Here is a playbook to share as my first blog post. At our firm, we've been very intentional about how we handle vendor issues both internally and with Vendor Support and its leadership. A few things we're doing have helped us keep everyone aligned, from the C‑suite to front-line support teams and ultimately our attorneys and staff:
1. Executive Awareness and Ownership
Our C‑suite leaders are briefed early whenever there is a material impact to a mission‑critical system like time entry. For recurring issues (like month‑end), we maintain:
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A standing "at‑risk systems" item in our leadership check‑ins.
This ensures leadership is not surprised and can speak confidently to partners and practice leaders if questions arise.
2. Defined Roles Across Internal Teams
We've found that clear role definition helps avoid confusion when things go sideways:
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IT Operations / Support‑Facing Teams – monitor, log, and document the technical impact and timeline.
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Applications – serve as the bridge between IT and Finance, translating technical updates into business language.
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Communications / Support Center Leaders – help shape the outward messaging to attorneys and staff so it's clear, calm, and consistent.
Everyone knows who "owns" the vendor conversation, who "owns" the internal messaging, and who "owns" tracking remediation and follow‑up.
3. Communication Cadence During an Incident
When there is an active issue (especially near month‑end), we try to avoid both silence and noise. Our basic cadence looks like:
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Initial Notice: As soon as we have confirmed impact, we send a short, plain‑language alert to attorneys and staff that covers:
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What's happening
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Who is affected
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What they might experience (e.g., slowness, intermittent errors)
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What we're doing (including that Aderant is engaged)
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When they can expect the next update
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Regular Updates: Even if there's "no change," we provide time‑boxed updates (for example, every 30–60 minutes during peak impact), such as:
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"We're still working with Aderant; root cause is under investigation; here's any new detail we can share."
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Resolution Notice: When resolved, we send a clear "all clear" message and, if available, a short status:
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Acknowledging the disruption
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Confirming resolution
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Setting expectations that we'll share more detail once we receive a formal RCA from the vendor
4. Transparency Without Over‑Sharing Technical Detail (Extremely Important)
We try to strike a balance between being transparent and not overwhelming attorneys with technical jargon. Internally, we keep detailed technical notes, but externally we focus on:
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Plain‑language descriptions ("performance degradation," "intermittent access issues")
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Clear guidance ("you may need to log out/in," "if you cannot enter time, please track offline and enter once stable")
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Avoiding speculation until we have confirmed information from the vendor
5. Closing the Loop After the Fact
Post‑incident, we take two parallel paths:
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Vendor‑Focused:
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Review Aderant's RCA and action plan
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Map their commitments to our internal risk view and SLAs
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Track whether promised mitigations are delivered and effective at the next month‑end
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Internally‑Focused:
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Brief leadership on root cause and next steps
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Adjust any playbooks, alert thresholds, or communication templates based on what we learned
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In some cases, share a brief "here's what happened and what's changing" summary with practice leaders to reinforce trust
6. Empowering Front‑Facing Teams
Our help desk and practice support teams are given:
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Short, consistent talking points so they can confidently answer "What's going on?"
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A simple status dashboard or internal page to see the latest on major incidents
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Clear guidance on when to escalate attorney concerns back up to IT leadership or the vendor team
This helps avoid mixed messages and keeps the tone empathetic and aligned with what leadership is saying.
Still a work in progress, but this combination of top‑down awareness, defined roles, disciplined communication cadence, and post‑incident follow‑through has helped us maintain trust with our attorneys and staff, even when the technology isn't cooperating.