Background

Plunkett Cooney is one of the Midwest’s leading law firms, with approximately 130 attorneys practicing across ten offices in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

For a firm of Plunkett Cooney’s scale and geographic reach, technology is not a back-office concern; it is the infrastructure on which every attorney’s work depends, and the oversight of that infrastructure sits with Derek Redman, the firm’s Chief Financial Officer.

Redman holds a clear philosophy about what the firm’s technology exists to do: every administrative function at the firm, IT chief among them, exists so that attorneys can practice law and clients may be served seamlessly, without friction, interruption, or concern for the safety of their data.

The Challenge

As the firm grew in headcount, geographic footprint, and complexity, its technology needs began to outpace the arrangement that had been supporting them. Over time, firm leadership determined that this fully outsourced model no longer fit where the firm was heading. A modern, multi-office practice with a demanding risk profile called for more direct control, sharper strategic guidance, and a partner who could translate technology decisions into terms the board and shareholders could act on.

Above all, leadership wanted best-in-class service for the firm’s attorneys so they could deliver for clients without interruption. Rather than advancing those priorities, technology increasingly occupied Redman’s time with questions the existing operating model was not built to answer. A better approach was required.

The Search for a Solution

In a comprehensive review of the market, the firm met with several of the largest managed IT services providers across the market.
Signal Consulting stood as a firm that brought a clear strategy and a straightforward approach, laying out priorities in plain terms, showing where a smarter path forward existed, and presenting options without pressure, bias or embellishment.

Matt Bares, in the firm’s experience, was one of the very few people in legal technology who could speak to a CFO, a CEO, a board of directors, and a body of shareholders and be clearly understood by all of them. The decision ultimately came down to trust, and the firm chose to place its confidence in Signal’s candor and expertise rather than in another packaged promise.

The Implementation

Signal’s engagement began with strategy, not installation. An independent assessment benchmarked the firm’s technology environment against its peers and produced a category-by-category view of where the firm stood, translating a complex landscape into terms the board and shareholders could act on and setting a clear, prioritized roadmap toward a mature operation.

From there, Signal architected and led the transition to the new model, keeping it on course and stepping in wherever obstacles arose. Rather than rebuild another fully outsourced arrangement, Signal designed a deliberate hybrid: the firm brought core capability in-house, including a new IT director, a first- and second-tier help desk, and direct control of invoicing and contracts, while Signal retained higher-tier engineering and security, anchored by a managed detection and response partnership with Arctic Wolf.

Today, Signal Consulting serves as the firm’s fractional CIO, meeting with firm leadership weekly, sitting on the technology committee, and reporting to the board each month. The transition proceeded as Bares had outlined it at the start and produced the results he had projected.

The Results

The improvement has been substantial and measurable. Stability and system performance have risen sharply, support-ticket volume has fallen, and user satisfaction across the firm has improved by a wide margin.
The most telling evidence came at a recent board meeting, where shareholder attorneys volunteered compliments on the firm’s technology and IT service, a notable event in a profession where technology typically draws attention only when something has gone wrong.

With a sound foundation in place, the firm has been able to turn to work that was previously out of reach. It deployed a new AI tool earlier this year with Signal Consulting’s guidance, is modernizing its calendar and docketing processes, and is improving billing and time entry.

Just as importantly, Signal Consulting now serves as the firm’s vantage point on the broader industry, providing the strategic perspective on where the market and peer firms are heading. The firm’s technology has shifted from a back-office function into a platform for efficiency and growth, and Signal remains its strategic partner in continuing that progression.
In the words of Derek Redman, Chief Financial Officer: