Washington-headquartered legal IT consultancy eSentio Technologies has hired Andrew Payne as its global associate director of DMS, we can reveal, in a hire that signifies an expansion of eSentio’s presence in the United Kingdom.AdvertisementPayne, who has held senior UK-based roles at NetDocuments, Ascertus and most recently Verlata Consulting, will be a key member of the eSentio management team with, we’re told, direct responsibility for the success of all DMS implementations undertaken by eSentio.Payne started out his career in legal as a senior systems analyst and technical consultant at Nabarro (now part of CMS), moving up within the firm to deliver IT transformation projects, including in the DMS space. He joined NetDocuments in 2014 – becoming one of the Utah-headquartered company’s first UK employees – and spent five years working as senior director of professional services before moving to run their EMEA/APAC partner programme.AdvertisementPayne joins eSentio from Verlata Consulting, where he headed up their entry into the UK market. During his time at NetDocuments and Verlata, Payne was responsible for the adoption of NetDocuments across a wide variety of EMEA clients, and he also has experience of mapping and automating legal workflows, using the full NetDocuments suite and latterly PatternBuilder.NetDocuments has awarded eSentio its Strategic Law Partner of the Year award for the last three years in a row. It is the implementation partner for Am Law 100 law firm Ballard Spahr’s move to NetDocuments, which was announced in September 2023.Yvonne Dornic, eSentio’s CEO, said: “We have been seeking just the right person to head up the delivery of our DMS projects for the world’s leading law firms and we feel fortunate to have found that in Andy. His experience and professionalism were evident immediately and we are delighted to welcome him to our team. While Andy’s role is a global one, he has extensive knowledge of the UK market and we look forward to him helping the UK team drive even more success over the next year.”Payne said: “I am confident that my experience and expertise will be a valuable asset to eSentio, and I look forward to working with the team to achieve our shared goals

Am Law 100 law firm Ballard Spahr has selected NetDocuments as its cloud-based document management system following a selection process led by CIO Robert Holloway and external legal IT consultancy eSentio Technologies. According to our records, Ballard Spahr, a circa 650-attorney national law firm, is an iManage on-premises customer. eSentio will assist Ballard Spahr with the implementation.Holloway said: “With NetDocuments, we found a secure technology that our users will embrace and that will remove barriers to productivity as our firm continues to set the standard for delivering client value and innovation. Efficiency, ease of use, and the ability to improve day-to-day work for our lawyers were key factors in the decision to choose NetDocuments.”The firm said that it aims to take full advantage of the platform’s broad range of capabilities, including initiatives to modernize collaboration internally and with clients and other outside parties with M365 and Microsoft Teams upgrades, which integrate with NetDocuments.Holloway said: “We’re committed to driving operational excellence and implementing technologies that create an impact on our ability to equip our lawyers and staff with the easy-to-use tools they need to exceed client expectations. NetDocuments serves as a foundational piece in our strategy moving forward.”