Ground Report

No one goes into the legal field thinking it’s going to be an uncomplicated ride. The law is complex, open to interpretation, and ever-changing. Still, representing others in legal matters is where you probably get the most job satisfaction. Running your law firm’s day-to-day operations is likely lower on the list. 

Admin and ops can be tedious and take you away from what you love to do most. But they’re essential if you want your team (and firm) to thrive. Though you might not devote every working hour to cases, technology can help increase the time you do. If you want your team to stay ahead of the game, consider adopting these four cutting-edge tools.  

1. Contract Management Suites

Contracts govern nearly every business relationship. Sometimes, there are multiple contracts dictating the terms of a professional partnership. Everything from non-disclosure agreements to payment schedules and work deliverables can come into play. Yet the people on either side of the negotiation table rarely come up with contract language. It’s a legal team’s responsibility.

And this responsibility can become a somewhat repetitive, grueling task. You’re verifying that every provision is spelled out correctly and double-checking for potential loopholes. The team might also go through a few drafts, serving as a de facto mediator before the final agreement.

What happens when the paperwork gets disorganized or lost? It becomes a time hog while eroding clients’ trust and confidence in your team. Introducing contract management software to the group’s toolbox makes organization a snap. These platforms centralize every detail, allowing the team to send drafts, make revisions, and capture signatures. There’s no hunting down drafts in inboxes, separating docs for storage, or rewriting universal contract language.

2. Client Onboarding Apps

On average, law firm teams spend 33% of their time looking for new clients. Like any business, firms rely on lead nurturing to balance the books. Bringing in new sources of revenue is part of ensuring the firm is sustainable. But this means managing the information of prospective clients and onboarding them once they agree to have the firm take their case.

Without an efficient way to onboard new clients, your team can appear off their game. New clients may grow frustrated with delays and conflicting information. Client intake software can streamline the process, eliminating inefficiencies and potential misinformation. Many onboarding applications also integrate with or have built-in customer relationship management capabilities.

This way, your team can corral all its lead gen activities in one place. You’ll be able to streamline contact information, record nurturing activities, and identify prospects who become clients. The software also lets you send required onboarding documents and get the ball rolling on new cases. Client intake apps will reduce phone tag and email chains while boosting initial satisfaction. In addition, the team will gain insights into client acquisition and lead nurturing trends.

3. Automated Legal Citation Software

Presenting a case involves citing legal precedents and former court rulings. Even a shorter demand letter or notice of representation to a client’s insurance company can include legal citations. When your paralegal prepares these documents, accuracy is key. The process becomes repetitive yet requires close attention to detail.

Because of these factors, legal citation is a task where it’s easy for mistakes to slip through the cracks. Automated citation generators cut down on errors by reducing manual work. These apps also get rid of the need to reinvent the wheel with each document. If your team prepares similar letters with identical citations each week, they’ll get through them faster.

This means you’ll have them on your desk ready for your approval and signature sooner, reducing lag time. Furthermore, automation eliminates the need to manually convert citations to the proper format. Your team will want to verify documents for accuracy, but the software will handle the lion’s share of the work. Removing this burden helps paralegals focus on catching other errors that come with repetition, including inserting the wrong client’s name.

4. Applications for Tracking Billable Hours

Tracking billable hours wouldn’t be as complicated if law firms only handled one case. But the reality is legal teams bounce between cases throughout their workdays. So remembering how much time they spent on one client’s matter versus another’s can be challenging. Billable hours can get lost in the shuffle after phone calls, meetings, and other interruptions.

When this happens, billable time is lost. Clients get inaccurate bills, while the firm loses out on revenue. Taking your best guess isn’t a viable solution, as the team may overestimate the time they spend on a case. Potential overbilling can lead your firm down an ethical slippery slope. The chances overcharged clients will turn to your firm for their next legal problem will also decrease, lowering long-term income.  

Luckily, time-tracking software lets the team capture billable hours with increased accuracy. They just have to remember to start and stop the timers for work done on each case. More capable applications come with multiple timers for days when teams are switching between open matters. The software can also send reminders to team members if they forget to start and stop tracking their time.

Technology for Law Firms

About 65% of law firms budget for technology. But dedicating funds to technical resources won’t always translate to choosing the best software for productivity, accuracy, and efficiency. Implementing the wrong apps for the job can eat into your budget while doing a disservice to your team. But with the latest in contract management, client intake, legal citation, and time-tracking software, your team can outpace the competition.