Merhawi Kidane

5 Internal Policy Strategies To Ensure a Successful Practice

July 6, 2018 By Merhawi Kidane Leave a Comment

Your practice needs a dependable set of policies to ensure that you continue to turn a profit and aren’t letting anyone take advantage of your firm.

Here are 5 policy strategies that to consider, and in turn, establish within your firm:

Being transparent
Having proper intake procedures
Strengthening your client communications
Having a document retention policy
Procedures in place to keep up with all of your appointments and deadlines

1. Transparency

A lack of transparency frustrates your partners because they want to be filled in on what’s going on at your firm, especially in terms of knowing where your money is being spent.

To get around this, adopt an expense policy at your firm so you don’t have to worry about upsetting anyone.

For a better idea, take a look at these 10 tips from Concur for creating an expense policy: (source)

Keep it Simple

The policy is there to explain what employees can and can’t claim on expenses, so it’s in your best interest to keep the rules simple so that they’re easily remembered.

Make it Flat

Make sure that everyone in your organization (including the higher-ups) are complying with the rules set in place, if not, your team won’t take it seriously.

Make it Fair and Flexible

An expense policy doesn’t mean that your team can’t put anything on their account when they go travel, make sure that your policy makes it clear that spending sensibly is still acceptable.

Keep it Updated and Make it Easy to Find

Make sure that you’re regularly updating your policy as legislation changes as well as making your policy easy to find online so that it can be easily referenced.

Emphasize the Positives

Make it clear why rules exist to your team so that it’ll be easier to enforce them.

Get Buy-In

Have a discussions with your stakeholders so that you can decide together whether revisions are fair or not.

Give Managers Tools to Enforce the Rules

Train your managers on the policy and how to apply it, along with instilling a system in place that flags anything that’s out of policy so individuals can actually submit a claim.

Use Sensible, Localized Rules

If your team is going to stay in San Francisco, than they will surely rack up a bill that is much larger than if they went to another city with a cheaper cost of living. So ensure that your expense policy takes these variations into account.

Pay Promptly

If employees have paid for expenses out of pocket, it’s best to pay them back as quickly as possible as to avoid causing any stress.

Don’t Forgive the Vat

Businesses can claim Vat only if their are properly documented receipts. So make sure that you keep your receipts or, at the very least, take a picture of them.

2. Proper Intake Procedures

Intake forms help determine the important information that a lawyer needs to properly assess their client’s situation and with coming up with the best ways to help them.

Here are some best practice procedures for intake forms (source):

Use your website as a marketing tool, not an intake tool.
Automate follow ups with drip emails.
Streamline data entry with online questionnaires.
Speed up retention times and improve conversion rates by offering e-signatures.

3. Client Communication

You don’t want complaints from your clients regarding your firm’s inability to communicate properly.

That’s why you should take the time to have a well-documented strategy regarding client communication that your associates and partners can refer to.

Here are some best practice procedures regarding client communication that can help you jumpstart your own strategy:

Have a dedicated receptionist so that prospective clients are able to speak with an actual customer.
Be attentive with clients and let them know when you can’t respond within 24 hours.
Set reasonable expectations so that your clients understand your responsiveness.
Educate your associates on the best practices for communicating in the digital world along with how to properly manage personal information.

4. Document Retention Policy

Your firm holds a lot of very important information regarding the private lives of many people, so it’s important that you have policies in place regarding discarding information that are no longer relevant.

Here are two rules to follow so that you don’t find yourself in any sticky situations:

Follow the state/federal laws or other regulations regarding your documents.
Assume that all of your documents will be subjected to a lawsuit sometime or another.

5. Keeping Track of Your Important Appointments and Deadlines

One common complaint that clients have regarding their attorneys is that they end up missing crucial appointments and deadlines that end up costing them their case.

Make sure that you’re clear on whether you prefer to use a physical calendar or an electronic one.

If you do choose to use a calendar software tool, you may want to consider using anyone of these:

Calendly

G2 crowd link: https://www.g2crowd.com/products/calendly/reviews

YouCanBook.me

G2 crowd link: https://www.g2crowd.com/products/youcanbook-me/reviews

Doodle

G2 crowd link: https://www.g2crowd.com/products/doodle/reviews

Last thoughts

The policies listed above work to ensure that your firm is able to provide the best possible service to its clients all while not hurting your reputation.

Make sure to go through each one to better understand what it entails as well as making sure that your associates understand what they will need to do.

