Law Practice Management Blog

Modern legal consumers may want to know about the technology a law firm uses, as well as the data security principles to which it adheres.  Modern legal consumers expect that type of transparency from data and software companies; and, as law firms become more technically viable moving forward, there are going to be more similarities than differences between those two (seemingly wholly different) business models.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to persist in some form or another, law firms should continue to scrutinize their expenses to see whether and where they can reduce their overhead. 

A number of esignature options exist.  If you utilize a law practice management software, it may already be included, or available for integration.  If you’d prefer or require a standalone solution, DocuSign, RightSignature and AdobeSign are popular options.

Everything you did in-person before, you now need to be able to do virtually as well.  Since law firms have thrived on traditional business models, built on handshakes and in-person meetings, that can be a difficult conversion; but, it’s not impossible.

One current trend is the increasing exposure of paid advertising on the sought-after first page of Google search results.  Looking at a first page result now versus those same results, even as compared to a few years ago, yields a significant difference.  There are more paid advertising results (generally PPC) at the top of the page than ever before, and the prominence of those ads has been amplified. 

Traditionally, law firms had no way to reach, or capture revenue, from DIY clients. With legal products, however, law firms can appeal to both DIY-focused and cost-sensitive legal consumers.

To cut through the noise, check out the ‘Legal Information Buyer’s Guide & Reference Manual’, which is updated annually, to get am organized, unbiased collection of legal research tool features and costs. 

I often tell attorneys that, if you can think of a workflow you need covered, there’s a technology tool out there for the job. 

In a very real sense, law firm phone systems are really money machines.  Getting a lead to the right person, transferring calls appropriately, accessing a message in a timely fashion, utilizing a system in which leads most often reach humans, even if those humans are part of a contracted virtual receptionist service . . . any or all of those attributes of a feature set and their application can increase your chances of converting a lead by degrees. 

Every time you complete a business-facing page — your website, a social media profile, a review platform page — you’re always asked to provide an opening and closing time for your office. Don’t.

Because clients choose lawyers based not only on their general expertise, but also based on their specific expertise in particular niche practice areas, they want to know more about the legal process that effects their claim.

So, if your law firm is really bad about keeping in touch with clients and referrals sources, why not pretend like you just started your law firm?  Reannounce yourself to the world, then use that as the launching pad for a consistent marketing program.

If you haven’t fully adopted cloud software, you’re likely storing your documents and email on a server.  But, there are a lot of associated costs for maintaining physical servers, like: the space they require, their need to be cooled, the electricity they suck up, the requirement to manage your own data backup and the frequent replacement cost.

Not every goal is going to represent a total transformation of your business — but, you should have at least one that does represent that.

All lawyers have marketed their law firms in the same fashion since time in memoriam.  The idea was always to build a personal referral base via business networking, and that the rest would take care of itself.  Even as the world around law firms has changed over time, that one constant has not changed.  But now, if a new report is to be believed, other modes of client acquisition may be outstripping this tried and true option.

The majority of business owners have a very difficult time price setting.  However, much of that effort (meant to define the value for what a professional does) is most often undone by those same professionals.  This is especially true of lawyers, who don’t like to talk with clients about money, and are more than willing to discount their services at the slightest provocation.

Efficient law firms return the most revenue by a wide margin.  Yet, much of what law firms do cuts against efficiency.

All I’m saying is: ignore logo design/creation/recreation at your own peril. In a hypercompetitive environment for small law firms, you need to show distinct differences between your firm and your competitor firms, to draw and convert client interest.

Because any law firm could be struck by disaster, every law firm should develop and maintain a disaster recovery program.  And, the primary component of any disaster recovery program in a cloud-based world is an effective data backup program.

89% of lawyers surveyed believed that their law firms followed up with potential clients within 24 hours; 62% of law firms actually never follow up with leads at all.