This Defense Firm Cut Un-billable Work and Got Evenings Back

How shareholder Blake Cole used Filevine to tame 125 active cases and find peace of mind.

Year Founded: 1989

Location: Florida

Practice Areas: Personal Injury, Civil Litigation, Medical Malpractice, Premises Liability, Products Liability, Wrongful Death

Solutions: Vinesign, Filevine, Docs+, Periscope, Depositions by Filevine, LOIS, Filevine Document Assembly (FVDA)

Blake Cole is a shareholder with Saalfield Shad. He practices with an emphasis in hospitality and retail industry defense. With 20 attorneys and 34 staff members, Saalfield Shad has built a reputation as a leading defense firm in the region.

saalfieldlaw.com

The Challenge

Blake Cole had a problem. As a shareholder with Saalfield Shad Law Firm, he oversaw a team of 15 high-powered professionals working on around 125 cases at any given time.

As someone personally driven by excellence, he devoted countless hours each week checking in with his team and hunting down the latest case updates.

"I was losing my mind,” Cole says.

Team meetings became lengthy, inefficient attempts to track down status updates. Outlook served as a patchwork task system. Even simple questions—like when a client was last updated—required multiple emails or hallway conversations.

“Toward the end, I was scrambling,” he admits. “I had to work out of Outlook and shout down the hall to get answers. It was really challenging.”

The stress affected Cole’s personal life too. He found himself worrying over deadlines when he was at his kids’ soccer practice or watching college football.

“I told my partners that we have to figure out our file management, or I don’t know if I can keep this up.”

The Solution: Filevine’s Unified Platform

Cole and his team conducted extensive research and demoed more than a dozen case management options. In the end, they chose Filevine for one critical reason: customization.

“Other tools were rigid. Filevine let us build it exactly the way we needed,” he says. “We customized deadline chains, task flows, and templates for our specific practice.”

Since January 2023, the firm has adopted nearly the full suite of Filevine products:

  • Filevine Core
  • Docs+
  • Periscope
  • Vinesign
  • Deposition tools (Depots by Filevine & Copilot)
  • LOIS

“It’s everything we need,” Cole says. “We can run our files from anywhere, with all the information in one place.”


Cut 3-5 hours a week of unbillable administrative work.


That equals around 200 hours saved annually for each partner.


Clients now receive deposition reports and video clips immediately, instead of waiting weeks.

Top 4 Results of Filevine

1. Unbillable Hours Saved Every Week

By centralizing case data and using AI to summarize recent activity, Cole estimates that Filevine saves him 3-5 hours per week. That amounts to 152-260 hours each year. This is time previously spent in meetings and administrative catch-up, which is typically unbillable.

“It’s not just meetings,” he adds. “It’s not having to yell out to my assistant or chase answers. It’s hours every week.”

2. Faster Client Updates

Using Depositions by Filevine, Cole now delivers client summaries days or even weeks faster. Previously, waiting for other companies to deliver synced transcripts and videos could take up to two weeks.

“Now, I can send a report within hours,” he explains. “I even embed video clips directly into the client letter so they can see what I’m describing.”

3. Sharper Litigation Performance

With CoPilot and custom topics in depositions, Cole can locate testimony instantly, even mid-deposition or in front of a judge.

“I’ve been in depositions where something unexpected came up, and I could search every mention of a key fact on the spot,” he says. “It helps me think on my feet and perform at a higher level.”

4. AI-Powered Peace of Mind

Through LOIS, Cole chats directly with his case to instantly retrieve critical insights:

“I ask it the same questions I’d ask an assistant sitting next to me: when was the last client update, what’s coming up next, summarize the last 30 days. It saves me time and gives me confidence.”

The impact goes beyond efficiency. “The thing I fear most is a deadline getting missed,” Cole says. “Filevine gives me peace of mind because I can see everything. I can stay on top of it all.”

Excellence Without Burnout

For Cole, these changes have ultimately allowed him to reclaim focus and family life.

“I have four kids,” he says. “Filevine helps me have peace of mind. I can be at a baseball game and know everything’s under control. It helps me stay focused on work when I’m at work and home when I’m at home.”

That equilibrium also makes a difference for new team members.

“When I tell recruits that they can chat with their cases and get answers instantly, their eyes light up,” he says. “It’s something people want to be part of.”

A Culture of Continuous Improvement

Cole’s drive for excellence is rooted in both personal and professional philosophy:

“I’ve always cared about doing my best. I want to be proud of my work product. That’s what drives me.”

It’s the same motivation that led him to push for change at Saalfield Shad—and why he continues to refine how the firm uses Filevine.

“We’re going to keep training, keep tweaking, and make our processes even leaner and quicker. It’s invaluable. It’s the way the world is moving.”

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