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Phased Out: Take Your Workflows to the Next Level with Stages

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The most efficient law firms (and, thus: the most profitable) are driven by effective processes .  In fact, creating and managing workflows is one of the most important things that you can do as a law firm owner.     However, you can take it further.     Many project management, case management and CRM systems now offer the ability to add ‘phases’ or ‘stages’ to processes .  That allows you to effectively segment your workflows, breaking them up into categories .  For example, you could create a ‘document collection’ phase .  Or, you could generate a ‘discovery’ stage .  This method for managing workflows allows for greater transparency into the segments of the process, which offers both attorneys and staffpersons a better understanding of how each case type breaks down.     Another benefit of using stages is that they make it easier to hire for specific role s, within your practice .  If you want to bring on a discovery pa...
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Benefactor: What Happens When a Third Party Pays for Legal Services?

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It happens from time to time, when a third party pays for the legal services of another.   Though, it’s still a fairly unusual situation.   So, the question is: What do you do when it happens?   Ideally, two things:     First, you want to clearly explain to both the payor and the client that the payor is not the client, the client is – which sounds like an obvious thing for lawyers, but won’t be for your clients and the person paying the legal fees .  There’s just a lot of potential for undue influence here; when someone pays for legal services, they’ll likely feel like they can co ntrol the representation – but, that’s just not how it goes.     Second, you’ll want to memorialize some of that discussion, as well as the payment arrangement , in a document that is separate from the standard engagement agreement.     Here is a great discussion, and a template contract , for you to potentially utilize , in these situations.   ...
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Trapped! Can You Escape from Your Case Management Software?

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For anchor law firm software, like case management software – even if you don’t like what you’re using, you may feel like you’re stuck .  With so much data stored in those systems, and so many integrations linked to them, it may seem impossible to move – even if you have eyes for a new platform.     However, while transitioning from one case management software to another is difficult – it’s not impossible .  And, integrations are one of the best arguments for why it’s simpler than it’s ever been before , to make a change .  Since most law firms are now using cloud-based case management software, lots of the major data points flowing into those systems are also available in other places .  Invoices and time & billing records are also likely available inside of your accounting software; and, your email, calendar events and documents are usually also stored in your productivity software .  Plus , there are even additional places where your d...
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Beyond Hallucination: Discernment Is Required When Using Generative AI

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If you’ve been following the news about lawyers’ use of artificial intelligence, you’ll know that ‘hallucinations’ have been an issue .  When a generative AI tool, like ChatGPT , ‘hallucinates ’ , it essentially makes things up .  Now, that’s a problem if, say, you’re an attorney adding a court case to a legal brief, that you’ll submit to the court .  There’s a whole line of caselaw , about how bad this can be, starting with Mata v Avianca .     But, that’s kind of an easy solution .  Just double-check your case results, with a reliable source.   Now, the hallucination problem that arises when you use a free, generative AI program, is partly a database issue – since those generic tools don’t have the same collection of caselaw and secondary sources as would, say, a Lexis or a Westlaw.     Beyond hallucinations, though – is the question of discernment .  What about when an AI purportedly substitutes for an attorney’s judgment...
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