Andrew McDermott

Client expectations are growing. They need paralegals. But what are those best practices paralegals need to help their firms fulfill the needs of their clients?

Today firms are expected to produce work that provides a significant amount of value for clients and their interests. Firms are struggling under the weight of an ever-increasing workload. It’s too much for attorneys to bear on their own.

They need you.

Firms are relying more and more on paralegals to help them manage their growing workload.

Why paralegals should carry this heavy workload

It’s a chance to add value.

It’s an incredible opportunity to show everyone in your firm that you’re the indispensable legal professional you know yourself to be.

Why does that matter?

There’s a significant amount of confusion regarding a paralegal’s roles and responsibilities. As far as firms are concerned paralegals aren’t created equal. What’s worse, some firms have a diminutive view of paralegals.

These disparities are harmful.

Paralegals are either viewed as (a.) a “highly qualified administrative assistant” who is asked to spend a significant amount of time on low-value tasks an intern can handle or (b.)  A “highly skilled legal professional” who’s able to manage a significant amount of complex legal work (with the appropriate levels of supervision and support).

It’s complicated, isn’t it?

Then, to complicate things further, there’s a small segment of attorneys who are threatened by paralegals. As firms ask paralegals to take on more work these attorneys resist, they’re afraid of becoming “displaced.”

Paralegals can fix this.

How? How can paralegals go about solving this complex, unpleasant and difficult problem?

By following best practices, paralegals can succeed.

Paralegals become too important to ignore when they follow best practices with unrivaled discipline. Which best practices are we talking about specifically?

Best practice for paralegals #1: Creating/following firm protocols

Your firm needs clear project, task and document management protocols. If they already have them it’s important that you follow them (many in your firm won’t). If you don’t have them, discuss them with management/partners in your firm.

You’ll want to create processes and guidelines for:

• Security, access, and privileges (e.g. determining who has access to what, when and why)
• Project, case and matter outlines and checklists
• Document access and management protocols
• Time tracking, billing, invoicing, accounting and reporting guidelines. Follow these protocols to the letter
• Managing disclosure notices and production requests

If you’re organized the people on your team are far more likely to be organized. This means paralegals have a direct impact on their firm’s utilization and realization rates.

Best practice for paralegals #2: Improving your organizational skills

It depends on the firm but paralegals today are expected to:

• Review and organize client files
• Perform legal research
• Prepare legal documents
• Draft pleadings
• Process discovery notices
• Interview clients and witnesses
• Administer subpoenas
• Manage a bevy of minor administrative requests (e.g. get coffee, return phone calls, etc.)

Today these tasks have ballooned into something more comprehensive. Paralegals at many firms are now expected to:

• Manage and coordinate electronic discovery
• Coordinate risk assessments
• Perform due diligence (delineated by practice area)
• Coordinate/manage compliance in specific/key areas
• Handle litigation activities (e.g. drafting pleadings, preparing for the trial, etc.)
• License and contract negotiation
• Monitor intellectual property
• Draft minutes
• Handle project, task and document management

This isn’t an either-or proposition. Oh no, this is an all of the above proposition. Paralegals are expected to handle a massive list of to-dos.

A list that continues to grow.

The more efficient you are at completing this growing list of to dos, the easier it will be to produce the results you need.

Rely on:

1. Checklists, policies, procedures and protocols
2. Software tools, resources and training aids that increase productivity and provide leverage
3. A team of connectors, mavens and salespeople who improve your productivity

These three strategies keep you organized. They maintain efficiency and productivity. This seems so obvious. Why am I suggesting that you do this?

Because most of your peers aren’t doing this.

They’re not producing the volume of work that needs to be done and that’s simply due to a lack of the basics. It’s common for attorneys to make routine mistakes.

Best practice for paralegals #3:  Voluntary CLE

Continuing legal education should be an ongoing concern. A large body of knowledge gives you the tools you need to become indispensable to your firm. But where do you start, what should you learn first?

• Develop basic business skills so you’re able to identify tasks that need to be delegated by attorneys to you
• Improve your project, matter and task management skills
• Improve your communication skills (reading and writing). Work to communicate clearly and precisely
• Identify when you’ll need to ask attorneys to delegate key tasks to capable paralegals (you)
• Request additional legal training from your firm
• Identify ways to improve paralegal utilization your firm
• Help the attorneys in your firm identify tasks, projects and activities you can help them with

Continuing your legal education is the easiest way to increase the value you’re able to provide to your firm. This, in turn, gives you the negotiating power you need to increase the salary, benefits and perks you receive.

Your firm’s expectations are growing.

These expectations are growing in direct proportion to client demands. Firms are expected to produce a large volume of outstanding work. But firms are struggling under the weight of an ever-increasing workload. It’s simply too much for attorneys to bear on their own.

You’re needed more than ever.

Carrying this workload is an opportunity. It’s a chance for you to show your firm that you’re the indispensable paralegal professional you know yourself to be.

It isn’t complicated.

It all boils down to best practices. You’re a highly skilled legal professional. Consistently following best practices validates that claim. With the right approach and good habits, you’ll have what you need to meet your firm’s growing expectations.

