Resources

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

2026 Quarter 2

June 24, 2026: What’s In Store: One Strategy for Dealing with Old Client Files

If you run a law firm that’s been around for any length of time, you’ve probably got paper files stored somewhere, taking up space, and costing you money.  And, law firm owners tend to treat that as a ‘forever’ investment; they don’t see a way out of holding onto those paper files for all time.  But, there are some steps you can take, to get rid of the hassle of long-term paper storage.

The first thing you need to know is that lawyers are not expected to hold onto client files forever.  In every state, client files may be destroyed after a certain period of time, after the representation has closed.  Even so, most attorneys prefer to be cautious, and to hold onto those files for as long as the practice is in operation.  Now, that’s fine; that’s a viable choice.  But, the question becomes: In what format do you retain that data?  At this point, it’s clear that the best and most secure way to manage client files – especially for long-term storage – is to scan all documents and save them in an encrypted cloud database, with a backup.  That’s a great job for a firm administrator, or an intern, to push through.

So, what do you do with all the paper files, then?  Do you just shred them in a secure fashion?  Yeah, if you’ve got nothing else to do with them.  However, there is an alternative, to consider.

Even as you scan your client files, you ask all of those clients, whether they would like to pick up the paper versions of those files, to keep them for themselves.  Now, that sounds like real work; so, why would you do that?  Well, because it’s the best ‘remarketing’ campaign you’re likely to ever engage.  One of the best places to find new work and referrals is through your existing clientbase.  Most times, you only reach those folks via email communications (if you communicate with them, at all) – but, this is a way to set up a number of in-person meetings with as many of your former clients as you can.  That process will generate new work for you, and is worth the effort.

June 17, 2026: Outlaw: The One Key Employee You Need, to Stop Practicing Law

Some lawyers love to practice law; and, they would do it for the rest of their lives, if they could.  But, for other attorneys, the practice of law – really, building a law firm, as a business – is a way out, of the practice of law.  It is/will be the thing that provides them with enough revenue, to do what they really want to do.  For some attorneys, that’s the end game.

To get there, the law firm either needs to generate enough profit for you to get paid, without having to practice law anymore; or, it has to generate enough revenue, for you to be able to sell it, and retire or start something new.

But, if you’re not managing the firm, who is?  If you’re looking to devolve your caseload, even if you have multiple partners and/or associate attorneys, someone needs to sit in the role of case manager, which you formerly occupied.

And, that’s why you need a ‘Chief Legal Officer’.  This is a corporate concept that you can borrow for your law firm. Effectively, it’s one attorney, who oversees the caseload of all the other lawyers in the firm, who (ultimately) report to that one attorney.

It’s the one indispensable role you need to fill, before you can step away from your practice.

June 10, 2026: Profit First: Hiring Your First Associate Is Law Firm Rocket Fuel

If you’re a solo attorney – whether that’s a true solo (just you & no team) or a solo, with non-attorney staff help – it’s definitely a scary proposition to hire your first attorney.  Some solo lawyers, in fact, never do it.  They just can’t get past the fear.  But, if you can make that hire, and make it successfully, that’s like adding lighter fluid to the fire of law firm growth.

 

Since law practice is a service industry, that means that you need people putting in hours, in order to make money.  If you’re a solo, the ‘people’ of which I speak are: ‘you’.  Without attorney staff, who can bill on your behalf, your income is limited to what you yourself can bill.  And, that’s a fairly low ceiling.  But, if you can bring one other attorney into the mix, and generate a certain amount of work for that lawyer – you can calculate a profit margin: by defining what you pay that person, and what they can bill out.  Since attorneys bill more than any other employee you could hire (including paralegals), they will generate the most profit margin.  And, if you can hire one attorney, and turn that person into a ‘profit center’ for your business – then you can replicate that role, over and over and over again.

That’s how you achieve real growth in a law practice.

But, it starts with the first one.

. . .

If you can’t get over the hump, bringing on your first associate, let’s talk.

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. 

June 3, 2026: Giant Steps: Raising Your Rates Doesn’t Always Have to be a Big Move

I feel like I can safely say that – even though I have no idea what your rates are.  In my experience, most law firm rates are far too low.  That’s especially true if you bill hourly.  Hourly rates for attorneys don’t even keep up with inflation.

