Unleashing Productivity at R&V with Microsoft

Success can be overwhelming, especially when it comes faster than your systems can keep up. That was exactly the challenge facing Restrepo & Villa, a fast‑growing insurance law firm based in Medellín, Colombia. In just a few short years, they had expanded to more than 20 lawyers managing nearly 1,000 cases for insurance companies across the country.

But growth came at a cost...

After 2020, most legal notifications in Colombia shifted to email, the same channel already used for client communications, internal coordination, and administrative work. What began as a convenience quickly turned into a liability. Critical notifications were buried in overflowing inboxes. Deadlines were harder to track. Partners were involved in almost everything. The firm was scaling, but their operations weren’t.

When Restrepo & Villa approached Crandon Partners, they knew they needed to become more efficient, but they didn’t yet know how, or even where the real issues lay.

Solving problems like this is exactly what we do...

Starting with Structure, Not Software

Although Restrepo & Villa was already using Microsoft 365, their tools were underutilized and loosely connected. Before recommending technology shift, we did what we always do first: take a holistic view of their entire business.

That process uncovered something critical, not a software problem, but a structural one.

Their organizational model required partners to be involved in nearly every process, creating bottlenecks and limiting scalability. Together, we redesigned their processes and organizational structure, removing friction points and setting the foundation for long‑term growth. Once this was done, we were ready to design a tool around their new way of working.

A Work Management System Built on Microsoft 365

Once the foundation was in place, we designed and implemented a centralized work management system using the firm’s existing Microsoft 365 environment, meaning zero additional capital investment in software.

The solution was built on:

• Microsoft SharePoint as the system of record
• Microsoft Teams for collaboration and real‑time notifications
• Microsoft Planner for task and workload management
• Microsoft Outlook for calendars and scheduling

Behind the scenes, we leveraged the Microsoft Power Platform, particularly Power Automate and Azure AI, to remove manual, repetitive work from lawyers’ plates.

Automations now:

• Create and assign new projects automatically
• Send reminders for upcoming deadlines and court appearances
• Keep project status updated based on real user actions
• Route legal notifications to the correct individual with AI‑assisted classification

This digital backbone fundamentally changed how the firm operates.

Less Email. More Clarity. Zero Missed Deadlines

One of the biggest breakthroughs came from rethinking email itself.

Legal notifications were separated from general communications, enabling AI to intelligently review, classify, and route them. At the same time, much of the firm’s internal communication and work notifications was moved to Microsoft Teams, dramatically reducing inbox clutter.

With a centralized system in place:

• No more missed hearings or arbitrations
• Clear ownership and accountability on every case
• Full visibility into workloads across the firm
• Immediate insight into who was over‑ or under‑assigned

What once felt chaotic became structured, predictable, and transparent.

Technology That Works for Lawyers 

At Crandon Partners, we understand a hard truth: powerful software can be overwhelming. Microsoft 365 particularly, is designed to adapt to almost any organization on the planet and that power and flexibility can feel daunting. That’s why training was a critical part of the engagement.

Rather than attempting to teach everything, we focused on:

• Exactly which tools mattered for Restrepo & Villa
• How they fit into each lawyer’s day‑to‑day work
• What features were optional and not required

The results?

A Long‑Term Partnership, Not a One‑Off Project

Today, Restrepo & Villa has fully outsourced their technology operations to Crandon Partners. Their team knows they are supported, their systems continue to evolve, and their firm has the freedom to imagine what’s next.

We’re currently building a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution using Power Automate and Azure AI to monitor court websites and keep the firm automatically updated, capabilities that would have seemed unrealistic for a boutique law firm in Latin America just a year ago.

But with Crandon Partners, nothing is out of reach for smaller businesses. We adapt our work to your budget, not the other way around. 

AI Powered Digital Transformation, Without Enterprise Budgets

At Crandon Partners, we believe advanced technology should be accessible, not just for large enterprises, but for growing organizations that want to stay competitive in an increasingly fast‑moving world.

If your team feels overwhelmed by tools, buried in manual work, or you simply need to keep pace with your competitors, we can help.

And we’ll do it, confidently, within your budget.