5 Affordable Bookkeeping Software Solutions for Law Firms

July 2, 2018 By Merhawi Kidane 1 Comment

Whether you’re running a virtual law firm or a brick & mortar location, you need a bookkeeping software solution that can help you conduct the following:

Better understand the amount of money coming in as well the expenses it takes to keep your firm going.
Have your colleagues and associates access important information whenever their physically away from the office.
Give accurate reports down to the last detail, accounting software is built to be accurate and reliable down to the last detail.
Save time by generating statements, reports, and professional looking invoices instantly.

Now that you understand the benefits, here are some of the best performing bookkeeping software tools for law firms:

1. Quickbooks

Quickbooks is the leading accounting software for small businesses and gives you the ability to manage all of your finances with ease.

Capterra:

https://www.capterra.com/p/46497/QuickBooks/

G2 Crowd:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/quickbooks-online/reviews

Features:

Track bill status, record payments, and create recurring payments.
Pay multiple vendors and bills at the same time.
Create and send invoices from anywhere.
Set up recurring bills so you never have to worry about missing a payment.
Easily record & track bills you’ve paid by check or deposit.

Pricing

Simple Start: $10 per month
Essentials: $17 per month
Plus: $30 per month
Self-Employed: $5 per month

2. Xero

Xero provides accounting software with all the time-saving tools you need to grow your business. It’s secure, reliable, and provides you with 24/7 support for any issues.

Capterra:

https://www.capterra.com/p/169561/Xero/

G2 Crowd:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/xero/reviews

Features:

Create professionally made recurring invoices and receive updates whenever they’re opened.
Import and categorize your latest banking, credit card, and PayPal transactions.
Manage your business on the road with the Xero mobile app for iOS and Android.
Calculate payroll, pay employees and manage payroll taxes.
Accelerate your invoicing while tracking sales and purchases.

Pricing

Starter: $9 per month
Standard: $30 per month
Premium 10: $70 per month

3. Freshbooks

Freshbooks accounting software makes running your small business easy, fast, and secure so you can spend less time on accounting and more time focusing on your work.

Capterra:

https://www.capterra.com/p/141824/Freshdesk/

G2 Crowd:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/freshbooks/reviews

Features:

Impress your clients with professional looking invoices that take only seconds to create.
Organize and track your expenses easily so you’re aware of all of your spending habits.
Able to accept credit cards so you can get paid even faster.
Reports are easy to understand but powerful enough to let you know of any issues.
Provides a mobile app so you’re always able to stay connected with your clients and take care of your accounting.

Pricing

Lite: $15 per month
Plus: $25 per month
Premium: $50 per month

4. ZoHo

ZoHo helps you solve accounting challenges with the use of finance apps that take care of tasks like invoicing, expenses, subscriptions, etc.

Capterra:

https://www.capterra.com/p/110938/Zoho-People/

G2 Crowd:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/zoho-reports/reviews

Features:

Understand the ins and outs of your expenses and save money by understanding where you could spend less.
Ability to connect to your bank account so you can get a real-time update on your cash flow.
Use accounting reports like P&L, Balance Sheet, and cash flow statements to stay on top of your finances.
Allows you to use inventory tracking to manage your supplies as they come in and go out.

Pricing

Basic: $9 per month
Standard: $19 per month
Professional: $29 per month

5. Wave

Capterra:

https://www.capterra.com/p/124380/Payroll-by-Wave/

G2 Crowd:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/wave/reviews

Features:

Use receipt scanning and bank connections to track income and your expenses easily.
Use direct deposit and online pay stubs to pay your team effortlessly and with guaranteed accuracy.
Create and send professionally made invoices to your clients.
Set-up automatic payments as well as payment reminders so you never have to worry about missing a payment again.
Offers iOS and Android apps for sending invoices on the go.

Pricing

Credit card processing: 2.9% + 30 cents
Bank payment processing: 1% per transaction
Payroll: $20 base fee + $4 per employee

Last Thoughts

Bookkeeping software provide a variety of benefits for legal practices over the traditional simple excel sheets and pen and paper solutions. They help with:

Organizing your firm’s expenses
Understanding how your firm is spending money
Easing the process of sending professionally made invoices

When choosing a new software solutions, always make sure to do your own research on each brand to understand which would be the best fit for your firm. If you ever get stuck or need any recommendations on which bookkeeping platforms you should use, let us know!

