When taking on a new case, do you feel unrivaled? Solid research and proper preparation are crucial to getting there. But that’s easier said than done when client expectations are growing and there are only so many (billable) hours in a day. Legal research tools may be the difference-maker when you’re trying to reach that next level.
There are three traits that every attorney needs to be successful – to take on a new legal task feeling unrivaled. These three traits are also something today’s legal research tools can help you achieve. What are those traits, and how can you take advantage of technology to attain them? Let’s take a look.
1. Accuracy
It’s all in the details
In law, the case’s make-or-break is in the details. If you’re not checking to ensure accuracy, you risk compromising your success in the case. If you avoid mistakes, you will better your chances of a favorable outcome. Accuracy is an essential component of practicing law.
Using new research tools can help you find every detail that can help your client. Today, you can use filters to quickly locate results that share important attributes with the legal issue you are researching, such as legal issue, motion type, and cause of action, among others. Having this information can assist you in building your legal strategy and ensure it’s founded on accurate insights.
How do you keep up with changes in the law?
Change is one of the greatest constants of the law. You expect these changes regularly, but how can you keep up with what still stands and what’s outdated when you’re simultaneously balancing a strenuous workload?
Employing technology to stay in the know regarding the changing law is an effective legal strategy. Today’s research tools can help you identify current rulings, recent changes, and how to avoid using bad law. Accuracy and precision are of the utmost importance, and your success and clients are counting on you to remain diligent.
Speaking of change, the legal research technology that is available to attorneys has grown considerably more sophisticated over the last few years. Explore the evolutions in our latest white paper.
2. Efficiency
Clients want answers – quickly
Nowadays, clients expect quick communication. They also expect you to know everything. And while that’s obviously impossible, it means that they’ll be unwilling to pay for the time it takes you to research answers to their questions. You will need to research on your own time to be able to supply answers promptly.
The research tools you use to get those answers matter, especially when speed is the name of the game. Time savings means tools need to be trustworthy. Make sure you’re using industry-leading, always up-to-date information to quickly learn what you need and get back to your clients.
The price of perfectionism
As a lawyer, you’re likely a perfectionist – and for good reason. Any error may slowly dismantle your credibility, and subsequently, your case. But how efficient is double, triple, and quadruple-checking everything on your own?
While it’s undoubtedly a valuable practice, it’s time-consuming. And in your profession, time really is money. According to a Thomson Reuters Institute report, 28% of an attorney’s time is spent neither practicing law nor meeting with clients. To minimize these non-billable hours, it’s in your best interest to use technological tools to better standardize your checking process. The right research tools can catch things that would otherwise be challenging to find, removing a level of difficulty and uncertainty to your work.
3. Confidence
Be confident for your clients so they’re confident in you
In the context of legal counsel, consumers seek expertise. However, there is a difference between having expertise and exemplifying it – that being confidence.
To help clients see your confidence, explain your vision. Tell them what you know and what you’re learning. Informing them of your strategy will reassure them that you understand what is happening and what needs to be done. It’s especially effective if your strategy is developed using personal and analytical insights.
Have confidence in your work
Beyond exuding confidence, it’s vital that you truly feel it. Check your work consistently and try to catch errors early in the drafting process. This will ensure that your argument is both court-ready and founded on reliable information.
Strategies for checking your work may be leveraging colleagues’ knowledge – whether that looks like walking across the hall or setting up a quick virtual meeting nowadays – or it may be taking advantage of technological resources. Allowing legal research tools to help bolster your work will in turn give you the confidence to know it’s looking its best.
Stand head and shoulders above your competition
With Westlaw Precision, you can find what you need faster than ever before. Powered by trusted content, exclusive editorial enhancements, and cutting-edge technology, Westlaw Precision allows you to complete your research in less time without sacrificing confidence in your results in light of competition. If it can directly help you achieve these three traits; how can you be unrivaled without it?
For a closer look at just how Westlaw Precision is the fastest way to find what you need, request your free trial today.
