As technology continues its steady march toward innovation, the legal community faces a choice; either march forward into the 21st century and embrace change or stay behind and face extinction. Honestly, that’s not much of a choice. Law firms both large and small must march forward with technology and learn to structure their firms so that they can handle the on-going demands of the legal world.
With that being said, it’s interesting to note that many law firms seem to be resistant to the changing tides of technology. Even to this day, many small law firms still run their business with pen and paper. Some may even spring for early technologies such as Excel spreadsheets, word documents, or a calendar.
For a small firm or solo practitioner, these tools might work fine; for other firms, this strategy might just be a temporary measure, in either case, this strategy is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Too often, firms use excuses for not investing in legal management software. Excuses like, it’s too expensive or takes too much time to install. Even worse, the venerable “our current system works just fine,” simply don’t cut it, if you want to run a successful law firm today.
We get it, being a lawyer and running a law firm is an important work. It’s also time-consuming and complicated, with little-to-no time for thinking about things such as legal management software. However, the benefits of having legal management software are tremendous and essential to running a successful law firm in the long run. Here’s a look at some of those benefits.
Overall Improved Case Management Performance
Legal management software keeps law firms organized with all the relevant information about any case they happen to be working on in one centralized location. This allows lawyers to have easy access to any case information when necessary. It also helps prevent instances of misplaced files, lost notes, and jumbled emails.
Another bonus, legal management software allows you track calls, meetings, or other tasks that might go unnoticed or forgotten. Left an important note back at the office? No problem just access your legal management portal from your phone or laptop and breathe a sigh of relief. Legal management software is conveniently accessible, especially for lawyers who are constantly on-the-go.
Organization and Efficiency
The right legal management software can make a major difference in the structure and day-to-day activities of a firm. Legal management software is completely different than building and maintaining a website. In fact, legal management software helps streamline the business side of a law firm. It allows a firm to efficiently serve its clients by organizing files, providing meticulous case management, and tracking cases.
Using law office management software is essential to making sure that law firms are functioning properly and without interruptions. A good case management software saves you both time and money and helps you keep your clients happy.
Time-Saving Features
Legal work is often time-consuming. Even worse, its often repetitive, which increases the amount of time lawyers spend writing briefs or filing forms. Law office management software comes equipped with time-saving features, such as auto-fill for certain forms or templates for writing briefs and motions. These measures are effective for opening new cases easily and letting you spend more time with your clients. Some software programs even have an intake module.
Easily Track the Status Of Cases
Did you ever find yourself searching through a large stack of paperwork to find the tiniest update about a case? How did that feel? Was it frustrating? Time-consuming? It was probably all of the above, but with a legal management software program you can track and update cases easily.
Being a lawyer and running a law firm is no easy feat, so why make things more difficult by sticking with a system that costs you time and money? Investing in a legal case management software program may seem intimidating now but will benefit your firm tremendously over the long haul. Keep that in mind the next time you think “everything is fine just the way it is,” because there is always room for improvement.
