Building the sophisticated platform around the ultra-reliable Umbraco CMS, we created a split architecture where flexible content templates were developed alongside a database-like directory of firms and lawyers. This approach allowed the client to link any piece of content to a firm or specific contributing lawyer, enabling onward journeys from source content articles through to specific legal experts.

Search was a core feature of the site, and using Umbraco’s Examine search capability, we were able to build the ‘Find a Lawyer’ function to include the complex business rules set out by the client.

Using Umbraco Membership, we built a secure Extranet area for members to login and manage all aspects of their account. A fully customised development of this area allowed us to produce a vastly improved user experience than that previously possible on the old website.

The core system we had to work against was the iMIS Membership Management system used as the client’s CRM.  This was to remain the master source for all lawyer, firm and contact information, and Factory73 had to develop a strategy for synchronising this data with Umbraco.

To retain the master source for all lawyer, firm and contact information, the core iMIS Membership Management system was used as the client’s CRM. To integrate this system, Factory73 had to develop a strategy for synchronising the data with Umbraco.

Due to the poor performance of iMIS it was not feasible to live-query this data, so we created several automated tasks to pull profile data from various sources and store in Umbraco, making everything quick to access, edit and search.