A global law firm had already invested heavily in transforming its New Business Intake (NBI) process.
The programme had been running for over a year. A new platform had been selected, and significant build work had been completed. The intention was to standardise processes, improve data quality, and create a more robust operational foundation.
And then it was paused.
Despite the investment, the programme was not delivering what the firm needed. Progress had slowed, confidence had dropped, and key stakeholders were no longer aligned on what success looked like.
Pace was brought in to reset the programme, rebuild confidence and connect the work back to measurable commercial value.
The result was a 60% reduction in effort, £265k per annum in banked KYC automation savings, 17,525 hours made available for higher-value work and £556k in annual staff savings. The projected return was the strongest measure of impact: £2.1m ROI in year one, rising to £11.3m by year three.
The problem: a fragmented intake process carrying too much risk
For this firm, NBI had become difficult to manage.
Data sat in different places. Compliance checks involved too much manual effort. Standards varied across teams and jurisdictions. People had found ways to keep the process moving, but those workarounds were adding cost, complexity and risk.
As the firm continued to grow, those limitations became more visible.
Only 3.6% of active clients were reviewed annually, creating regulatory exposure. Manual processes created work equivalent to 23 FTEs. Delays in onboarding slowed revenue recognition, increased non-billable effort and created avoidable friction for clients.
The impact extended beyond operations. Data quality issues were beginning to affect billing, contributing to delays and write-offs. Reporting lacked the reliability needed to support decision-making. Exposure to regulatory, commercial and reputational risk was increasing.
The firm was trying to address these issues through its NBI transformation programme. But the programme itself had become part of the challenge.
What went wrong: Lack of alignment, clarity and adoption
An independent review highlighted several underlying issues. The business case existed, but the benefits were not clearly defined or consistently understood. There was no shared view of what success looked like, or how it would be measured.
Governance structures were in place, but they were not enabling effective decision-making or accountability. Risks and issues were not being actively managed.
Requirements gathering lacked structure and collaboration, leaving stakeholders with limited confidence in the proposed solution. Most significantly, the programme focused heavily on delivering the system, rather than on how it would be adopted and embedded across the firm.
The programme was paused while commercial disputes were resolved and a full assessment was carried out. At that point, significant time and cost had been invested, with limited operational improvement to show for it.
The Pace approach: Connecting process, data and systems end-to-end
Pace treated the challenge as an operating model issue rather than a narrow technology fix.
That mattered because the firm did not need another attempt at the same problem. It needed a clearer view of how intake worked end to end, where the process was breaking down, and what needed to change across data, people, process and systems.
The work included:
- Stronger data foundations
- More consistent compliance checks
- A smoother onboarding experience
- A more integrated lifecycle model
Pace helped establish a data governance framework and data architecture strategy, giving the firm a more reliable basis for client and matter data.
KYC, client due diligence, matter due diligence, AML and risk assessment activity was standardised and automated where appropriate.
A client-facing onboarding portal made it easier to collect information, reduce follow-ups and create a more consistent experience from the start of the relationship.
The firm implemented a Client Lifecycle Management solution to reduce silos, improve system integration and create a more dependable single source of truth.
The results: A stronger foundation for performance and clear ROI
The programme reduced New Business Intake effort by 60% and released 17,525 hours for higher-value work. It also reduced non-billable fee-earner activity, improved the speed from onboarding to revenue generation, strengthened reporting and reduced regulatory exposure.
The projected ROI reached £2.1m in year one and £11.3m by year three.
The value came from making the process work properly as part of the wider client and matter lifecycle. New Business Intake became faster, but more importantly, it became a stronger platform for growth.
