7 reasons why law firms need law practice management software
Law firms that want to remain competitive need to get better at managing them. This is especially true in the current environment where so many professionals are working remotely.
In pursuit of providing the best possible service in these unusual times, many firms are adopting comprehensive law practice management (LPM) solutions to streamline remote workflows. Not only does an LPM solution elevate a firm’s level of service, it also provides many other cost-efficient benefits in nearly every aspect of matter management.
Let’s look at each of them a little more closely:
1. At the outset of your matter
Law firms often scan everything, then repeatedly print out those scans as they create different versions for their files. Since most legal work is happening remotely, working with paper files has become even more cumbersome. An LPM system provides tools for saving and working with those files electronically.
Everyone involved in a matter has access to a single electronic document that tracks changes — reducing the potential for human error inherent in working with paper files. For instance, if an electronic document is saved to the wrong matter, you can easily find it by running a quick search with a fact or name. That’s not possible with a misfiled piece of paper.
2. Efficiently manage matters
The best law firm practice management systems provide robust legal matter management to ensure all information related to a given matter is easily accessible in one location, including:
- The parties and their contact information
- Emails and other communication
- Documents
- Notes and tasks
- Matter calendar
- Research
- Time records and expenses
- Invoices
- Matter financial information
With all matter-related information stored in one centralized location, attorneys and other stakeholders have instant access to everything they need — from wherever they are working. If a client calls with a question related to their matter, anyone on the team can simply open the practice management system to find the answer quickly.
If someone needs to find a document they were working on last week, they can run a quick search to find exactly what they need, all within a single application.
3. Track contacts
Enter contact information once, and the LPM system will store it for easy access when you need it in the future. If you work with the contact on another matter, you will not need to reenter their information; just note their involvement in the matter file, and the matter management system will automatically insert their details.
This feature comes in handy when you’re working with the same person on multiple matters. You’ll be able to see every matter involving that person, so you can discuss them all in a single communication, saving multiple emails and phone calls.
4. Streamline billing and financial performance reporting
Many attorneys still use notepads, index cards, or Post-it® notes to track hours. They then pass those haphazard “records” along to their admins to compile invoices every month. Heaven forbid they want a financial report, because that means the admins must spend hours scouring and compiling records in order to build a single spreadsheet.
In comparison, tracking time in the firm’s LPM system is highly efficient. With the click of a timer on the practice management system’s online dashboard, you can record time and activity. These time entries, along with any expense entries, can quickly be added to a professional invoice in a few clicks. In addition, you can easily edit and update the invoice before it’s sent to the client.
Because time record, expense, and invoice data are all stored in the practice management system, you can easily view and create financial reports, including total billed dollars, total collected dollars, aging accounts receivable, and write-offs, to name a few. This makes tracking and understanding the profitability of your matters — and your firm — much easier.
5. Reduce malpractice exposure
Having an LPM can also help firms avoid malpractice claims. Using data-driven insights, they can easily keep track of matter timelines, new client review, and other issues that are important to monitor to ensure integrity in all aspects of the firm’s work.
- Missed deadlines: Many malpractice insurance providers give discounts to firms that use automated, rules-based legal deadline calculator technology, which is a convenient component within some LPM systems. Discounts are offered because these tools virtually eliminate human error in calculating legal deadlines.
The legal calendaring component automatically calculates legal deadlines for every matter. If any deadline rules change, you receive proactive notifications alerting, and you can choose to refresh your dates to accommodate the new deadlines
- Conflicts of interest: You also can reduce the risk in your conflict-checking process. Too many conflict-checking methods depend on memory. In contrast, conflict checking with a practice management system is much more reliable, because a simple search across the entire practice management database — including files, text documents, and images that have undergone optical character recognition — will provide you with a list of potential conflicts.
- Data breaches: Malpractice suits around cybersecurity were unheard of not too many years ago, but now law firms are being sued for not taking steps to protect confidential information. Always remember: you are a target because you have information that hackers want, from Social Security numbers to merger details, so cybersecurity needs to be one of your top priorities, if not the number one priority.
Good LPM software can instantly provide world-class security that would be too expensive and time-consuming for you to obtain on your own. This can include a built-in secure client portal that encrypts documents and messages so you can securely communicate with clients. Furthermore, it can track every action taken regarding this information, so if a client insists they never got a response, you can easily access your time-stamped records from the client portal to get a definitive answer and address their concerns.
6. Make collaboration painless
Because the unexpected can happen — like a global pandemic — stakeholders must be able to keep matters moving forward. With LPM software, your entire firm will have all the matter details organized and updated in a single online location.
In addition, keeping the entire matter team up to speed is effortless. You can stop wasting time sending multiple emails and manually tracking drafts and edits. With LPM software, updates to documents and calendars happen in real time, so everyone is always on the same page.
7. Expand your workplace
Many LPM solutions allow users to work from anywhere there’s Internet access, whether that’s the courthouse, your home, or the airport. And you can access the system from your smartphone or any other Internet-connected device. You don’t have to struggle with logging into virtual private networks that are only accessible from computers.
Now is the time
It is clear that law firms would be wise to invest in a practice management system designed especially for a legal practice. Making the investment now will pay off several times over.
You’ll stop duplicating effort and you’ll stop wasting time and resources by manually completing work that can be done automatically and accurately within a practice management system. As a result, it will be much easier for you to thrive under the unprecedented pressures all firms are facing today.