The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

Remember  that old Twilight Zone episode ?  ( It’s a cookbook! )   Well, this time, it’s  not hungry aliens  that are coming for us: it’s your server, and what it really wants is your wallet.   If you haven’t fully adopted cloud software, you’re likely storing your documents and email on a server.  But, there are a lot of associated costs for maintaining physical servers, like: the space they require, their need to be cooled, the electricity they suck up, the requirement to manage your own data backup and the frequent replacement cost.   But, when you are entirely cloud-based, you’re essentially renting server space from another entity (probably Amazon or Google, even if you’re using another vendor), and all those affiliated costs go away.  And, since  the cloud is essentially eternal (at least so far as your lifespan is concerned)  the replacement cost never accrues.  Instead, you pay monthly o r  annual fees for ...

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...

Business growth is what everybody wants; but, it’s not easy to manage.  Managing people brings with it new duties, and added headaches.  Of course, it’s  the  only  way  to scale your business beyond yourself.   Fortunately, for law firms owners, there are more staffing options now, than you can shake a stick, even if you’re not ready to make the move to hiring an employee.   Many expanding law firms choose to engage contract attorneys, who can make their own hours, and are often experienced enough to manage their own wo r fklows.  These folks don’t require benefits, or a salary.  For contract attorneys, the advantage is that they can make their own schedule, which works well, for moms who want to be home with their kids, for example.  Law firms using contractors are advantaged because of the cost savings  --  in addition to salary and benefits, you’re also often saving office space and technology costs....

If you’re a lawyer, law firm software is everywhere.  Make one online search for the term, and  you’re  caught up in the vortex of SEO  -- you’ll be served law firm software advertisements wherever you go online, from now until the end of time .   I get how that can be annoying -- but, the point remains that law firms using the right software are more efficient, and make more money.  So, it’s all kind of like that little voice in your head that tells you not to have the cheesecake -- obnoxious, yet bitingly correct.   So, even as you know you should probably be upgrading your software stack, it’s tough to swim through all of the sales pitches, and to wade through the multitudes of options available to you.   Fortunately, I’m here, to deliver you the answer you crave, to the question that keeps coming  up : What software do I need to run my law firm?   A modern law firm should base its software  pr ogram o...

Lawyers are funny in that they sometimes treat cloud technology vendors  like visitors from another planet ,  featuring a mixture of awe and fear.  ( ‘To Serve Man’ - it’s a cookbook! )   This stems from an unfamiliarity with cloud tools; but, lawyers aren’t dumb -- they’re just occupied business managers whose primary focus is the substantive tasks they need to do.  Next comes marketing.  Then comes technology.   If you want the  TL;DR  version of the cloud, here it is: When you use cloud technology, you’re renting space on someone else’s servers (your vendor’s) instead of buying your own.  It’s as simple as that.  And, the reason people love cloud technology is because you access it via the internet.  That means such systems are device agnostic; and, that means you can work from anywhere ( Maui? ) you can  find  a secure internet connection.   Now then, you may be saying to yourself: ‘That’s...