5 Tasks That Every Lawyer Should Automate

June 26, 2018 By Merhawi Kidane 1 Comment

Automation is an ever-growing topic among workforces all over, and the legal industry needs to follow suit in order to reap the benefits of:

Saving time – Automation tools work to handle certain tasks for you, so you don’t have to spend extra time doing it yourself.
Cutting down on human error – Using an AI tool can help cut down on the human error that negatively affects your level of service, as well as your bottom line.
Being more organized – Many tools are centered around helping you keep track of important documents so you don’t have to worry about misplacing anything important.

Here are 5 tasks that every lawyer should automate along with the software tools that can help them do so.

1. Scheduling meetings & appointments

Finding a perfect time for you and your client to meet can be a difficult process. Scheduling software clearly shows your clients when you’re available so they can schedule a meeting at their convenience.

Example:

Simplybook.me

Features

Simple interface for your clients to pick appointment slots.
Sends booking confirmations, appointment reminders, and cancellation notifications as well as rescheduling notifications.
Able to sync with your Google and/or Outlook calendars.

Pricing

Free
Basic: $9.90 monthly
Standard: $29.90 monthly
Premium: $59.90 monthly

Alternatives

Calendly
Doodle.com

2. Time Tracking, Billing & Invoicing

Being able to track the time you spend with clients is crucial for ensuring that you don’t end up missing any revenue. With data detailing the amount of money lost each year due to poor timekeeping, time tracking software should be a staple in every firm.

Along with that, many lawyers are still sending their clients invoices through the mail in order to get paid. Billing & invoicing software works to send professional invoices to your clients so you can get paid faster.

Example:

Bill4time

Features

Makes it easy to calculate billable hours by using a timer connected to the software.
Ability to take a picture of the receipt, add it as an expense and send that information directly to the client’s account.
Removes the inefficiencies of precise tracking while also automating the translation of the tracked time to the billed time.
Makes it much easier to correctly track time, bill the client correctly, send out professionally made invoices, and provide a portal for the client to pay the law firm.

Pricing

Time & Billing: $29 monthly per user
Legal Pro: $49 monthly per user
Legal Enterprise: $89 monthly per user

3. Document Creation

You no longer have to spend time inputting data into the same documents each and every time. Using document creation software, you’re able to store & create templates for documents that are commonly used like pleadings, questionnaires, engagement letters, etc.

Example:

Templafy

Features

Includes a builder tool that makes creating complex documents easy.
Able to store instructions for each document so you can tailor each document to your audience.

Pricing

(Must contact them directly at https://www.templafy.com/pricing/ to find out more.)

Alternatives

Hotdocs
SpringCm

4. Client Intake

Thanks to tools like online questionnaires, web forms, and chatbots, lawyers no longer have to spend their time talking on the phone or in-person in order to get all the information they need from their client. They can use a software platform that will gather the information for them so they don’t have to do it themselves.

Example:

Lexicata

Features

Intuitive form builder that makes it easy to build a form with questions you want to ask your client.
Connects your forms to custom fields so you don’t have to manually input them yourself.
Forms are completely responsive for mobile devices so your clients can fill them out the second they receive them.

Pricing

Fill out the form at https://lexicata.com/pricing/ to learn more.

Alternatives

Drift

5. Macro Templates

Lawyers spend a lot of time repeatedly inputting the same text into separate documents. Macros work to insert long pieces of text from some of your most used types of content with simple shortcuts.

Example:

TextExpander

Features

Gathers all your snippets of info in one place so you don’t have to type them repeatedly.
Personalizes the messages you frequently send with custom fields and powerful automation.
All your snippets are instantly available on all of your devices so you can stay productive on the road.

Pricing

Life Hacker: $3.33 monthly per user
Team: $7.96 monthly per user

Closing thoughts on how lawyers can automate tasks

With the advances in automation available to the workforce, lawyers are doing themselves a disservice by not researching and using automation tools to the fullest. Make sure to review your own systems after going over this list to ensure that you aren’t holding yourself back with any outdated practices.

7 Software Tools That Are Essential For Every Virtual Law Firm

June 22, 2018 By Merhawi Kidane Leave a Comment

A crucial part of running a virtual law firm is ensuring that you’re efficiently using the software tools that can take care of the miscellaneous tasks which take up an unnecessary amount of time. That way, you can focus on what really matters, providing your clients with a great service.

With that said, when researching and evaluating your software tools, don’t make the mistake of:

Not listening to the opinions of your partners, paralegals, and administrators who will be actually using those tools.
Not doing your own research regarding the software (capterra.com, G2crowd.com, and trustradius.com are great places to start!)

