In a recent live stream, hosted by Lawyers Weekly in collaboration with Clio, Caralee Fontenele, the director at Scalable Law, and Den Deverson, the director at Lawganised, provided insights into which technology platforms should be a top priority for firm owners to implement within their practice.

Fontenele stressed that firm owners always prioritise exploring the various emerging technologies available. However, she noted that the constant influx of new technology can create confusion.

“As a firm owner myself, I know we’re always looking at different technology, and it can be really confusing, and often, you end up with all sorts of things all over the place [and it becomes] just another thing to log into,” Fontenele said.

To address this, Fontenele articulated that one of the essential investments for law firms to prioritise is implementing a comprehensive practice management system that integrates various tools and processes to create a cohesive platform that streamlines daily operations.

VIEW ALL

“I think it’s really important to keep the firm as streamlined as you can. So the first one, of course, is your practice management system and making sure your practice management system has the ability to plug in and join everything, rather than having separate types of tech all over the place,” Fontenele said.

Fontenele highlighted the advantages of transitioning her firm to a Clio product, noting its extensive compatibility and integration with other software platforms, which can help automate tasks and enhance workflows.

“Recently, our firm has moved from another product to Clio, and one of the amazing benefits, apart from the fact that it’s a whole lot easier and less expensive, is that it does actually integrate with so much. So there’s literally nothing that it can’t integrate with,” Fontenele said.

She discussed the benefits of implementing such systems, mainly if you are distributing a newsletter, as it facilitates the seamless transfer of data between platforms, thereby reducing the necessity for manual data entry and minimising the potential for errors.

“For example, if you want to run a newsletter, it’s so important because if you have to transfer data from one product to another product, then it just makes it nearly impossible to get those kinds of tasks done,” Fontenele said.

Another significant technological advancement that Fontenele highlighted, which aids law firms in improving their efficiency, is the use of tools that “run in the background”. For instance, she cited technologies that “transcribe phone calls and time records” as effective productivity boosters.

She added: “It also allows your lawyers to not be thinking about those kinds of things, so they can simply be listening to their clients and giving solid advice rather than also taking notes.”

Deverson reiterated Fontenele’s perspective on the significance of implementing technology that optimises the effectiveness of practice management systems. However, he emphasised that firm owners should not only invest in the right system but also take the time to fully understand its capabilities.

“Just to echo something that Caralee said with your practice management system, I would just encourage any law firm owner to really not only just invest the money into it, but invest that time and energy into understanding it as best they can,” Deverson said.

He urged firm owners to consult their practice management system providers, as he noted that many are underutilising the features of their current systems, which can lead to missed opportunities for enhanced efficiency and automation.

“Many law firm owners use 18 of the capabilities of their system, regardless of what it is. And I encourage them to speak to their practice management system provider and say, look, what are the things we’re doing right? What are the things we’re not using at all?” Deverson said.

An important point raised by Deverson is that firms should not underestimate the effectiveness of document automation, highlighting that even simple forms of communication can be automated.

“A lot of firms don’t invest the time to automate key documents, precedents and everything. I have a phrase which is everything’s a precedent, whether it be the simplest email or the most complex contract, having things like merge fields and all those various things, rolling through your documents and actually spending the time to understand what are the key documents,” Deverson said.

While the initial implementation may require time, Deverson stressed the importance of investing time in their development, as doing so significantly enhances both time efficiency and resource management.

“Invest the time to develop them. Because, yes, it might take time, but if you look at that item of correspondence, you’re going to use it a thousand times this year. And if you can save three minutes each time you do it, you just simply do the maths. It’s just an enormous time saving and efficiency,” Deverson said.