The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

These days, most law firms have invested in a law practice management software solution – that’s a relational database organized around matters ; and, it helps law firms to better organize their cases.  Law practice management, or case management, software often becomes the business software hub for lawyers that adopt it.   Most modern law practice management softwares now include ‘ client portals ’ , which allow law firms to share information with clients , via the software, through a secure platform.  Lawyers add information to the client portal; and, clients access the information by creating a unique login and password to the portal.  For the law firms, this is an effective and easy way to gather and share data with clients.  But, it’s also inherently more secure than using email for the same purpose, because that data never leaves the law practice management system – whereas email messages (including their content) may be exposed, as they pass through various servers on the way

Law firms only answer 1 of 3 phones call they receive, on average.  Couple that with the fact that 64% of law firm voicemails are not returned, and there isn’t much ‘ service ’ left in law firm ‘customer service’.     The good news is that this is all fixable.   And, it’s merely a matter of how you might array a number of call - answering options.   Although lawyers can pick up phones on their own (delighting leads and clients in doing so), that can be a difficult thing for solo and small law firms to do , because they run the risk of having each of those calls converted into a n open consultation.  The better solution is to have an administrative staffperson dedicated to answering calls; and, it’s better if that person is not a paralegal, who would be drawn off of performing billable work, in order to answer the phone.  But, perhaps the best option of all is to engage a virtual receptionist service, whose staff can follow scripts, and answer your calls 24 hours a day.  That also

Law firms don’t do price rises nearly enough.  Law firm pricing barely keep up with inflation, as it is.  And, with the current rate of inflation, law firm pricing is likely being lapped.   That means that, even if your gross law firm revenue is rising year over year, the purchasing power you accrue from that revenue is declining.     In case you’re having trouble reading between the lines here, it probably makes sense to at least consider a law firm price rise right now, like following Labor Day, or at the start of the new year.   Now, if you’re like most law firm owners, you probably haven’t raised your rates for quite some time.  And, let’s be clear: the goal is not to make up for lost time, but just to execute a successful price rise, for perhaps the first time ever .  So, what you’re not looking to do is to double your rates, or to try to sell a massive increase into your clientbase .  Aim lower; and, there may still be a significant benefit to your practice.  Even if you execut

Law firms often focus on gross revenue, when calculating how much they make.  But, there are expenses that go into running every business, including a law firm.  And, gross profits aren’t what you really make.  What you really make i s your gross profit minus the cost of expenses for running your business.  And, this can be expressed in a number of ways.  Knowing your profit margin is useful for finding out how much you ‘net’, in terms of revenue f rom your practice.  You could also consider the notion of an effective hourly rate = how much you make per hour, minus your case expenses.  Understand that, and you know what you truly make in your business.   Now, to figure out your profit margin, you need to have a strong grasp on your expenses – and, this is where law firms often fall down.  While it’s relatively straightforward keeping track of gross revenue using standard law firm tools like time & billing software, or law practice management software – law firms generally do