Having the right software helps to drive a law practice’s productivity and efficiency.
Notwithstanding, most law practices in the U.K. and elsewhere do not even have a single employee that is tasked in driving law firm automation.
The practices that do employ specialists dedicated to technology are generally far larger market participants.
Legal software tools come with the potential to refashion how law practices, as well as corporate legal departments, tend to operate. The right legal software increases efficiency in addition to profits.
Legal Practice Automation Tip #1: More Automation
While mundane processes are generally an essential part of every legal practice’s day-to-day tasks, these processes can, and generally do, consume a sizeable chunk of a solicitor’s time.
As an example, the inward sigh of relief following on from completing a single month’s billing might be followed by thoughts such as “I went to law school to do this?”
With more automation and additional artificial intelligence (AI) to help, the perception of many solicitors is that they may soon enough be replaced by a robot. However, this certainly is not reality.
An example of AI which is prominently used among U.S.-based legal teams is IBM’s Watson.
With IBM’s Watson, you can ask it a question in non-legal terms, in similar fashion to doing so with a colleague, and the AI rapidly provides you with a cited answer to your query, in addition to topical readings that come from case law, legislation, and also secondary sources.
The automation of time-consuming and thoroughly tedious tasks allows solicitors to invest much more time on other, more important tasks such as enhancing quality of work and seeking out new clients. At the same time, overhead expenses can take a large tumble.
But automation through AI doesn’t just permit your practice to win new business; AI also helps your practice to enjoy a more efficient and productively streamlined workflow.
Legal Practice Automation Tip #2: Automation Apps
Nowadays, there are numerous automation apps that help to save time. And there’s no question that for the typical solicitor, their job can be more automated. In turn, this will cater to more time availability for focusing on billable hours and on alternative, far less tedious activities.
Billing automation applications such as BillerAssist, TimeByPing, and others, do that sort of work for you.
There are other automation apps that handle revenue generation. What would it be like for you if you were able to automate client interviews, and by doing so, you were then more easily able to screen a lot more clients?
Then, to make it even better, what if those same apps integrated with your practice management system and there was no installation required?
In addition to making adaptations to using newly available automation tools, if your practice is not yet paperless, you really ought to be heading in this direction.
Every task that’s done on paper can not only be completed much more rapidly, but it can be managed more efficiently when the processes are automated.
What’s better? Automating or writing everything onto pieces of paper that then have to be stored appropriately and carried around when you’re on the move?
Legal Practice Automation Tip #3: Measurement Metrics
If you are unable to measure it, did it, in fact, happen?
There are ever so many legal practices and legal departments that do not currently measure activity. Nor do they accurately measure their expenses.
Utilising data as a way of underlining plans and recommendations is an essential part of learning from past experience and encouraging more efficient legal operations.
It’s the same and it holds true regardless of whether it’s a new billing structure, litigation management, or something quite different altogether.
As such, legal practices and legal departments do enjoy clear-cut benefits from measuring data. The end result of doing so? It’s far easier to determine if things are working, how well they are working, or if they should be dismissed altogether.
Legal Practice Automation Tip #4: Implement Cloud-Based Applications
If the solicitors that work for your firm were in a position to access all the content they required at any time and in any place, are there any benefits to be had?
The end result of such a scenario? More billable hours, coupled with extra time availability to enjoy those coveted fruits of labor.
By implementing legal software “in the cloud” there’s an immediate impact. Efficiency goes up for the legal practice and everyone is happier about it.
Maintaining an environment of free-flowing data accessibility - only achievable via cloud-based systems - has the benefit of increasing a legal practices’ productivity overall.
Legal software that is, likewise, cloud-based and that integrates with your legal practice’s billing system and / or other software will similarly increase efficiency due to the centralization of the practice’s workload.
If you are interested in finding out more about Quill legal practice software please click the link.
