The National Creditors Bar Association Law Practice Management Blog

The notion of a ‘factory practice’ gets a bad name among lawyers, who retain a burning desire to exist as white tower intellectuals.  Conversations about revenue and efficiency only get in the way of a good conversation about Supreme Court cases from the late 1880s.  Ah, the Gilded Age, indeed.     But, really, it’s the law firms that can accommodate the most work, that make the most money.   Lawyers often think it’s pricing, that makes them money.  It’s not.  In specific geographic areas, for specific practice areas, lawyers charge about the same, across the board.     What really separates the law firms that make the money versus those that don’t (make as much of the money ) is how many widgets they can make.  In an environment where legal services is becoming commoditized, and in which consumers continue to exhibit increasing price sensitivity, it only makes sense that efficiency would be the ultimate answer.     So, yeah: ...

Lawyers are generally not super tech-savvy.  And, that’s not meant as a slight to attorneys.  Lawyers are just busy with substantive work.  And so, attorneys often lean on staff to assist with technology matters.  But, they do that in a way that is ad hoc , most often – which is how just about everything is done in law firms.     You can’t figure out something in your email, so you ask your admin to help.  And, that’s the end.     The next time something comes up, you just grab whoever is near at hand, to assist.   But, what if you had a staffperson who was a tech all-star, was great at troubleshooting, willing to help others, and held an intimate understanding of law firm technology.  Wouldn’t it be better to leverage that person more aggressively?  Perhaps even have them own that role within the law firm ?     Maybe you are lucky enough to have two or more all - star staff, who can help you to manage technology in y...

Small law firms generally have it pretty good, in that they’ve mostly had to compete only against other small law firms, that aren’t particularly innovative either , and that also don’t spend money aggressively to build their businesses.  Now, over the course of time, cracks have been made in that armor, as organizations like LegalZoom have addressed services for legal consumers in an entirely different way – by focusing on products (document delivery), at more cost-effective prices than most law firms are willing to offer .  And, even if th ose law firms have access to the technology need ed to accommodate that approach , they can’t or won’t adopt it .     But, that’s all just an initial volley in the coming clash between small law firms and legal service providers.   Lawyers have always been protected against other business owners infiltrating their territory by the existence of ethics rules ba nn ing lawyers from sharing fees with non-lawyers, effectiv...