Resources

Red Cave Law Firm Consulting's Technology Blog Series (from CEO Jared D. Correia, Esq.)

2022 Quarter 2

June 29, 2022: The Matrix: Does Your Law Have a Way to Move Cases Forward?’

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to persist in some form or another, law firms should continue to scrutinize their expenses, to see whether and where they can reduce their overhead.  This should be at least an annual exercise for law firms, and not one that is forced by the pressures associated with a global pandemic.

An easy place to start is with subscription services.  Lots of law firms maintain subscription services they don’t use, especially with respect to technology.  And, many law firms only use a small part of the softwares they have access to.  With law firms continuing to feel the pressure to build more virtual business models, there’s no time like the present to get more lean.  And, that starts with streamlining your technology.  Determine, then, which software tools you’re actually using, and to what extent you’re using them.  Then, begin to eliminate subscriptions you don’t need, or move off of tools for which you’re not using the full feature set, in order to opt for more targeted (read: less expensive) versions.  Lastly, figure out which technologies you’re missing, and find the best values to plug those holes.

It’s more important than ever for small businesses to run efficiently and effectively.

May 17, 2022: Mac Daddy: Devices Don’t Matter Anymore’

With more and more attorneys working from home, more and more attorneys are using multiple devices than ever before.  A common arrangement is to have a desktop at the office, and a laptop at home.

That setup, of course, becomes a significant challenge when you’re using premise-based software, because that software lives only on a specific device.  So, if you work on email in a desktop application, and then open that same application on a laptop, you’re going to have some hoops to jump through before you can update for any changes you made.  This situation becomes more problematic when you are using your email to organize your files; that is a true subfoldering nightmare.

Using cloud software instead wipes all of that difficulty away.  Since cloud software is accessed by a web browser, rather than through a premise-based desktop program, that means that you can access the same software, with the same information, anywhere you have a secure internet connection.  That means that cloud software looks the same no matter what device you use it on, including mobile (like your smartphone); and, updates are made instantaneously, for any user of the software, including all of your staff.  Kiss manual updates goodbye.  You can now work from anywhere you want, on any device you’d like.

If you manage your law firm using email (productivity software), try Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, both of which are cloud-based softwares that will ramp up your efficiency in a hurry.

May 08, 2022: Trust Fall: If You Haven’t Already, Now Would Be a Good Time to Automate Your Trust Account Management

Law firms put themselves through some interesting gymnastics in order to reconcile trust accounting, well or poorly – mostly poorly.  There’s a couple of reasons for that: (1) Lawyers are pretty bad at math, finance.  That’s definitely a thing.  (2) Also, law firms tend not to focus on utilizing technology throughout the trust account management process, and errors tend to occur when busy lawyers (or their staff) use analog methods to try to balance accounts, or review account balances.  IOLTA violations mostly occur due to user error (transposing digits, leaving out information, fudging an audit trail, misunderstanding the requirements of account reconciliation recordkeeping), not bad intent.  The vast, vast majority of lawyers don’t actually want to steal their client’s money.

Literally the best way to tighten up your trust account management is to adopt software fit for the purpose.  Trust account reconciliation can be made via accounting software, or time and billing software, or law practice management software.  In some cases, reporting will already be set up the way you need it (for legal-specific software); and, in other cases, you’ll need to be able to set up the correct reporting outputs on your own.  Even if you need the help of an accountant to set everything up, it’s still worth the effort moving forward -- as you can create three-way account reconciliation records at the touch of a button, rather than via several broken pencils and discarded templated paper documents.

Formalize your audit trails, more easily manage online accounts and keep better records in support of your ethical obligations.

May 06, 2022: Charging Order: Nowadays, You’ve Got to Communicate Total Cost of Representation to Potential Clients’

Law firms have traditionally hewn to an hourly billing model; and, in doing so, have been reticent to quote legal consumers anything outside of an hourly rate.  Of course, that’s of little comfort for legal consumers, who already think that attorneys are expensive and greedy, to be told that they will be charged a high billable rate until . . . the case is done, whenever that is.

For consumers who are used to paying low monthly rates for high-value services (think Disney+ or Netflix), paying lots of money per hour for a lawyer, with no discernable end point -- so, no notion of the total cost of engagement -- seems like a pretty risky proposition.  It’s the rare consumer who will confidently enter such an open-ended arrangement these days.

That’s why legal consumers have two prominent questions they want answered from attorneys, which questions both get after the same answer.  They want to understand the legal process; and, they want to know the total cost of engagement.  The total cost of engagement is the thing, though -- asking about the legal process is a way to gain some familiarity, but also another way to try to target total cost.