Are your fees reasonable for your clients? How do they impact your firm’s realization rates?

It’s 2016.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP has just stated that it would boost it’s starting pay for junior lawyers to $180,000. Firms across the country scrambled to follow suit. Those increases have continued to today where an associate’s starting salary hovers at $190,000.

How did clients respond?

With protests. Clients complained against the rate increases firms were paying their associates because they know where the money will come from.

It comes from them.

Why clients hate rate increases

When Cravath increased associate salaries, Bank of America’s general counsel stated they were against the rate increase and that they weren’t going to pay for it.

“While we respect the firms’ judgment about what best serves their long-term competitive interests, we are aware of no market-driven basis for such an increase and do not expect to bear the costs of the firms’ decisions.”

It’s stressful when clients decide not to pay.

Yet it’s unavoidable.

There will be pushback. If you increase your rates in an attempt to ensure you’re paid what you’re worth your clients will resist.

Why?

Because there’s an unconscious bias lurking at the bottom of your client’s rate objections. An unreasonable bias that masquerades as fair and appropriate.

All rate increases are unreasonable.

The majority of your clients won’t admit this unpalatable truth but there it is. So how do you increase your rates, receive reasonable fees for your expertise and ensure realization rates say high?

You follow best practices.

This means relying on the eight factors listed in Rule 1.5 of the ABA’s Model for Professional Conduct.

1. The time and labor required for the matter, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill necessary to handle the matter properly.
2. The likelihood, if apparent to the client, that the acceptance of the particular employment will preclude other employment by the lawyer;
3. The fee customarily charged in the locality for similar legal services;
4. The amount involved and the results obtained;
5. The time limitations imposed by the client or by the circumstances;
6. The nature and length of the professional relationship with the client;
7. The experience, reputation, and ability of the lawyer or lawyers performing the services; and
8. Whether the fee is fixed or contingent.

This is the foundation.

These are important factors that every attorney and law firm should follow. As a whole though, these factors aren’t as specific as they could be. Our focus here is (a.) setting reasonable fees (which is quite broad) and (b.) improving firm realization rates.

How do we do that?

Well, the solution is both obvious and counterintuitive.

You communicate and prepare.

I realize this advice sounds generic so we’re going to unpack this a bit. Simply telling associates to “go ahead and discuss things with clients ahead of time” isn’t all that helpful. These strategies need four ingredients to work effectively.

1. Setting reasonable fees can be a frustrating and subjective endeavor. If you don’t have a clear approach it’s going to be difficult to get the results you need from your clients.
2. The clients you target aren’t always the clients you accept. You need to make an important distinction between the clients you want versus the clients you have.
3. When what and how are just as important as asking “how much?” If your timing is poor, clients are far more likely to resist. When it’s time to pay they may be unwilling or unable to comply with your request.
4. Circumstances tend to constrain our behavior. It’s difficult to say no to the wrong client when they have deep pockets, the right connections or incentives you want. Sometimes though, it’s important to say no even when we don’t want to.

With that in mind let’s take a look at our best practices.

Best practice #1: Disqualify your prospects quickly

The first step in determining reasonable fees begins with choosing the right clients. When it comes to the word “reasonable,” there’s a great degree of variance.

Why is that?

Your services are only as valuable as you and your clients say they are.

What?

Some firms bill on a sliding scale representing indigent clients for $21 to $250 per mo. Other firms bill a rate of $1,105 per hour sending clients invoices in the tens of thousands for services rendered in a given month.

What’s the difference?

Both of these firms work exclusively with clients who meet the following criteria:

They’re willing and able to buy.

That’s it. This seems so obvious, doesn’t it? Yet it’s the one thing many firms refuse to do. Most firms do the opposite. They take on clients who appear to have the money for their services. They do incredible work for their clients. These clients then decide not to pay.

This is unnecessary.

Here are a few disqualification strategies you can use to dramatically increase your realization rates.

• Tie practice areas, fee arrangements and client demographics together. If you prefer to be paid on retainer identify the demographics of clients who can afford to do that. Identify the practice areas most likely to produce that result. Ask qualifying questions during your client intake process. Disqualify prospects who aren’t a good fit.
• Identify two to three firms who are a better fit for unqualified prospects. Refer your unqualified prospects to these firms. This gives you the chance to provide value to prospects who aren’t a good fit for your firm. But it also helps you avoid billing disputes and payment issues down the road.
• Be selfish with your time. Choose to share time with prospects who only meet your predetermined criteria. If you need a larger retainer or upfront fees bill prospects for an upfront consultation. This enables you to separate serious prospects from entitled time wasters or hungry knowledge vampires.

This strategy requires discipline, targeting, timing and a strong ability to say No. It’s heresy to the attorneys and law firms who are desperate for revenue and afraid of losing the business.

The effects on your realization rates:

• You attract clients who (a.) have the money/resources to pay for your services and (b.) are willing to pay for your services
• You decrease billing disputes and collection activity
• Dramatically reduce the number of write-offs, write-downs and discounts you have to issue to keep clients
• Increased realization rates at all three levels as you attract clients who value your work enough to pay full price for your services

See the difference?

