large legal documents generated in under a second.
  • Improved accuracy: Reduced errors and risks vs. manual Excel workflows.
  • Cost savings: Bespoke system delivered at half the cost of packaged software — with full ownership and control.
  • Business value: A system still in active use and supported 12 years later — delivering ongoing return on investment.

By moving from fragile spreadsheets to a purpose-built cloud system, the firm dramatically improved efficiency, accuracy, service, and compliance — while saving money and avoiding lock-in to expensive software.

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