So, the question that you must be able to answer, as an attorney, for your leads, relates to the total cost of the engagement, not the cost of your hourly rate.  Thus, if you can’t answer that total cost question directly, via the use of a flat fee or a subscription offering, it’s a matter of how close you can come.

April 24, 2022: Beat the Spread: 3 Tips for Managing a Distributed Workforce’

With work from home/remote work in full swing, employees may be pleasantly surprised by how productive they can be outside of the office.  Meanwhile, law firm managers, who are used to having butts in seats in leased office spaces, wonder what to do next.

Like many things that have happened over the past couple of years, the rise of the distributed law firm model has come as a surprise to many attorneys, most of whom are still adjusting to the ripple effects.  Adopting a distributed workforce model in an instant is not easy, for sure; but, there are some tactics you can apply, to make your law firm run better, even if it’s not all running from the same place anymore:

(1) Give up on the 9 to 5 working hours model.  In an environment where the societal structure is fraying at it edges, when everyone is worried about their health, and there are no reliable options for childcare, it’s time to stop pretending that the best method for getting through the workday is by adhering to a random period of hours during which staff will work.  An at-home work environment opens up the opportunity for law firm employees to self-determine how and when they get their work done.  That means that they can (and should) instill breaks when they want to, and set the hours they wish to work.  And, managers should embrace the change.  This is one of the major reasons why work from home staff are more productive.

(2) Of course, remote staff still require guideposts, and some rails to inspire what they do.  In the end, working for a law firm is about completing discrete tasks in expected time frames.  The new work environment, then, gives supervisors the opportunity to create and manage playbooks for case management.  Not only does this offer your clients a more consistent experience with the firm, it reduces your malpractice risk.  And, if everyone is following workflows (task lists), it’s much easier for managers to see what has been done, when, by whom, and how quickly.  Workflows increase law firm efficiency across the board, including for managers, because it gives managing attorneys a window into the progress of every employee, on every case, no matter where those employees are located.  It’s also the gateway to effectively utilizing KPIs.

(3) And, if you’ve yet to create policies that become particularly important in a distributed law firm model (like a ‘data security program’, and a ‘bring your own device policy’, and a ‘work from home policy’) -- well, what are you waiting for?

April 13, 2022: This Time With Feeling: Empathetic Leadership is Essential for Law Firms Now

We are living through unprecedented times, for sure.  There are multi-fronted crises overtaking the American landscape, including those related to reopening of cultural institutions and business, like law firms.  Of course, the issue of reopening, and the speed with which it occurs, have become deeply personal questions.  Just because your law firm office can be open, you need to decide whether it should be, to what extent it will be, and what you will require of your employees in that context.

Even as law firms reopen, the question of when and how to bring employees back is specific to the individual law firm, which needs to deal with space considerations, as well as the psychological health of its lawyers and staff.  One thing that law firm managers should do is to gauge the willingness of staff and employees to come back, and when.  Some businesses, including law firms, are not expecting to open offices back up until the end of the year, despite state rules enabling them to do so earlier.  Many other law firms have discovered that their employees are just as productive (sometimes more so) at home, which should only increase as camps, daycares and schools begin to reopen.  So, it’s not only the correct, practical business decision to make, but also the right decision to make in terms of employee well-being, to assess and implement new office protocols with your employees in mind.  It’s the best thing to do for the health of your business, and of your employees and staff.

For more on leading with empathy, and why it’s important, review this article, to start with: https://www.fastcompany.com/90272895/5-reasons-empathy-is-the-most-important-leadership-skill.

 

April 6, 2022: Production Number: Is There an Alternative to Legal Services?

Legal consumer habits are shifting under the feet of attorneys; and, law firms, rooted in tradition, are feeling the pressure to reduce prices and overhead, while increasing service.  Part of this legal consumer revolution involves the rise of DIY clients, who want to do more, without the involvement of lawyers, because they’re cost-sensitive.

Law firms responding to these pressure points are doing so in a number of ways.  More and more lawyers are installing subscriptions services (think: your Netflix account), and offering products, in addition to services.  Everyone knows what subscription services are; but, applying them to law firms is a relatively new thing.  Adding legal ‘products’ to your law firm menu (think: LegalZoom’s selling of documents) is something that law firms can do, but often won’t or don’t do -- even if it’s a way to capture revenue from the increasing number of DIY legal clients who would never, otherwise, hire a law firm.

If you’re looking for more information about how to install product offerings into your law firm, or are interested in subscription services, check out my article on the topic, and this recorded webinar, to take a deeper dive.

. . .

And, if you decide that now is the time to take a second look at your current pricing structure, don’t hesitate to contact us.

The Westchester Bar Association offers DISCOUNTED law practice management consulting services through Red Cave Law Firm Consulting.            

To access consulting services, visit this website, and start running your law firm like a business.