Best practice #2: Spell your terms and conditions out first

Clients hate surprises.

Negotiate a desired rate/range, ideal budget and the mechanisms for adjusting that rate at the start of your relationship. This is not what happens at many firms.

Clients are simply told.

Many firms negotiate with a “take it or leave it” approach – “if you want my services this is the price.” If clients are desperate, and you’re the best candidate, many will go along with it. But this certainly doesn’t produce the kind of lasting loyalty you need to build a stable book of business.

Wait just a minute here.

Am I suggesting that you let clients dictate the price they should pay for your time, hard work and expertise?

Absolutely not.

I’m suggesting that you use No to negotiate with your clients.

Here’s the problem.

You really can’t use the word “No.” It’s a kind of currency you’ll need to spend carefully. Use the word No directly one too many times and you risk alienating your prospects before they’ve had a chance to become clients.

This is complicated.

How do you say no without saying no? Here’s are a few strategies I’ve gleaned (and revised) from Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take:

1. The deferral. I’m only able to take on two additional clients at this time. If you’re not ready to move forward maybe you can check in again in # months? (for prospects who may not be serious)
2. The delay. Would you prefer to pay for X now or later? Paying now would require a larger upfront fee but would be cheaper overall. Paying later could be done in installments (via AFAs) but would be more expensive in the long term
3. The bridge. I have two associates in my firm, (Stanford and Earnest) who are specialists in IP Law. Getting their help on this would require an additional $8,000 in the next week but would save you $43K to 96K in hard costs over the next five months. What would you like to do?
4. The referral. I’d like to work with you on this. I feel that Steven Mitchell, a partner at Rosenberry, Pasquale and Reinstadt, would do a much better job with your taxation matter. Can I put you in touch with him?

You can also use:

• The stipulation. I can handle 2/3 of the issues in your case at the budget you’ve set. How do you want to handle the 1/3 that’s left?
• The alternative. Here are a few low cost alternatives we can use to handle the minor details of your case. This would ensure you have the budget needed to handle major items like X.
• The option. Would you prefer to fight this and go to trial or settle and make this go away quickly? You’ll need $350K to fight this and $127K to settle. Fighting this will take 8 mo. (or more) settling can be done in 2 mo. or less.

See what’s happening?

These examples give you the chance to tie your client’s deepest desires to their wallet (budget). This is psychological framing at its finest. It also isn’t a trick or a form of manipulation. If your clients want a specific result or outcome they’ll need to provide you with the resources to accomplish that.

The effects on your realization rates:

• Saying No frames the conversation appropriately. It shows clients you’re willing to work with them but you have limits on what you’re willing or able to do for them.
• Your willingness to say No, to walk away triggers loss aversion, increasing their willingness to work with you in good faith.
• Their desire to keep you on the hook, to avoid losing you increases the likelihood of improved realization rates and greater profit per partner/employee
• Setting the terms and conditions ahead of time dramatically reduces billing disputes and clients haggling over rates

Are your fees are unreasonable?

Some prospects think so.

Your services are only as valuable as you and your clients say they are. Most prospects should feel that your fees are unreasonable. If they’re not a fit they should be disqualified.

What about your realization rates?

Most firms have far more control over their realization rates than they realize. Follow the right steps and your firm’s revenue and profits will skyrocket. Start by:

• Identifying the blind spots that hurt your firm’s realization rate
• Optimizing your firm’s realization rate
• Improving your firm’s realization efficiency
• Outlining the right strategies you’ll need to avoid billing disputes

Rule 1.5 is the foundation.

Your firm can build on that foundation. With the right communication and a bit of preparation you’ll have the strategies and tactics you need to boost your firm’s revenues and realization rates, no disputes needed.

Work used to be all about labor.

If a problem needed to be solved most firms simply threw more hours at their challenges. It’s no surprise then that the results were often hit or miss.

That’s no longer the case.

Today there’s a significant demand for legal technology. Investors have caught wind of this trend and they’re rushing to meet (fund) the demand for legal tech.

Are investors really all that interested in law firms?

They’re not focused on firms.

They’re focused on legal tech. That’s the automatic assumption most readers make when they hear about the seismic shifts taking place in the legal profession. While most think “The investors are coming” attorneys ask “What about ABA model rule number 5.4?” As you know rule number 5.4 states (among other things):

“A lawyer shall not form a partnership with a non-lawyer if any of the activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law.”

Investors are focused technology that serves two distinct audiences.

1. Consumers who are interested in highly effective, low cost legal technology to solve routine or mundane problems like declaring bankruptcy, drafting a will, etc.
2. Law firms that are in desperate need of sophisticated tools. Resources that enable them to produce the highest quality work faster and in greater volume.

What’s driving demand?

Why are investors betting big on legal technology these days? There’s a simple, one-word answer that explains this demand in a nutshell.

Clients.

Clients have changed considerably over the last few decades. Firms have experienced a plethora of changes that developed slowly over time.

What sort of changes?

