Loughborough University
Clarity, Continuity and Collaboration
Loughborough University modernised its legal operations, replacing disconnected systems with a centralised, auditable case management solution tailored to higher education environments.
Transforming Legal Operations with Centralised Case Management and Enhanced Visibility
Loughborough University, the UK’s largest single-site green campus and internationally recognised for academic and sporting excellence, faced significant operational challenges within its in-house legal function. With dispersed teams, inconsistent processes, and a lack of visibility into performance, the legal team found it difficult to manage workloads and demonstrate their value. Iken provided a centralised legal case management system that enabled the University to overcome these challenges—resulting in improved productivity, collaboration, and confidence in service delivery.
Greater Visibility and Demonstrated Value
Iken’s reporting capabilities allowed the legal team to present clear, detailed insights into service delivery and workload. This helped senior leadership understand the impact and scope of the legal team’s contribution.
Resilient, Joined-up Working Practices
Structured workflows and document templates brought consistency to the team’s daily work. These improvements ensured seamless handovers and supported business continuity through staff changes and absences.
Centralised Case Management Across Departments
A unified system enabled collaborative case management across the legal and research teams, improving access to information and streamlining the handling of contracts, agreements, and IP matters.
Enhanced Customer Experience and Service Quality
With immediate access to case history and correspondence, team members could respond to queries faster and more accurately, improving the quality and consistency of support provided to University stakeholders.
Streamlined File and Document Management
Preview tools, bulk importing, and integrated templates helped the team become more paper-light and reduced time spent on routine administrative tasks.
Bringing Structure to Complex and Dispersed Working Models
Loughborough’s legal and contracts teams operated across a wide campus, with differing systems and working practices. Iken introduced a centralised system that created consistency and cohesion, enabling dispersed teams to work in unison. The ability to manage access permissions across different user groups made it possible to tailor the system to each team’s role while keeping core processes aligned.
"Iken is perfectly designed for complex team structures and working practices – making it well suited to a University environment.”
Sam McGinty
Head of Legal Services, Loughborough University
Strengthening Business Continuity and Day-to-Day Productivity
Frequent staff turnover and temporary cover had previously caused challenges in maintaining continuity. Iken’s structured workflows and searchable case history meant new or temporary staff could quickly get up to speed, and cases could be seamlessly handed over when needed. A clear and consistent system eliminated the need for manual tracking and helped avoid duplicated work. This structure also supported onboarding, reduced administrative burden, and improved day-to-day productivity across the legal team.
Improving Reporting and Demonstrating Strategic Value
Before Iken, the team lacked meaningful data to show performance or highlight the value of their work. Iken's reporting tools changed this—enabling real-time visibility into caseloads, types of legal work, and outcomes. Senior leaders could now access data-driven insights, while the legal team had the tools to reflect on their performance, allocate resources effectively, and plan for the future.
“Meaningful and detailed reporting improved the visibility and planning of work, enabling the Senior University Management team to easily see the value added by the team.”
Sam McGinty
Head of Legal Services, Loughborough University
In conclusion
Loughborough University’s legal team successfully transformed their service delivery with Iken’s legal case management software.
From better business continuity and customer experience to a more cohesive and collaborative way of working, the team now operates with greater confidence and clarity. With meaningful data, structured processes, and outstanding support, Iken has enabled the legal services team to deliver more value to the wider University.