Q-Law Partial Migration Made Seamless
SUMMARY
PRODUCT: Q-Law
PROBLEM: Business changes presented a need to create a working copy of Q-Law and selectively migrate all critical Q‑Law data to a partner law firm before a mid-Friday server decommissioning, all while trying not to disrupt live operations.
SOLUTION: Vertican vPros built a custom extraction utility, performed the live migration, and provided hands-on support to ensure a seamless transition.
IMPACT: The migration was completed in just three hours with little to no downtime, preserving all essential data, and saving approximately $600 in immediate costs while ensuring business continuity and data integrity.
PROBLEM
A long-time Q-Law firm was changing business pursuits and needed to transfer only a subset of replevin accounts (by CUSTID) for an associate attorney with a vExchange partner firm that was not yet using Q-Law.
With its complex data requirements, the migration needed to include all related data, such as open and closed files, workflows, court codes, contacts, and memos – without disrupting either firm’s live environment.
The source system was scheduled for decommissioning mid-Friday afternoon. This was a tight cutoff window as the request reached Vertican just a few days prior and required the entire transfer to be completed before the shutdown.
SOLUTION
Custom Utility – Brett Lisk, Q-Law/Q-LawE Development Engineer, built a custom utility to extract all necessary Q-Law data tied to specific CUSTIDs and cleanly deliver it into a new Q-Law system that was installed on the partner’s server. The comprehensive solution included client files, workflows, court and sheriff codes, contacts, and historical notes – preserving institutional knowledge and ensuring operational continuity.
Migration Support – Michelle Samlaska, Client Success Manager and vPro consultant, led execution by managing the live migration end-to-end, addressing cleanup issues, and stepping in to run the tool herself to ensure its future-readiness flexibility should it be needed.
Cost and License Optimization – Michelle also identified and removed redundant system components, saving the partner firm about $600 immediately and reducing ongoing license overhead for vExchange.
Post-migration Support – The team stayed engaged for the weeks that followed, handling Q-Law conversions, training, and data validation – ensuring a stable and confident transition.
IMPACT
Zero downtime cutover – While 11 hours were spent on the back end in preparation for the migration, the expedited migration was completed in just 3 hours, well within the required Friday afternoon window.
High data integrity – Thousands of critical data points – including long-text memos, workflows, and contact records – were kept without manual export/import.
Time and cost savings – The client avoided about 30 hours of manual rework per direction and saved the partner firm approximately $600 in vExchange costs.
Client satisfaction and readiness to grow – The partner firm praised Vertican vPros for the seamless and efficient process, cost savings, and strong foundation for the firm’s future expansion on Q-Law.
FINAL TAKEAWAY
What could have been a high-risk, “partial” data migration under tight time pressure became a seamless, stress-free success – thanks to the precise planning, automation, and hands-on consulting that preserved critical data and delivered immediate cost savings.