Facing a rising tide of bankruptcy clients?

It's no big secret that the COVID-19 outbreak brought many businesses to their knees. Some were able to endure temporary lockdowns while others wound up permanently closing up shop. As challenging as that decision can be, there's no denying that issues like insolvency and bankruptcy are part of the natural life cycle for some business.

Handling what comes next requires expertise and discretion from law firms. Clients facing tough decisions about their businesses will need competent representation and excellent client service — whether the firm is ready for it or not.

Therein lies the challenge: the well of expertise is not bottomless. Many firms facing a stark increase in bankruptcy clients may soon find their bench of capable lawyers empty, with more clients still to come.

These over-extended firms will look to improve firm processes and gain greater efficiency. They may also choose to refill the bench by temporarily moving related practice expertise to their bankruptcy practice. But legal expertise isn't a drag-and-drop process. These adjunct practitioners will need to be “retooled" in order to perform insolvency work for the firm.

At the same time, junior associates in insolvency practices face a problem of their own: the need to level up to meet the rising demand and to do it immediately. These associates may have a hard time managing the increased volume of work and learning on the fly while working out of a home office.

Meet the need with knowledge and ability

In the face of these challenges, law firms really need two things: knowledge of bankruptcy law and the ability to manage the work associated with these cases. Enter, the TR Bankruptcy Practice Accelerator. It takes the deep legal expertise of Practical Law and combines it with the powerful capabilities of HighQ. The result? A soup-to-nuts knowledge and workflow solution, perfect for firms facing a glut of bankruptcy business and a dearth of in-house expertise.

Bankruptcy Practice Accelerator doesn't make lawyers out of lay people, but it does enable law firms to scale up their capabilities quickly and with confidence. On the expertise side, lawyers will find themselves supported with Practical Law content. That means up-to-date, expertly curated knowledge and tools for supporting bankruptcy clients. Whether green or rusty, lawyers will find getting up to speed fast and easy with informative resources written in plain language by experienced bankruptcy lawyers.

Beyond know how, Bankruptcy Practice Accelerator includes built-in Matter Maps that identify the key phases and tasks associated with insolvency matters. Lawyers will be able to understand not only the legal issue at hand, but the process required to service their clients. Think of it as one part guru, another part guide.

Now, since knowing what to do and doing it are two different things, Bankruptcy Practice Accelerator includes powerful workflow automation capabilities from HighQ. This capability allows law firms to define their best practices and implement them—at scale—for efficient operations and reduced manual labor. It's both sides of the coin: the Matter Maps identify what should be done (and when), while the automated workflows within HighQ help make it happen.

Show your work with pre-populated reporting

Finally, there is the reporting component to consider. For clients, especially those facing insolvency, the sensitivity to the process, cost, and outcomes of their legal matter cannot be overstated. Meeting clients with transparency and relevant information is going to make a difference here. And once again, HighQ comes through.

Bankruptcy Practice Accelerator uses HighQ's data analytics and visualization technology to effectively get out ahead of client requests. The solution includes easily customizable dashboards with preset metrics that are most relevant to bankruptcy matters. Law firms looking to standardize their client communications can leave the dashboard as is for a faster path to valuable reporting.

For firms whose clients prioritize a different set of information, dashboards and reporting can be adapted easily, without the need to enlist the IT department or a data scientist. It's a friendly balance of consistency and customization.

That same reporting applies inward as well. For example, the swelling bankruptcy business will hopefully be temporary. As the economy adjusts or the firm's needs evolve, law firm leaders can count on at-a-glance reporting on the total book of business or specific workflow insights to make the right decisions about their staff allocation.

For businesses facing bankruptcy, their legal needs likely feel like just one more thing to add to an already demoralizing situation. The best thing law firms can do is meet the needs of these clients with comfort and reassurance that their matter is in good hands. For those firms who find this easier said than done, there's Bankruptcy Practice Accelerator. Schedule your demo today.