How Thorntons complete their client ID and verification process in minutes

• Thorntons are a top 5 commercial law firm in Scotland, turning over £25m+ annually
• Their client ID and verification process used to take up to 10 days to complete, including scheduling meetings, collecting documents and managing the process
• Using Amiqus, it’s taken as little as 7 minutes and typically less than 1 working day to complete this process; a proven improvement of 500% – 1000%
• 100% of surveyed fee earners reported Amiqus was quicker and easier than their previous ID and verification process
• 99.5% of surveyed fee earners reported they liked using Amiqus day to day
• 98% of surveyed clients reported they found the system easy to use
• Time spent on non billable work has reduced
• Amiqus has also helped Thorntons win new clients by supporting a centralised, digital and remote approach

Lots of paper and hard copy files

We spoke to Lisa Mannion, an Associate Solicitor in the residential conveyancing team at Thorntons about how Amiqus is helping her team to provide an excellent client experience while reducing workloads and reducing unbillable hours.

Lisa joined Thorntons in 2013 as a Trainee Solicitor having graduated from the University of Dundee. She assists both companies and individuals, and deals with all aspects of residential conveyancing including purchases, sales, re-mortgages, security work and title transfers.

“When I first started at Thorntons, there was a regular stream of clients in our reception bringing their personal documents to be copied, certified and filed for fee earners by our reception team. We would also receive principal ID by post from clients, which they would send to us at their expense, which we had to copy and send back by recorded mail.”

Lots of paper and hard copy files

“Now that our work is carried out via our case management system, the way we work has changed. We have eliminated the need for paper files. Our processes have become streamlined, and in terms of ID our dedicated team can instruct ID requests to clients by email in a matter of minutes using Amiqus.”

“There has also been a change in client expectations. The incoming generation of first-time buyers now expect to deal with their solicitor online. With Amiqus we can facilitate that from day one and in doing so, provide a quality service which is our ethos.”

Faster transactions

“I remember hearing my estate agency colleagues on the phone to clients, talking with excitement about Amiqus and how easy the system was to use. Much like our personal injury colleagues, our estate agency team cannot carry out any work for a client until such time that their ID checks are complete. When Amiqus made it possible for clients to provide ID digitally, and from the comfort of their own home, it massively sped up the process for clients and also improved our client conversion times and rates.”

Reducing workloads and non billable hours

“Before the pandemic, when our offices were open for “business as usual”, our reception team were particularly busy. In addition to arranging meetings, catering and all of their other duties, a client could drop in at any time to have their documents copied, certified and sent by internal mail to the relevant fee earner. Using Amiqus has made this a thing of the past.”

Gaining clients during lockdown

“The fact that we were already using Amiqus when the pandemic hit meant that with the help of the Amiqus team we were able to scale up and accelerate the roll out of the system across the business quickly. We even gained clients during this difficult period from firms that had to close their offices and had no means to carry out essential tasks – such as obtaining ID from clients.”

“Using Amiqus definitely assisted us in facilitating home working, but the decision to use Amiqus was already part of Thorntons’ strategy to meet clients’ changing expectations. Clients don’t want to pay for parking and make unnecessary trips to the town centre anymore and, as lawyers, we want to spend our time helping people when we’re prepared and at our best rather than filing paperwork, so it works both ways.”

Real data from Thorntons showing time taken for three randomly selected client ID and verification checks to be completed over a 90 day period: