Lillian De Maria

Area of Law: Conveyancing, Wills & Estates, Family Law

Firm size: 13

Location: Victoria

De Maria & Associates is a family-focused law firm founded by Principal Solicitor Lillian De Maria, which has grown from a start-up to a 13-person team, including Lillian’s daughter Natalie De Maria who joined as a family law paralegal. Their mission is to build lasting client relationships while achieving the best possible legal outcomes.

With client experience central to the firm,  Lillian was pleased to receive a similar experience from Smokeball. Says Lillian, “The face-to-face contact and phone support that we now have with Smokeball saves us time.  Even when we have an issue, which is very rare, the support from Smokeball is immediate and very responsive. A major reason we switched from our previous PMS was that it was very expensive and not justified.” Conveyancer Donna Baillie agrees, “The workflow helps to remind you to follow up on tasks to ensure that the matter is running smoothly and to avoid last minute panic”.

The Results

• 20% increase on productivity and time saved.
• Reduced stress from technical issues.
• Improved client experience.
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When Lillian switched to Smokeball, she saw improvements across the firm straight away.

• User-friendly workflows: Conveyancer Donna Baille customises precedent tasks to ensure no conveyancing deadline is ever missed.
• Archie saves time: Lillian recalls reducing a 38-page family law report to two pages of key information in seconds using Archie, Smokeball’s AI matter assistant.
• Streamlined invoicing: Trust-to-office transfers are now completed in one easy step.
• Responsive local support: Tech assistance is immediate—no more waiting days for a callback.
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