The College of Law Practice Management (COLPM) has announced the winners of the 2010 InnovAction Awards. The InnovAction Awards is a worldwide search for lawyers, law firms, and other deliverers of legal services who are currently engaged in some extraordinarily innovative efforts. The goal is to demonstrate to the legal community what can be created when passionate professionals, with big ideas and strong convictions, are determined to make a difference. 

Pro Bono Net, a national nonprofit organization working to increase access to justice, is the 2010 recipient of the coveted InnovAction Award from the College of Law Practice Management, while New York-based legal services provider Axiom received the InnovAction Honorable Mention Award.

2010 InnovAction Award-Winning Entry

Pro Bono Net was selected for its “LawHelp Interactive” initiative, which provides a national infrastructure for online legal document assembly and helps tens of thousands of low-income people each year to complete needed legal forms. LawHelp Interactive was launched in 2005 with support from the Legal Services Corporation, and was used last year to complete nearly 150,000 civil court forms covering such critical areas as child support, protection orders for victims of domestic violence, consumer debt and eviction. LawHelp Interactive increases efficiency for legal aid programs, allowing more people to be helped in less time. It also removes barriers to pro bono participation by making it easier for attorneys to work in areas of law where they may lack experience, and by allowing them to spend less time on tedious paperwork and more time interacting with clients.

2010 InnovAction Honorable Mention

Axiom was selected for its “Function Outsourcing” initiative. Axiom’s ability to deliver complex, highly coordinated function outsourcing arrangements result in significant cost savings and notable efficiency benefits for clients. For example, an existing Axiom client found itself under significant cost pressure in 2008. After thoroughly analyzing the client’s workflow, Axiom was able to scope out a sustainable solution on a fixed-fee basis in which half of the client’s technology contracts department was outsourced to Axiom. Unlike many traditional outside counsel providers, the Axiom team delivered transparency to the client, was able to contract or expand in size depending on demand flow, and delivered metrics and efficiency strategies that the client implemented as “best practices” throughout its entire operation.

Each year (since 2005), the COLPM presents the coveted InnovAction Awards to those unsung heroes and rising stars within the legal profession who dare to think differently and succeed by doing so.  The COLPM is an organization that was "founded to recognize distinguished law practice management professionals, to set standards of achievement for others in the profession, and to fund and assist projects that enhance the highest quality of law practice management."

The awards will be presented on Saturday, October 23, at a special session during the 2010 Futures Conference & Symposium, held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the College of Law Practice Management in Washington, DC.

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