• Today, more and more clients are unwilling to pay for research costs
• More clients are unwilling to pay for first-year/junior associates
• Clients are demanding alternative fee arrangements
• Clients expect firms to go (far) above and beyond the simple delivery of legal services
• Clients are quick to ask questions, quick to say No.
• More clients are refusing to pay their invoices in full or on time
• Firm fees are climbing as realization rates are free falling
• Clients don’t want to be sold an idea, they want to be part of building it

This list isn’t comprehensive.

But it’s meant to convey some key points. The legal profession has been (erroneously) viewed as one filled with “fat cats.” Professionals preying on their client’s goodwill and profiting due to some hidden largesse. This is true in the vast minority of cases.

You know the truth.

If you’re like most attorneys, you work incredibly hard for the business you receive. The competition is cutthroat. It seems there’s always downward pressure on your fees – even as demand and performance requirements increase.

Investors see it.

Investors are betting big on their ability to fix the problem

Not directly of course but with their money.

Investors believe there’s an opportunity to invest their way to the solution.

Think about it for a second.

Leading venture capital firms made key investments in 2018.

Legal technology investments: 2018
Logikcull ($25m)	CSDisco ($20m)
Everlaw ($25m)	LawGeex ($12m)
Seal Software ($30m)	Kira Systems ($50m)
LegalZoom ($500m)	Atrium LTS ($65m)

Here’s where things get interesting.

The volume of the investment in 2018 exceeded the volume in 2017. Yet there were 76 percent fewer deals done in 2018. What does this mean?

Better quality deals.

Investors are choosing carefully. They’re focusing on high-quality deals that are much more likely to produce results.

Here take a look.

See the difference?

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the investment landscape.

So what does this mean for attorneys? How does this affect law firms and the industry as a whole?

The majority of firms fail to innovate

Cue the eye rolls.

This sounds like a cute catchphrase doesn’t it? As if it’s a word that’s not grounded in the harsh reality you’re facing on a day-to-day basis.

It’s actually the opposite.

Here’s how Mark Cohen, legendary trial attorney and legal columnist at Forbes describes innovation.

“What is Innovation? It’s more than a catch-phrase.  ‘Innovation’ has several meanings dependent upon context. “The introduction of something new” is the Merriam-Webster definition. In business, ‘innovation’ is applying ideas to satisfy the needs and expectations of customers. Innovation is the causal connection between/among idea, application, adoption, and result—satisfied customers. Innovation produces results that benefit clients.”

Remember the list of changes I mentioned earlier?

There’s a long list of changes that have taken place over the last few decades. Clients have been trying to tell professionals in our industry that they’re dissatisfied. That they’re unhappy with the solutions firms in the past have offered them.

Most firms haven’t listened.

This is why we’ve seen such a large investment in legal tech. Investors are injecting capital in an effort to solve the problems/meet the needs of two distinct groups.

1. Consumers who are interested in highly effective, low cost legal technology to solve routine or mundane problems like declaring bankruptcy, drafting a will, etc.
2. Law firms that are in desperate need of sophisticated tools. Resources that enable them to produce the highest quality work faster and in greater volume.

Here’s how this affects you.

You have a choice to make. It’s an opportunity actually. Clients in the marketplace want innovation. They’re looking for firms that can deliver new, creative solutions. A way to relieve the mounting pressure they’re facing from a variety of sources.

Clients today are dealing with:

• A more litigious environment that has become difficult to navigate
• New legal threats from a variety of sources
• An ever-growing web of complex laws, compliance requirements and expectations
• More pressure from outside forces in the form of competitors, predators and threats
• A dizzying array of data, details and procedures

The list goes on and on.

So here’s the crucial question. How can attorneys use this investor shift to benefit their firms?

1. Give clients the innovative solutions they need to solve their laundry list of complex problems. Focus your attention on the advocacy and on billing for true value versus simply invoicing for time. Meet each of your clients four needs.
2. Use emerging legal tech (i.e. practice management software) to create the leverage, value, outcomes and results your firm needs to grow. Instead of fighting legal tech, lean into it. Use software providers to grow your firm. Test low cost providers like LegalZoom. Create a map of their strengths and weaknesses.

You have an opportunity.

Most firms are trying to resist the change that’s already upon them. They’re trying to maintain the status quo, to maintain a traditional stance on how they practice law.

It’s not going to work.

Your clients are under pressure to change. Law firms (and the industry) are all under pressure to change. Investors are scrambling to meet the demand. Change isn’t coming, it’s already here.

Are you ready?

The law used to be all about labor

It used to be about your firm’s collective abilities, knowledge and expertise. If a problem needed to be solved most firms simply threw more hours at their challenges. The results were often hit or miss.

Not anymore.

Legal technology gives firms and clients the tools they need to solve complex problems efficiently. Investors have seen the opportunity. They’re investing their money in an attempt to meet the growing demand.

Are you?

If you haven’t moved to meet the demand there’s still time. You still have time to take advantage of the opportunity in front of you.

But you’ll need to act fast.

Your competitors are starting to act on this opportunity as well. The window of opportunity may close in time. There’s a significant demand for legal technology. With the right approach and technology as your ally, your firm will have the tools it needs to survive in any market.

