Cloud-based practice management solutions like Firm Central from Thomson Reuters are a direct response to the pressing need for small law firms to be more efficient at every stage of their business. They make it possible to bridge the gap between operating a profitable business and running a first-class, client-focused firm.
Thomson Reuters recently interviewed Alex Jadin, a partner at Roeder Smith Jadin (RSJ,) a small law firm that adopted Firm Central. RSJ focuses on litigation, real estate, construction, insurance, and community association issues. The Minneapolis-based firm is a case for weighing the long-term benefits vs. the short-term challenges of installing software that affects virtually every person in the firm.
Jadin said his firm was looking for an integrated solution and saw the integration of Firm Central with Westlaw as a primary benefit. “The accessibility, the integration, and the full suite of services from Firm Central were really deciding factors in why we went with it,” he said. “All of our work could be integrated right into the system.”
In addition, Jadin and his team value the ability to work from anywhere in the world. For example, since matters and documents in Firm Central are securely located in the cloud, staff members can access matter information anywhere, anytime. It enables RSJ to drive down costs associated with office space and supplies, IT servers, and technology. And it gives attorneys more flexibility into how, where, and when they work. “It’s made our attorneys’ lives easier, as well as our clients’,” said Jadin.
RSJ and their clients are experiencing savings throughout their entire workflow. “Firm Central frees our attorneys from task-based work to spend more time on the value-adding activities like developing legal strategies, nurturing client relations, and growing the business,” Jadin said. “If you’re spending less time on those activities, you’re billing less time to that client.”
In three short years, RSJ has grown from the original three partners to a 12-person law firm. From the beginning, the firm invested in the tools and technology that helped drive growth. For RSJ, the ability to control costs while increasing client satisfaction and delivering quality legal work was key to choosing a practice management system.