Now let’s get into the 7 most essential software tools that every virtual law firm should be using:

1. Templafy

G2 Crowd page:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/templafy/reviews

G2 Crowd Category:

Feature highlights:

Digital documents are easily stored in Templafy’s digital library and are accessible both online and offline.
Simple platform allows anyone to easily update and deploy best practice content and manage access rights online.
Streamlines the creation of standard and complex documents by storing templates for important documents as well as boilerplate texts.

Price points:

Pricing is entirely dependent on your specific compliance and productivity needs, to get a more accurate figure, contact Templafy directly at https://www.templafy.com/pricing/.

Value add for lawyers:

No longer have to worry about misplacing important electronic documents or forgetting about them entirely.
Much easier for everyone on your team to access any piece of information that they need to.
No longer have to spend extended time rewriting similar documents or copy & pasting templates and boiler plates.

Alternatives:

2. Bill4Time

Capterra page:

https://www.capterra.com/p/114602/Bill4Time/

Capterra Category:

Feature highlights:

Helps you better manage the time spent with each client with the use of one-click timers, synced appointments, and time entries so you don’t miss out on any revenue.
Creates accurate, professionally detailed invoices as well as accepting payment from PayPal, Stripe and all major credit cards.
Allows you to easily access your business from anywhere and with any mobile device.

Price points:

Time & Billing: $27 a month per user
Legal Pro: $45 a month per user
Legal Enterprise: $80 a month per user

Value add for lawyers:

Don’t have to worry about forgetting to bill any time spent servicing clients.
Provides easy expense reporting so you can keep up with all work-related transactions.
Gives clients self-service access to their accounts so that all invoices, outstanding balances, and payment history is transparent.

3. Box

G2 Crowd Page:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/box/reviews

G2 Crowd Category:

Feature Highlights:

File-sharing, document portals, and workflow automation allow you to speed up your client onboarding process as well as strengthening your customer experience.
Makes collaboration amongst team members easy and intuitive by allowing you easily share files with one another as well as with client teams.

Price points:

Standard: $12.50 a month per user
Business: $20 a month per user
Business Plus: $25 a month per user
Enterprise: Contact them directly at https://www.box.com/pricing to find out more.

Value add for lawyers:

Easily keep track of all of your legal documents as well as giving you the ability to access and share them from wherever using any mobile device.
Eases the process of collaboration amongst associates that aren’t nearby.

Alternatives:

4. Boomerang

G2 Crowd page:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/boomerang-for-gmail/reviews

G2 Crowd category:

Email Tracking software

Feature highlights:

Allows you to schedule emails and send them out when you’d like to.
Sets up email reminders so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to send any follow-ups.

Price points:

Basic: free
Personal: $4.99 per month
Pro: $14.99 per month
Premium: $49.99 per month

Value add for lawyers:

Schedule to send out emails to clients in different time zones during their working hours.
Ability to set up email reminders so they don’t forget to send any follow-ups.

Alternatives:

5. Wisestamp

Capterra page:

https://www.capterra.com/p/153237/WiseStamp/

Capterra Category:

Email Signature Software

Feature highlights:

Nicely designed professional email signature that’s a step above the typical Gmail signature. (Example below)

Price points:

Basic: Free
Professional (removes promotional branding): $6.00 a month

Value add for lawyers:

More professional branding on each email you send out.
Clients will take you more seriously.

Alternatives:

6. Hellosign

G2 Crowd Page:

https://www.g2crowd.com/products/hellosign/reviews

G2 Crowd Category:

E-Signature Software

Feature highlights:

Able to fill out and sign within seconds without having to leave your Gmail browser or print anything out.

Price points:

Free: $0 per month
Pro: $13 per month when paid annually ($15 when paid monthly)
Business: $40 per month when paid annually ($50 when paid monthly)
Enterprise: Contact Hellosign at https://app.hellosign.com/info/pricing to learn more.

Value add for lawyers:

Saves lawyers time by not having to make them print out and scan each and every document just to sign them.

Alternatives:

7. Join.me

Capterra page:

https://www.capterra.com/p/175001/join-me/

Capterra category:

Video conferencing software

Feature highlights:

Easy screen sharing platform that allows you to get quality screen time with your clients by giving you a personalized URL to send to them.
Offers great audio as well as a customizable background for your meeting.

Price points:

Lite: $10 per month
Pro: $20 per month
Business: $30 per month

Value add for lawyers:

Have face to face meetings with clients quickly and with ease.

