BW Legal enhances client gateway

BW Legal, a law firm specialising in debt recovery, has launched a platform that enables private sector parking operator clients to keep track of their cases. BW Legal Gateway gives clients that regularly instruct BW Legal access to performance and management information in real-time.

One innovative feature of the Gateway is an API integration with ZatPark. BW legal and ZatPark have worked together to create a bilateral integration platform which provides enhanced capabilities for mutual clients.

The API integration is designed to reduce administrative burden and costs. It allows ZatPark clients to allocate files to BW?legal via the gateway. The law firm automatically picks up the instruction and confirm the take on of new files.

The gateway also reports client updates back into ZatPark automatically, including payments in respect of parking charge notices (PCNs) and also status updates on the cases.

The gateway has a built-in full query resolution process via which specific information for a PCN, such as photographic evident packs, POPLA/IAS appeals and notices can be pulled from ZatPark into the gateway in under a minute. 

Clients can track their PCNs and monitor recovery rates and performance by car park, age of the tickets and by status. They are also able to forecast revenue based on their pre-legal or legal trends and better manage their disbursement spend based on the insight they would receive via the gateway.

The gateway gives clients full visibility of impending court deadlines and hearings. They can use it to send notifications, mandates and documents to our case handlers. Clients can also view various hearing outcomes and instruct the legal company on next steps using the gateway.

Rachael Withers, chief executive of BW Legal, said: “We have asked our clients for feedback on what would make handling cases easier for them, especially from a litigation context. The feedback was clear in that it is often hard for our clients to put the time aside during the working day, so being able to not only review and action cases outside of office hours but also have full transparency of cases at different stages (for example, defended claims) has hit the mark.”

The gateway was developed by BW Legal’s business change and optimisation department and a team of in-house developers.

James De Savary, managing director of Napier Parking, has been using the gateway. “The BW Gateway is a platform that gives me complete oversight of all of my outsourced cases,” he said. “In the past with other suppliers, I would often struggle to get any data or updates regarding the status of my cases, which BW Legal fixed straight away by sending me regular reports and MI (management intelligence).

“The stand out feature is the ability for me to proactively manage any case but in particular cases in a legal defended stage, by being able to have full transparency of future court hearing dates with the anticipated costs. I can now plan my litigation budget better. A real benefit is the ability to review and sign off on witness statements drafted by BW Legal using the gateway.”

Founded in 2009, BW?Legal now has 270 staff based at its Leeds head office. The company was shortlisted in the Modern Law Awards 2020 for Best Use of Technology. BW Legal was highly commended in the Alternative Business Structure of the Year category.