But only if you start now.

Diving headfirst into legal tech solutions that you’re unfamiliar with can be a bit, disconcerting. It also can be counterproductive. A few early adopters are willing to take the inherent risks that come with trying something new.

But is it worth it?

If you start slowly, use the right tools and begin with a concrete plan the answer is a resounding Yes! Here are three practical ways to use legal tech solutions in your firm.

Legal Tech Solution #1: Outsourcing client intake

It’s common for most firms.

Their utilization rates aren’t where they need to be. It’s common for firms to lose a significant amount of billable time to non-billable tasks.

A large task?

Client intake and customer service. Just think about it, with the right technology solution you’d be able to add an additional four to six hours to your day.

It’s reasonable.

How would you do it though? What are some practical legal tech solutions you could use to automate client intake and customer service?

• Sign up with email providers like Infusionsoft, MailChimp or ConvertKit. Create an autoresponder sequence via the tools on their platform. Create a sequence for prospects who contact your firm via your contact, landing, and landing pages. When customers fill out a form they automatically receive helpful and valuable
• Provide your clients with 24/7 availability via a Chatbot. Doing this gives you the ability to (a.) handle client intake, enabling you to separate serious prospects vs. tire kickers and time wasters. (b.) provide outstanding support to clients sorting them by need, urgency, motive or intent.
• Manage prospective clients with a CRM tool that’s able to integrate directly or via third party tools like Zapier. Use the above tools to prioritize the prospects who have earned your attention and focus. Use top performers like HubSpot, PipeDrive or ZohoCRM or specialized tools like Law Ruler and Onsite CRM that are specially tailored for the legal industry.
• Invite serious candidates to schedule a meeting with you automatically via automated scheduling tools like Calendly. These candidates are flagged by your CRM system as serious, qualified and interested. They’ve jumped through the appropriate hoops and they’ve earned your firm’s attention.

Can you see it?

Using four types of tools, with reasonably priced options, you can maximize the number of leads your firm generates and improve your firm’s utilization rate, simultaneously.

Legal Tech Solution #2: Automate review management

It’s a rainmaker’s secret weapon.

Reviews.

They look different depending on your firm’s practice area and the overall level or size if your firm. AmLaw 100 firms rely on media mentions from noted influencers and extensive coverage in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Small to medium firms rely on reviews in specialized platforms like Avvo, Yelp and Google Reviews.

They’re both considered reviews.

Reputation management tools make it easy for firms to request, receive and promote five-star reviews. This review management platform allows you to automate the process from A to Z.

Here’s a practical strategy you can use to win more clients.

• You’ve finished your work with a client. You email, text or post a message with one simple question. “On a scale of 1 to 5 stars, 5 being excellent, how likely are you to recommend us?” This question helps you to identify clients who are hostile, apathetic and believers.
• Create an email or text autoresponder sequence that enables you to reach out to clients automatically. You’ll be able to consistently request reviews without being involved directly. If clients are open to it, you’ll receive reviews (and new clients via Google search and review platforms like Yelp) without being involved directly.
• Send hostiles to an internal review form. These clients provide you with the feedback your firm needs to grow automatically. Send friendlies to the review site of your choice (e.g. Avvo, Yelp, Google Reviews) where they’ll be able to share their story with other interested prospects.
• Thank friendlies and hostiles for their willingness to share their feedback. Integrate their feedback, then show both groups that you took the time to act on their feedback.

Why does this matter?

Because 91 percent of your prospective clients read reviews. Because 84 percent of them trust reviews as much as a recommendation from a friend.

Which firms stand out? See what I mean?

Legal Tech Solution #3: Project and document management

This is an easy win.

Who’s responsible for filing paperwork? Are attorneys expected to add billables to their invoices and send them out themselves? Or is this something your support teams are expected to handle?

Was it handled?When? Were the appropriate tasks handled per firm specifications? These aren’t always easy questions to answer. However, they’re details that many firms feel they’re not able to answer.

How can legal tech help?

1. Choose a project management tool that (a.) integrates with, or is part of your practice, document and time management software. This will enable you to streamline the transfer/sharing of data from one portion of your tools to the next, and (b.) provides you with the security you need to protect both your projects and the data under your care.
2. Create a standardized list of steps or procedures for common tasks and to-dos. It’s common for owners/shareholders at small firms to operate from memory. That works until you have associates looking to you for guidance and instruction.
3. Save these procedures in your document management system. Be sure to set the right permissions for them so appropriate teams can accept, review and download the documents you’ve created. You’ll want to make sure the details and procedures list tells the whole story. Just enough to know what to do, but not so much that your instructions become overwhelming.
4. Create an email autoresponder sequence for your team. When you hire a paralegal, work with a virtual assistant or freelancer have them subscribe (via a form) to your email autoresponder sequence. Do the same thing for interns, associates and partners. Point them to the content in your document management system that will (a.) show them what you expect and what needs to be done, (b.) outlines how and when important tasks should be done, and (c.) the resources and tools they’ll need to perform well.

Did you catch that?