But, maybe you already knew that.  And, perhaps you may even really want to raise your hourly rates.  Though, you may also be thinking: I haven’t done that in quite some time, so I have to make a huge change, in order to make up for that.  And, that is where you would be wrong.

Smaller, incremental increases to hourly rates, can be massively impactful – plus, they won’t send up alarm bells for legal consumers (including your existing clients, if you don’t want to grandfather them in).

So, let’s say you raise your rates by just $25/hour.  If you can bill & collect 1500 hours each year, you just created $37,500 in new revenue, literally out of thin air.  You’re not doing anything different; and, you’re making way more money.

You’re a magician.

 

May 27, 2026: Evenflow: AI is Great for Building Workflows

Artificial intelligence has fast become a fact of modern life – as it has perhaps been adopted more widely, more quickly, than any previous technology.  Yet, lots of attorneys still haven’t had any substantive experiences with AI, to date.  But, the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of use cases for AI, in law practice; so, it may be easier to get started, than you think.

One such use case, that artificial intelligence tools excel at, is project management.  Lots of business owners, including law firm owners, tend to struggle with managing large projects – whether that’s building an administrative process, or optimizing a case workflow.  Now, if that is an issue for you, in your law practice: AI may offer a solution point.

If you want to build out step-by -step workflows, simply ask a generative AI tool (like ChatGPT, or Google Gemini, or Claude), to do it for you.  Make your request in natural language.  Then, because you’re able to iterate with a generative AI program – just like you’re talking to a real person – you can ask it to tweak the output, as you see fit.  Once the AI is done with its work, you’ll want to review the product, and make any substantive edits, before you finalize any process.

But, AI, being an assistive technology – can offer you a massive head start & get you 80% of the way, to that final product.

May 24, 2026: The One: Why You Need a Universal Intake Form in Your Law Firm

All new leads in a law firm should ultimately filter through a single, universal intake form.  This form will gather contact information, identify a case type and allow the lead to provide some basic information about her case.  That’s whether the lead is completing a form on your website, or providing this information to a staffperson of yours over the phone (who is filling out a form on her behalf), or whether a staffperson in your office is adding the information to the form from a direct email query.

There are a whole host of reasons why this strategy works well.  First, it is a form that gathers all the necessary initial information, without pestering the client for more extraneous detail.  Second, it gathers all the primary information, which can then be directly added to a customer relationship management software, and tagged appropriately.  Third, because you’re asking for a case type, you can automatically start the intake pipeline for that case type in your practice, via the automation tools you use for engaging leads.

It turns out that most law firms overdo it with their initial intake procedures.

A streamlined, simplified, consistent approach is best.

. . .

If you need help drilling down to a more targeted lead pipeline, just give us a call.

May 15, 2026: Pay Advance: Will AI Finally Force Firms to Move on From Hourly Billing?

There are some common themes across a recent spate of AI ethics opinions and practical guidance releases from bar associations.  One of those is that there is some question about whether AI will finally be the thing to force the majority of lawyers to adopt alternative fees (ie – not hourly billing), particularly flat fees.

Of course, this isn’t really a new question, as it relates to legal technology – in essence, what’s being asked is whether, because technologies like AI allow attorneys to perform their work faster, law firms can still charge the rates they did before?  And, for hourly rates, the answer is pretty plainly ‘no’.  You can’t just make up hours that you’ve worked.

Now, the reason flat fees are being suggested as an alternative in this environment, is because those types of fees are based on value, not hours.

AI is not the reason, that you should consider alternatives billing methods, like flat fees; but, rather: it is another reason you should consider.

The best news is that, in my experience, attorneys who adopt flat fees tend to make 15-25% more – even in contexts where AI is not involved at all.

May 10, 2026: Team Effort: How to Control the Use of AI in Your Law Firm

AI is everywhere; it’s embedded in so many technologies that you use already, that, in some cases: you’re probably not even aware you’re using it.  So, of course, the first step here, is to understand AI yourself, including how it is deployed in the softwares you use (everyday).

