William Fry is a client-focused firm, with their service combining technical excellence with a practical, constructive approach to business issues. .With strong client relationships and technical excellence central to the business, it is critical that the firm is able to manage knowledge efficiently and effectively in order to deliver expertise to clients.
The firm’s existing knowledge management system was dated and offered a poor user experience. Searching and navigation was complex for users and administration was cumbersome. As the firm’s Director of Knowledge, Gillian Lynch, noted: “We were looking for an intuitive, user friendly and easy to manage solution for sharing and curating our know-how. With our existing system, the interface was dated and not attractive for users – and the administration was also complicated and time consuming.” So, the firm began searching for a new KM solution that would integrate with their iManage DMS and enable knowledge sharing and straightforward administration.
Searching for suitable solutions, the firm liaised with knowledge consultants and other industry professionals and identified Blueprint as the best fit for their needs. The team connected with another Blueprint user team, who were pleased to highlight the system’s many benefits, including its signature user-led development cycle, as well as Tiger Eye’s close ongoing relationship with clients as part of The Blueprint User Community. Ultimately, it was Blueprint’s intuitive user interface for search, submission and document administration, as well as the system’s seamless integration with the iManage DMS that led William Fry to select and adopt Blueprint for Knowledge Management.
The project was co-managed by Gillian Lynch and Claire MacManus, Head of Library, with a dedicated IT resource providing project support.
The firm conducted a taxonomy review and know-how audit to prepare content for migration. Then, Tiger Eye merged all three existing knowledge repositories into one trusted knowledge source. The solution was tested by a pilot user group who reviewed the firm’s bespoke interface, designed using Blueprint’s customisable set-up. With project leads confident that Blueprint was effectively tailored to meet their needs, the firm’s knowledge and internal communications teams partnered to promote Blueprint to the wider organisation. Training was delivered to over 400 users to establish firmwide adoption.
William Fry now has seamless access to know-how documents, with Blueprint’s simple and advanced searching functionality meeting the varying needs of staff. The ability to browse means the firm’s lawyers can easily find useful expertise without searching for specific documents. As Gillian Lynch noted: “We have received lots of positive feedback from users on the interface.
In particular, embedding access to Blueprint from within iManage and Outlook has enabled users to access knowledge resources much more efficiently, and has led to higher submissions as well as greater use of the firm’s know-how.” The firm’s Blueprint system also enables Gatekeepers to easily review, approve or reject submissions, and all activity within the system is tracked in Blueprint’s in-depth reports. As Gillian added: “One of the great things about Blueprint is our ability to measure usage. Such metrics endorse the value of proper curation and management of know-how within our firm.”
Claire MacManus Head of Library at William Fry, added: “Working with Tiger Eye was a pleasure. The team were responsive, open to suggestions and very willing to work with us to find solutions to our particular needs.”
William Fry is a leading full-service Irish law firm with over 330 legal and tax professionals and 460 staff. The firm’s client-focused service combines technical excellence with commercial awareness and a practical, constructive approach to business issues. The firm advises leading domestic and international corporations, financial institutions and government organisations. It regularly acts on complex, multi-jurisdictional transactions and commercial disputes. Strong client relationships and high quality advice are the hallmarks of the business.
© 2025 Tiger Eye Consulting. All Rights Reserved.