You can use these legal tech solutions in your small firms to attract clients, train employees and improve productivity. With the right tools, you can boost realization and firm utilization rates. You can decrease stress and burnout. You can keep your teams focused on the elements that matter most.

Serving your clients well.

All of this with a few simple tools and a little bit of up-front preparation.

Legal tech solutions should be productive

If you’re aware of the risks ahead of time it will be. Most firms dive head first into legal tech solutions they’re unfamiliar with. It’s no wonder then, that they experience so much transitional pain. It’s completely reasonable that things are difficult and counterproductive.

These firms don’t have a plan.

But you do.

With the right approach and a clear expectation of the results you hope to achieve, your firm will have the legal tools and resources it needs to boost firm performance, practically.

The legal tech landscape is changing yet again as technology shifts to accommodate industry changes and client demands. Ironically, adopting legal tech trends can be challenging for firms that aren’t natively digital.

Most firms aren’t ready.

But that’s changing rapidly. Research shows firms are beginning to adopt a forward-looking stance to remain competitive. For most firms, this is simply exchanging one problem (outdated tech) for another (inadequate tech).

These changes in legal tech trends adoption is an enormous opportunity

It’s a chance for you to create and then extend a sizable lead over your peers and competitors. Forward-looking firms will find they’re able to command higher fees. They’ll achieve still higher realization rates and their profit per partner/employee will rise.

Let’s take a look at the changes beginning to take hold in 2019.

Legal Tech Trends #1: Teams + Tech = Leverage

Firms of the future will embrace this simple formula to grow their firms.

These firms will dramatically outclass their peers. This isn’t simply hyperbole talking. It’s a frightening reality that will soon overtake the legal industry.

How?

• AI + tech + teams means firms are able to consistently triple their workload year-over-year. They’ll be able to produce far more work than outdated firms can accomplish on their own.
• Tech + teams produce fewer These firms will be able to set firm-wide guidelines, ensuring that their technology and tools enforce these standards, automatically.
• Law firms will produce higher quality work. With the combination of machine learning and big data, firms will be able to set and challenge precedents successfully. They’ll be able to outperform their peers consistently while spending less than their outdated competitors.

Contrary to current perceptions, these firms don’t see AI as the bogeyman who’s here to steal their prominence and opportunities.

They realize they need AI.

They see it as an important change maker that will make their firm stronger, smarter, faster and more responsive to threats.

 

More and more firms will embrace AI as a way to boost firm performance.

Legal Tech Trends #2: Always on, ever present, on-demand performance

The game has changed.

Firms and their employees are now expected to produce exceptional results whether they’re in or out of the office. Associates are expected to perform regardless of their location or their access to data. Where has this change come from?

From mobile and cloud computing.

Data from Statista shows mobile usage continues to rise.

Find more statistics at  Statista

The surprising change? Users will expect a more intuitive response from their email clients.

This shift is quietly taking place behind the scenes.

Alex Babin, founder of the AI email client Zero, made predictions about the ubiquitous nature of email and the coming changes.

“Email will finally catch up to other workflow systems to make lawyers more productive and profitable thanks to automation and artificial intelligence (AI). By harnessing machine learning and natural language processing technology, critical information that exists inside of every email will be analyzed to help prioritize what really matters, and automate administrative tasks like filing and time tracking.

For example, mobile devices will automatically capture email interactions with clients—recovering billable time that used to be lost. The device’s accelerometer will even detect when you’re working or paused. Manual time-entry will go the way of the fax document.”

That’s email, what about the cloud?

Gartner forecasts that the worldwide cloud services market will grow by 17.3 percent in 2019. The obvious driver of this growth? Customers! Customers are realizing the cloud provides significant benefits to small and medium law firms.

Firms who are able to migrate to the crowd will see dramatic improvements in:

• Utilization
• Billing / collection realization
• Profit per partner/employee
• Client retention
• Profit per client/project
• Expenses (individual and firm-wide)

Expect a sharp uptick in the number of firms using cloud-based practice, document and time management software as both mobile and cloud usage continues to rise.

Legal Tech Trends #3: Stronger security posture

Law firms are in a pressure cooker. Many are struggling under the weight of steadily increasing demands from their clients, competitors and their industry.

But there’s more.

As we’ve seen from the data, cybercriminals are going after law firms aggressively. In fact, 80 percent of the largest firms have been victims of a data breach. Combine this with the fact that many firms (and their associates) are unprepared for the aftermath. This makes a data breach devastating for small to medium law firms.

Firms need a strong security posture.

But many firms aren’t sure how to go about achieving that. The ABA’s cybersecurity survey found:

“When assessing their law firms’ preparedness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being fully prepared and 1 being not prepared at all, the average response was 3.5. In general, firms are not feeling prepared to deal with the threats facing them.”

In fact, Verizon found legal professionals were the easiest to hack.

This has already begun to change.

Sophisticated firms are realizing the additional demands placed on their shoulders requires additional security.

The data tells us.

Gartner forecasts information security spending to exceed $124 billion in 2019. These legal tech trends are happening now. Savvy law firms are moving with industry changes rapidly in an attempt to outpace their competitors.