Once you have a handle on that, you’ll next need to figure out whether and how you want your staff to use AI.  At this point, it’s probably foolish to prohibit the use of AI for your associates and staff, because it’s even embedded in Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, at this point – productivity softwares that almost every attorney and law firm staffperson use at least one of.  So, this is more about warning folks of the potential dangers of AI (including its predilection for ‘hallucinating’ = making things up), making suggestions about how to use it and limiting the places where client or confidential data may be added to AI tools (not free, generic tools – like ChatGPT; but, instead: vetted, legal-specific tools – like your case management and research products).  All of this should be wrapped up into an ‘AI Usage Policy’ for your law firm, which each of your employees and contractors should sign.

At this point, it’s a necessary component of any law firms’ collection of human resources documentation.

April 29, 2026: Payment Plan: This is the One Necessary Precondition for Any Paid Advertising Campaign

Lots of law firm owners don’t pay for advertising, at all.  But, for those who do, they’re often skipping a crucial step, that will allow their marketing campaigns to flourish.

They don’t have an intake program.

With any paid advertising campaign, it’s essential to be able to track calls and clicks – because, if you can’t, you won’t know whether your campaigns are working, or not; and, your new marketing strategy could devolve into a money pit.

Sure, there’s the basic notion of ‘return on investment’ (ROI) = are you making back what you’re paying – or profiting, and at what level.  But, with the right software, you can also run a whole bunch of different reports, including custom ones, to better understand your marketing spend.

At the very least, the modern law firm, running a paid marketing program, should be tracking calls (potentially with a software, like CallRail) and clicks (potentially with a customer relationship management software (CRM), like Lawmatics). 

At this stage of the game, that’s really table stakes.

April 25, 2026: Hostage Situation: Lawyers, Not Staff, Should Run Law Firms

In many law firms – especially the small ones – managing attorneys are held hostage by their staffpersons.  And, when the staffpersons are aware that that is the situation – things can quickly turn toxic.  There are plenty of law firms, where staff are doing whatever they want, and dictating process and strategy to the attorneys they work for – because the lawyers believe they can’t let go of the staff, since they’re too important to the running of the law firm.  It’s something of a vicious circle.  But, as a lawyer, you’ve got to maintain control of your business, in part because any ethics-related issues that arise, can cost you your license to practice.

So, if your staff is treating you in a dismissive way, and you feel like you’ve been removed from the management of your own law firm – or, even if you simply don’t want that situation to arise – there is a way to dig out. 

Here’s what you need to do:

Understand How Your Technology Works. One of the more common excuses I hear, for allowing a situation like this to continue, is that the lawyer needs to keep the obdurate employee, because that person knows how to use the office technology.  While it might seem like a convenient solution: to offload the setup and management of your software, to someone else – that also means that there is then only one person who understands how to use your technology; and, it ain’t you.  So, as a law firm owner, the more you understand the technology you use, the more freedom you have in moving on from employees, who don’t work out – or, keeping the ones who do stick around, in line.  Your own knowledge of your technology stack is a convenient way to make someone dispensable.  And, in most jurisdictions – those that have adopted Comment 6 or 8 to Rule 1.1, respecting a lawyer’s obligation to keep up to date with modern technology – it’s a competency requirement.

Record Your Processes. This is related to the question of technology usage; but, if you’re also setting your staffpersons up, as being the only ones who understand how administrative, intake and/or case processes work within the law firm – you’re really only just setting yourself up for trouble.  The answer to generating more independence from your staff, in this regard, is to record all workflows, preferably in a task or project management software – so that that’s not a mystery box for you, anymore.  Now, your processes are transparent to everyone else – including, potentially, the person you would hire, to follow those processes, in replacement of the staffperson, who created them.

Nip Dissension in the Bud. Oftentimes, these situations devolve into a battle of passive-aggressive behaviors – wherein, both lawyers and staff are committing such actions against each other, to the detriment of the business as a whole.  It starts with employees ignoring requests, and seeing how far they can get with that strategy, before becoming openly hostile; meanwhile, attorneys are avoiding confrontation, and entrenching a situation, where staffpersons get to control every process, and every narrative, within the business.  But, this all starts somewhere – before it grows like a weed; and so, it’s imperative to curb any dissension immediately, as it happens.  You’ll need to set the tone right away – and, keep setting it, to ensure that things get done the way you want them to be done, not the way your staffperson choose to do them.  If you meet these challenges in a proactive fashion, it becomes easier to do over time – and, is an important way to maintain control of your own law firm.

