It may be due to how most law firms in movies and television are depicted as offices with desks filled with paper and using a decade-old computer with a CRT screen, but the legal practice has the unfair reputation of being low-tech or even technologically lagging. Unfortunately, some law firms do tend to use technology sparingly, and mostly only for record keeping, drafting letters, sending emails. In order to streamline and improve office operations, as well as increasing your law firm’s productivity and competitiveness, you have adapted and made use of technology. As such, we’ll be taking a look at essential tech tools you’d want to adapt to make your law firm more efficient and effective:
Law Practice Management Software
This would be the best place to start when adapting technology into your law firm. Law practice management software is one of the best tools for your paralegals or legal secretaries to properly manage all aspects of your law practice including scheduling, contacts, deadlines, billing and invoicing, time tracking, and even payroll management. Some of these software are even cloud-based, allowing you and other authorized members of the law firm to securely access this information and manage your law firm’s operations anywhere and anytime.
Accounting and Tax Software
Managing your law firm’s finances and taxes are an integral part of your law firm’s operations. Accounting and tax software can aid you in keeping track of your finances and expenses, as well as aid you in properly filing taxes and even avoid overpaying taxes by guiding you with the deductibles.
Client portals
A web-based client portal can provide you and your clients a secure, convenient, and quick way to communicate. If you do decide on having a client portal for your law firm, ensure that it’s encrypted for safety and is designed to be user-friendly for easier usage. Some client portals also include features such as sharing of documents and invoices and even allow clients to pay online, thus improving the billing process.
Video Conferencing Software
Video conferencing allows you to save both time and money instead of commuting to a client’s place. Make sure that you invest in encrypted and secure video conferencing software or application to guarantee privacy and safety when hosting meetings between you and your clients.
Marketing Software
Hiring a legal marketer or law firm marketer can be quite expensive. Alternatively, you can invest in marketing automation software that can help you in effectively promoting your law firm through email and even social media, allowing you to save money and time that you could allocate towards your law firm’s operations.
E-Discovery Software
As you might know by now, e-discovery is becoming more and more on-demand in the legal practice. There are many e-Discovery software out there to help you discover and preserve electronic data or electronically-stored information (ESI). There are even more specialized ones used to capture and preserve websites and webpages (which serve as evidence for crimes such as blackmail, extortion, defamatory libel) that complies with authenticity standards to be admissible in court, and also have features such as saving website history archive.
Conclusion
These software and technology can go a long way in improving your law firm’s operations and streamlining operations. So, if you’re ready to take the next step towards bringing your law firm into the modern age, it’s best to consider these tools as well as the many other software and technology out there designed specifically for law firms and legal practice.