Alternatives:

Conclusion

Running a virtual law firm entails the use of many software tools to ensure that you aren’t being held back from your lack of a brick & mortar location. Luckily, there is a host of tools that can be found online in this day & age that can help you work through a number of different tasks.

So make sure that you’re going through this list to better understand which tools would be best for your firm.

Why Remote Work Will Help Your Law Firm In Ways You Never Imagined

June 19, 2018 By Merhawi Kidane Leave a Comment

The amount of remote workers has steadily been increasing over the years now and there’s no reason why the legal industry can’t also follow suit. As shown in the below graph from Gallup.com.

Remote work has the potential to help law firms deliver better service to their clients by:

Improving the productivity of their workers
Attracting better qualified candidates due to being a strong job perk
Collaborate more efficiently with team members
Increasing employee dependability
Reducing the money spent on in-office expenses

Take a moment to consider some of these opportunities for your firm, because despite the major paradigm shift for the modern law firm, remote work provides a major opportunity to better help serve your clients and your practice, if you’re flexible in how you choose to run your business.

1. No Distractions = Increased Productivity

Remote workers are able to pick their own environments that they know they’ll be productive in.

According to research, remote workers’ ability to be more productive boils down to them having the flexibility to work when they’re at their most productive as well as being able to put in extra hours when they need to and having a workspace where they know they won’t have to deal with any distractions.

2. Attract the Best Talent

Another benefit of remote work is that it’s seen as an attractive job perk and will aid you in bringing in top-tier talent.

Here are some reasons why candidates would be attracted to the idea of working remotely according to this article:

They’re able to work wherever they’d like, whether that’s an office, a coworking space, cafe, etc.
They save money because they don’t have to spend money on commuting to and from work each day, along with having to spend money on eating out and daily cups of coffee in the morning.
Workers are free to work when they’d like as well being able to stop and take breaks when they need to and do tasks they couldn’t do at home like do yoga and cook up a quick meal.
They value the sense of independence and want to work on their autonomous working abilities.

Richard Branson also recommends remote work for companies because it vastly increases the talent pool to choose from, anyone around the world is able to work a remote position while an in-office position limits its applicants to those in the area.

If you’re still in doubt, keep in mind that it’s not just small/solo law firms that are doing this, many of the larger, more traditional firms are also starting to adapt and offer remote opportunities.

3. Better Collaboration among your Team

A survey of remote workers found that 98% of respondents thought that working anywhere they choose boosted their levels of productivity, while 92% of respondents thought that video collaboration tools improved teamwork. Thanks to tools like Slack, Skype, Trello, and Bill4Time, collaborating with other team members is easier than ever before.

This graph from Remote.co details some of the collaboration tools that remote teams tend to use:

Here are some tips for making sure there aren’t any drops in your levels of collaboration when implementing a remote work program.

Get your team accustomed to using any of your preferred software tools before you fully go remote so that you know they’re comfortable using the platforms before they head off on their own.
Lay down clear expectations and guidelines for when they’re supposed to be available for communication.
Have a trial period where you send out test messages during the times where they’re supposed to be logged in so that you’re assured that they’re living up to the arrangements.
Let each team member know what their requirements are along with what you expect of them specifically.
Keep reports of employees that aren’t working up to standards and let them know that their remote work perks may be taken away if improvements aren’t made.

4. Lower rates of Absenteeism

When many employees call in sick, they’re often not too sick to work, just to sick for the office.

Here are some stats regarding how remote work can reduce unscheduled absences pulled from this article:

78% of employees who call in sick, really aren’t. They do so because of family issues, personal needs, and stress.
Unscheduled absences cost employers $1,800/employee/year; that adds up to $300 billion/year for U.S. companies.
Teleworkers return to work more quickly following surgery or medical issues.
Flexible hours allow teleworkers to run errands or schedule appointments without losing a full day.
Organizations that implemented a remote work program, noticed a 63% reduction in unscheduled absences.

5. Less overhead costs

How much do you spend on overhead expenses?

According to this article, this is how much the average company spends on office space and in-office snacks:

In-office snacks ($3,900 per year)
Office space ($71,300 per month)

While the average business spends about $200 per person, the typical law firm spends about $1000 per person on supplies due to the nature of the legal industry.

Last thoughts

Although remote work may not be ideal for every law firm, the reasons above state why it does offer an opportunity for improvement.

If you do want to give it a shot, begin by offering your employees one day a week to work from home and track their progress. If they prove that they’re able to handle the situation, then move on to one full week a month then so on until you feel comfortable going fully remote.