. . .

If you feel as though you’re losing the rope, in terms of managing your law firm, how you want to, there is a path out.  Give us a call, to get some help, in finding your way.

April 19, 2026: Reasonable Facsimile: Even If You Have to Fax, You Don't Need a Machine

A lot of attorneys are still sending & receiving faxes; but, this is not one of those stories about how lawyers are behind the times on technology.  Really, it’s everybody else.  Because, lots of times, attorneys are working with vendors, who will require the lawyers to send or receive information, via fax.

But, if you’re in that situation – and, you don’t want to continue to pay for, or retain, a traditional fax machine, any longer: you can opt for an efax solution, instead.  With an efax system, faxes effectively become email attachments.  You can send faxes by attaching files to your outgoing emails; and, you will receive faxes as email attachments, which you can download and save as PDF documents.

This website features a regularly-updated apples-to-apples comparison of standalone efax vendors.  But, note that there are also a number VoIP providers that offer efax features, as part of their service offerings.

April 10, 2026: Silence Is Golden: How to Suppress Sounds in Your Home & Office Environment

Perhaps the most common method for communicating in a business context is via video conferencing.  But, whether you’re web conferencing at the office, or at home – there’s always the potential for unwanted sounds, to distract you, or others.  The good news is that there’s a lot you can do, to reduce those disturbances, so that your web conferencing environment is nearly soundproof.

One thing you can do is to acquire a good microphone, which will suppress sound outside of a small perimeter.  The Shure M58 may be the gold standard for silence; but, Blue also makes the Yeti or Snowball, which are both excellent microphone options.

Krisp is an application that limits sound on your side of the conversation, as well as on the side of whomever you’re talking to – so that nobody can hear the other’s dog barking!

And, there’s nothing better for locking the outside world out, than getting yourself a great pair of noise-cancelling, wireless headphones – like this boss set from Bose.

April 4, 2026: Flip the Switch: Payment Automation is the Solution for Eliminating Accounts Receivable

Lawyers generally work really hard for their clients, to turn around work product.  And then, they wait . . . and, wait . . . and, wait: to get paid.  That’s largely because, while attorneys have been able to build out most of the payment process, the last part – you know, the part where the law firm actually gets paid – is still mostly entirely dependent on the client.  So, the lawyer sends a bill, and waits . . . and, waits . . . and, waits.

But, there’s a way to eliminate the waiting, and to unstick your cashflow.  Most case management software and epayment tools now offer payments plans, which can also be set up for subscription; so, that means that if you have a recurring payment model, you can automate the payments (so that they are debited from your clients’ credit card, debit card or bank account – just like with their electric bill), in a pretty straightforward way.  If that’s how you’re billing your clients, it’s time to take advantage of these tools, if you have not done so yet.

Now, there may be times in your law practice, when your billing is more random than that.  If you’re billing hourly, and you have an invoice that needs to go out – instead of waiting for payment, you can click a button in your law practice management or epayment software, to automate the payment, on behalf of the client.  Now, that’s not a full-scale automation – as it does require you (or, someone who works for you), to click a button – but, it’s pretty close; and, most importantly: you don’t have to wait for the client, to make the payment.  Now, you can utilize this process for hourly billing, evergreen retainer payments or additional retainer requests.

So, whatever method you’re using to bill, there is a way to either automate payments, or take the payment action out of the hands of your clients

In order to pave the road for launching this option in your law firm, you’d need to tweak your payment clause in your fee agreement, to reflect your new process; if you’re taking credit or debit cards, you can add an authorization form, incorporated by reference into your engagement agreement.  And, you can also tweak your billing process, to offer clients an alert (or, notification), to let them know that a payment will be coming out – since you/your team/the software will now be generating the payment, and not the client.

All in all, this is a pretty straightforward setup – but, it’s one that will unlock your law practice revenue, like never before.

. . .
And, if you’re looking for a boost for your business management – just reach out, and 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.