The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

The coronavirus pandemic has shaken the global health and economic infrastructure.  The legal field is still reeling; and, law firms are adjusting to a new world.  For modern law firms to succeed, it’s clear that providing virtual services is now a requirement; it’s no longer optional.  But, taking  the  ‘e’ out of things like  epayments  and  esignature , and normalizing those items as  ‘ just ’  payments or signatures is going to take a significant mindset change for the vast majority of lawyers.   Every law firm is going to have to adjust to virtual practice in a compressed time frame, in order to modernize for a  clientbase  that will require it.  It’s not the best-case scenario, of course, that it took a major pandemic to usher a new age of technology into the law firm environment.   But,  the change will ultimately benefit lawyers, too.  Now, it’s a question of how rapidly your law firm can a...

If you’re still waiting on cash, checks or money orders, there’s a better way.   Consumers want, and you can offer them, electronic payment processing, via credit or debit card.  Many law firms avoid this option, because of payment processing fees associated with these systems; but, the fact of the matter is that electronic payment processing tools get you more money, sooner  --  and, even assuming the processing fees attached to these accounts, they still cost less than traditional payment methods when you consider collection costs.  Some lawyers avoid electronic payment processing because of perceived ethics issues.  But, there’s a simple solution to those: make sure any fees (payment processing and chargebacks) come out of your operating account and not your IOLTA  account .   If you can collect more, more quickly, and can also automate payments via electronic payment processing systems, it will reduce or eliminate your accoun...

Most lawyers think of ‘virtual law practice’ as an all-in sort of thing:   Either you’re completely virtual, or you’re not virtual at all.  Only, that’s not the case.  Even virtual law practices intending to be totally virtual don’t ever  really  get there.  For one thing, law firms (due in part to jurisdictional limitations) are almost always physical entities, in some sense, even if the physical entity is a home office and  the physical network is  a limited number of local referral sources.  So, at least in this day and age, it’s almost impossible to be  completely  virtual.   And, that notion changes the complexion of this entire conversation .    I f a virtual  law  practice doesn’t have to be  totally  virtual -- what percentage  does  it have to be virtual?  95%?  92%?  4 7 %?  3%?  The fact of the matter is that it is really hard to def...

A decade ago,  lawyers had just one option for office space: a traditional lease.   That’s a costly option,  of course,  and can be a barrier to entry, especially for young lawyers, looking to start new law firms.   It’s also a  scary,  long-term commitment, potentially for up to  f ive years, for  any  law firm.   Fortunately, there are now more office space options than you can shake a stick at.   Due, in large part, to the rise of cloud-based technology,  lawyers can now work at home , exclusively .  Modern consumers care less and less where attorneys work, and that means that lawyers don’t need an expensive downtown address, in the way that they used to need an expensive downtown address.  Instead of an office lease, you can get your mail in a big city  to acquire a big city address , and talk to your clients via video conferencing.   . . .  And, get them to sign documents...