Do colleagues in your firm book cabs on Uber, organise holiday accommodation on Airbnb or check Yelp for restaurant ratings? Technology consumption is changing the way people discover and choose services, and legal advice is no exception. If you still use manila folders to store your matter information or email to share it, it’s time to rethink your client service. Here are four back-of-house efficiency gains that translate into better client service. Match client service in your firm with the service delivered by companies you love to win and retain more business. 1. Ensure you can … [Read more...]
Inefficient software the silent law firm killer: 7 ways to tell if your law firm is suffering
Ramsey Cabbani is the General Manager of Business Development at LEAP UK and has been helping small law firms choose the right solution for their needs for over 20 years. The biggest challenge for small firms is not only choosing the right software for their needs, but also being able to identify and acknowledge when their existing software is more of a hindrance than an asset. With an abundance of choices, and an overload of information, it’s difficult to ascertain which solution is right for your firm. To help you get started, here are the 7 signs that it’s time for a software … [Read more...]
Legal IT in the 21st century
What clients are looking for today are lawyers who are responsive and have all the information about their matter available all the time. The idea that one should need to wait to get back to the office for matter information is anachronistic. Your competitors will crush you and your firm will face steady inevitable decline if you ignore this. The success of every law firm has always been dependent on the quality of service provided by their lawyers. And that service, outside of legal skills, is largely dependent on the quality of the information that modern technology can … [Read more...]
5 ways Smartphones are transforming the way lawyers work
Smartphones are transforming the way lawyers work. Information that was previously inaccessible in in-house document management and accounting systems is now available to you as a modern lawyer where ever you go. With a great practice management system you can move out of the office (or even around it to a conference room perhaps) and still have all the practice management information available to you. The connection between your desktop and access to information has finally been broken. Enjoy practice more: convenience for you, the lawyer One of the most common requests we came … [Read more...]
Lawyers LEAP for new Case Management solution at LegalEx.
By Katie MacKillop, Product Consultant at LEAP Last week we spent two hectic days at LegalEx, the biggest show specifically for small law firms in the UK at the Excel centre in London’s Docklands. We had been the previous year, so we knew it was likely to be good for us, but we weren’t prepared for the reception we were to get this time. I was “volunteered” to give our presentation on “Cloud Technology and the Modern Law Firm” and, as there were several presentation streams at the same time I was wondering what kind of turn-out we would get for the presentations. I needn’t have worried … [Read more...]
New Version of LEAP brings greater efficiency, better time keeping and mobility.
LEAP, the world’s leading cloud software provider for small law firms, announces its latest version which will help small law firms operate more efficiently and productively. It includes a number of time saving features and will enable mobility and better collaboration with colleagues. Main features of the latest version: Sophisticated time capture – accurate and tracked time recording in the office or on the move Continue working in Microsoft Office and everything is automatically saved back to the electronic matter Smartphone app – work from anywhere with automatic syncing of … [Read more...]
The Paperless Office: Dream or reality? 5 Practical Tips for a 21st Century law firm
Some lawyers (you’d be surprised how many) have a simple system where every email they send and receive is printed out and placed carefully in a manila folder. What an incredible waste of time and money this is! How risky. How unnecessary. I don’t run a law firm but I have visited many over the years and I can answer the question posed in the title in the affirmative. Yes it is a reality. There are paperless law firms operating today. I have seen them and it really does work. Changing from paper to paperless takes courage and the acceptance that properly stored electronic data is far … [Read more...]
Case Management in the Cloud – Cloud Computing, its benefits and pitfalls
You’re sitting in your office drafting a lengthy affidavit and you remember you have a great precedent stored on your server. You triumphantly double-click on your shared drive only to discover it won’t open. You notice that the dust covered server in the corner of your room has ceased making that odd ‘whirring’ noise it had been making for the last 6 months, that noise you had subconsciously blocked out. A chill runs down your spine. You call your IT guy and your fears are confirmed, you need a new server. £4k, £5k, £6k… £25k… Each quote gets bigger and bigger. But you are just a small law … [Read more...]
It’s not the size that counts – the future is bright for small firms
In my experience in practice, there is a relationship between a person’s wealth and their concern for their own and other people’s rights as citizens. The poorer people are, the more important their rights are to them. In some cases it is all they have. And who do they turn to help them? In most cases they will turn to a lawyer in a small law firm on the corner or above the dry cleaner or near the station. Random selection it may be, but looking to the only profession that can offer real help. This presents a huge challenge for those lawyers who must walk the tricky path between financial … [Read more...]