The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

Most law firms need to update their technology, and many are aware of it.     Of course, that doesn’t mean they will  actually  update their technology.   A primary  reason for the reluctance is simple: data transfers suck.   For example, i f you’re thinking of replacing your case management software ,  one of the main reasons you would hold off is because the data migration seems costly, and time-consuming.   That’s because  i t is .   But, what if you just kept your existing system, until it aged out?  That may sound crazy, but hear me out:     If you’re shifting from a premise-based system to a cloud-based system, you’re not actually paying anything any longer for the premise-based system, because it’s not charged on a subscription model , like cloud software is .  So, pick a date for when you’ll adopt your new cloud-based system, and start adding all new clients into that software from that dat...

As is clear by now, more efficient law firms make more money than inefficient ones.  The more work you can get through, the more money you make.  Of course, efficiency does not build up out of thin air: you need to work for it.   And, the best step to take, in terms of building law firm efficiency, is to map out everything you do.  Like, literally everything.  Each process you run should be attached to specific workflows = aggregated tasks lists.  This ensure s  that each case is moving forward in a specific way ; and, that’ s a great hedge against malpractice, because it decreases the potential to miss deadlines – even self-imposed ones.  It also makes for happier clients, because you (and your staff) are likely to be more on top of things, more communicative, and also able to provide faster, better results.     It may be daunting to think of mapping out every process in your law firm.  So, don’t bite off more than you can chew....

Every year, when you apply for or renew your malpractice insurance,  your provider asks whether you have a ‘dual calendar’ system -- like that’s good practice for running a law firm.     Only, it’s not.   The best practice of a ‘dual calendar’ system is a vestige from times past, when lawyers used paper calendars.  That second calendar was a hedge against missing a deadline, because the idea was that, if that item did not appear on one calendar, it would appear on the other.  Of course, managing two calendars, one as a ‘backup’ of sorts, could also lead to errors, if not diligently managed.  For example, if the time is recorded incorrectly on  on e calendar, which one is right?  It’s hard to know.  And, that potential for human error increases in a world where reliance on paper calendars is almost non-existent.  Trying to run a paper calendar in an electronic world does not make sense, even as a backup protocol.     And, t...

Mixed-use work and personal email accounts can quickly become ultra-confusing.  And yet, ma n y lawyers still utilize the setup, ostensibly  (and, ironically)  for ease-of-use/simplicity.   Modern law firms need to specialize in efficiency, more than any specific practice area.  To that end, your email should be  mission-critical to your business.  That messages in your inbox should be from your clients, from referral sources and colleagues, maybe from organizations  you belong to  (those should be pushed to a  subfolder, so you can them on your time ) and maybe from your staff (though, you should consider a separate communications tool, like  Slack , for that).   Anything else is static, including your personal emails, because it’s going to distract you from running your business.     That means that you need to push your personal email to another account.  The good news is that it’s not going to cost you anythi...