Are you?

Adopting some of these legal tech trends present an enormous opportunity, but only if you’re ready

Most firms aren’t concerned with these legal tech trends. For them, it’s business as usual. If you’ve read this far you know the truth. You’re prepared to go with the flow of change.

You’re a forward-looking firm after all.

Now’s your chance to act on it. To shift your firm to the cloud. To fully embrace mobile as it continues to grow in usage and popularity. If you’re a forward-looking firm, you’ll be able to command higher fees. You’ll achieve higher realization rates. Your profit per partner/employee will rise.

But only if you act now.

Savvy firms know the truth. Movement gets you ready. Don’t wait for the right moment, create it. Jump in with both feet and you’ll find you’re prepared for the shifting sands of change in legal tech trends.

Is it possible for your small to medium firm to consistently outperform larger, more established competitors? To produce the kind of performance, value and profit and your firm needs to grow rapidly?

It’s tough at times, isn’t it?

Many attorneys are looking for a way to produce stellar work and irresistible results for their clients. There’s a simple platform top performing firms are using to run circles around their larger and better-funded competitors.

I’m talking about the cloud and cloud software.

What exactly is ‘the cloud?’

If you’re a sophisticated professional you already know what I mean by “the cloud.” But, in the spirit of clarity, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page.

Here’s a simple definition of the cloud:

The cloud is a global network of remote servers that store data, run applications, and deliver services, allowing you to access information online from any internet-capable device.

These services differ dramatically from on-premise software that’s installed locally on hardware you manage and control.

On-premise responsibilities
Applications	Data
Runtime	Middleware
O/S	Virtualization
Servers	Storage
Networking	Security

That’s a heavy burden for small-to-medium firms and it’s a lot to manage.  But these are the requirements needed to effectively protect your apps, data, environment and security.

Enter cloud software.

The cloud comes in three distinct flavors.

1. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) i.e. hosting companies like Rackspace and Amazon Web Services are self-service platforms that give you a significant degree of control and responsibility
2. Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) e.g. Google App Engine and Force.com enables sophisticated, medium-sized firms to instantly scale their technology and performance needs up or down depending on demand
3. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, Bill4Time, Microsoft Office 365, these provide firms with a vendor managed option that enables them to focus on running and managing their firm.

Here’s how these options are different.

This is the key.

This is the secret successful firms use to grow rapidly and safely. Using ‘the cloud,’ firms are able to boost their firm’s performance dramatically in key areas such as:

• Utilization
• Billing / collection realization
• Profit per partner/employee
• Client retention
• Profit per client/project
• Expenses (individual and firmwide)

Is this a hard sell? Not at all.

Cloud software eliminates many of the large burdens authorities expect firms to carry.

But how?

How does cloud software boost your firm’s performance

What’s so special about the cloud?

To answer this question, we need to take a look at some of the struggles firms are dealing with today. These issues are the natural outworkings of on-premise software.

What sort of struggles are we talking about?

Access

• Attorneys lose 2.3 hours a week searching for (not finding) documents and files
• According to AIIM, 81 percent of law firms struggle with sharing information across multiple platforms (e.g. mobile, tablet and desktop)
• An IDC whitepaper found attorneys and firm knowledge workers lose an additional 2 hours per week due to document management challenges
• Firms lose an additional $9,071 per person, per year and they experience a 8 percent decrease in firm productivity

Timekeeping/billings

• Firms using spreadsheets to track billable time lose $86,294 to $106,294 per person, per year
• Attorneys who wait till the end of the month to record their time overbill their clients by 23 percent
• Attorneys lose 50 to 70 percent of their income if they wait one week to record their time
• AffinityLive found firms lost an additional $50,000 per person, per year due to insufficient time tracking
• Attorneys spend (lose) 6 hours per day on nonbillable work
• Hourly rates at firms continue to climb while realization rates continue to fall

Security

• According to a recent study, 70 percent of IT managers surveyed “know or believe that users (employees) have business (client) data in their own personal file-sharing accounts.”
• A LogicForce report found 77 percent of firms surveyed do not have cybersecurity insurance, 95 percent were non-compliant with their own security policies and 100 percent were non-compliant with client policies
• A whopping 53 percent of firms do not have a data breach incident response plan
• Attacks on law firms are on the rise. Approximately 80 percent of the largest firms in the United States have experienced a malicious attack
• Attacks on small firms are also on the rise. Stories like the 2017 attack on Moses Alfonso Ryan shows firms are easy targets for criminals but are often under-reported by media outlets
• A Verizon report found that legal professionals were the easiest to hack

Did you catch that?

The common thread behind each of these serious issues? It’s easy to simply hang the responsibility around the necks of individual attorneys, to suggest they’re failing in some way.

It’s not true.

There’s a more pressing issue at play here. It’s something more simple.

Attention.

Attorneys, like any professional, perform best when they’re able to focus their attention on the work they do on behalf of their clients. It really is about the advocacy.

Are they focused on that?

Not a chance. Most attorneys are focused on a bevy of nonbillable tasks. The administrative, managerial and business development tasks they’re required to do to maintain or exceed performance standards.

Attorneys are pulled in multiple directions

It’s constant.

There’s a never-ending demand on attorneys to remember everything, to please everyone. If you’re running a small firm, the bulleted list above isn’t a list of everything you have to manage.

Not even close.

Here’s a question though. Would you have the mental bandwidth, the ability to solve each of the above issues using brainpower alone? Would you be able to do that and take exceptional care of your clients?

It’s an unreasonable ask, right?

This is why the cloud matters to law firms. The cloud enables you to solve the underlying problem at play, the common thread lurking behind each of these challenges. How you ask?

With software.

Wait just a minute here. On-premise software, applications installed at your location can provide the same functionality as cloud software, right? If that’s actually case, there’s an obvious question.

Why do I need cloud software?

The subtle weakness of on-premise software

Everything depends on you.

As we’ve seen above, it all depends on you. Does your vendor provide you with a consistent stream of updates and support? That’s fantastic.

It just isn’t all that helpful.

• You have to update your operating system.
• You’ll have to manage licensing, patches and updates
• You’re responsible for updating your anti-virus and malware detection tools
• You’re responsible if a crisis takes your system down/offline
• If you lose your client’s data you’re solely responsible
• You’re responsible for securing and protecting your (firm/client) data, apps and environment
• You’re responsible for backups and archives

A failure on any of these fronts means:

• You’re solely responsible/liable for any failure
• If you fail, your firm may not be able to continue to operate unimpeded
• Clients will naturally hold you responsible for any failure
• You’ll need to navigate the post-failure landscape dealing with the publicity, legalities, optics and framing of your situation

You can do it with on-premise software. But only if you have the right technology, tools and team to support you. Here’s why that’s still a problem.

Attention.

You’re still required to focus a significant amount of your time and attention on these details.

Cloud software won’t save your firm

It will build your firm.

What’s the difference? Firm saving behavior typically involves patching behavior, putting temporary stop gaps in place to compensate for poor habits and behavior.

Here’s an example from a case study.

“Lawyers would send me their time every month by email and would come in all different formats and all different conventions and levels of granularity. And even the units would vary somewhat. Some would use a tenth of an hour or some would use quarter hours, some would use a third of an hour, it was a mess…” 

– Benjamin Lieber, Managing Partner, Potomac Law Group

The attorneys in Lieber’s firm would send him their time sheets in a variety of formats and conventions. Think about the difficulty involved with converting that. Then there’s the issue of reconstructive billing. Attorneys would reconstruct (guess) their time at the end of the month.

Remember the issues I mentioned earlier?

• Firms using spreadsheets to track billable time lose $86,294 to $106,294 per person, per year
• Attorneys who wait till the end of the month to record their time overbill their clients by 23 percent
• Attorneys lose 50 to 70 percent of their income if they wait one week to record their time
• AffinityLive found firms lost an additional $50,000 per person, per year due to insufficient time tracking
• Attorneys spend (lose) 6 hours per day on nonbillable work
• Hourly rates at firms continue to climb while realization rates continue to fall

How would cloud software deal with these issues?

• Firm time tracking would be automatic
• Time tracking is recorded as-it-happens, never reconstructed
• As-it-happens timekeeping would add an immediate revenue boost of 50 to 70 percent (or more)
• Tasks and projects would be automatically converted to time entries and billed appropriately
• Descriptive line items and reminders regarding billing guidelines would reduce billing disputes increasing collection realization rates further
• Firm utilization rates would improve dramatically as attorneys were able to reduce nonbillable time lost to administrative work (e.g. filling out time sheets or creating invoices)

It’s an easy way to immediately boost your firm’s revenue.

How do I know?

Benjamin Lieber shares the proof. His virtual law firm achieved an incredible 1233 percent growth, growing from 7 to 80 attorneys in eight years. Would on-premise have achieved the same results?

The likelihood of success is low.

How do we know?

Clearspire.

Clearspire was a venture-backed competitor. They raised more than five million dollars. They opened an office just down the street from the White House. They received regular write-ups in The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. They were a virtual law firm flush with cash.

What did they do with all their cash?

They decided to build Coral, their very own billing, document and practice management platform. Their goals with Coral were ambitious.

They built their on-premise software/platform.

Where are they now?

Out of business.

Their law firm needed to focus on the advocacy. They decided instead to focus on building their own on-premise software platform. It killed their business within the first four years of opening.

Potomac used the cloud to grow.

They achieved incredible growth, producing value for their clients and the partners in their firms.

Cloud software makes meteoric growth possible

Is it possible for your small to medium firm to consistently outperform larger, more established competitors? To produce the kind of performance, value and profit and your firm needs to grow rapidly?

It’s completely possible.

With the cloud computing and a proven platform, your firm will have the structure and support it needs to produce stellar work and irresistible results for your clients.

I’m talking about the cloud.

Do what top performers do. Use cloud software and your small size to run circles around your larger and better-funded competitors. Work with a trusted provider. Shift your attention to the advocacy, to your clients, to the details that matter most. You’ll find success becomes predictable and attainable.