8 Essential Technologies

to Increase Your Firm’s

Productivity
A guide to the software that helps you get more out of your valuable time
If you have a practice-
based blog and a website,
then you are already
light years ahead of your
professional peers.
But technology to improve your cash flow and productivity?
Technology to enhance and streamline your client
communications? Technology to help you save time by
keeping you connected via smart phones, tablets, laptops and
desktops wherever you may be? Technology to keep you sane
in this ever-changing world of law and the demands of your
clients? That’s a whole other animal in 2017.
Who has time to learn
about technology?
Not me!

Don’t have time for that? You have to make time. You can’t avoid it any
longer. But we get it. Legal technology remains daunting and intimidating
to a lot of lawyers regardless of its importance to an effective, efficient, and
profitable practice.

Even though it feels as if every other lawyer has all the technology they
could ever need and are totally teched out, it’s actually not true. Quite
frankly, beyond a laptop/tablet, smartphone, and finally acknowledging
they need law practice management software, most lawyers are just
screaming, “I’m not into this stuff! This is not what I signed on for! It
changes too fast. How am I supposed to go solo? When will I have the time
to actually practice law? I just can’t KEEP UP!” Some tech-deniers just dig
their heads in the sand and pray.

Well, if you are like most lawyers who don’t have their heads in the sand
but are ripping out their hair and chewing their nails to the quick over this,
you are not alone in this anxiety-inducing hysteria. It’s not easy, but I try to
stay on top of much of this, and what I don’t understand I learn from tech-
masters. Right now, I’m learning about blockchain technology (never mind).
But sometimes even I feel like I have one foot in yesteryear and one foot
in tomorrowland and if I move the wrong way I will fall into the great abyss,
never to be seen or heard from again.
There is actually a term for this phenomenon: Technoshock – when the
advancement of technology is so fast-paced that it outstrips the ability of
the individual to comprehend it. I’ve been told that this term, believe it or
not, is in psychology books.

Even with all the far-reaching predictions about artificial intelligence,

Watson-style hostile law firm takeovers, and the total elimination of
lawyers, robo-lawyers, Big Data, e-discovery, etc., most lawyers and law
firms are just realizing maybe they should actually consider looking at
this type of technological help. Basically, the train has left the station but
we are still contemplating if we should get on the train. See my point?
Technoshock.

Regardless of Technoshock, you can no longer avoid bringing state-of-

the-art technology into your practice. If you do, you risk being deemed
incompetent under the ABA Model Rules, because, as of this writing,
more than 28 states have now adopted this rule requiring technological
competence. You need it; your clients need it. So, just capitalize on
your strengths, and if technology still remains the great intimidator, then
you have to pay others to compensate for your “chosen” or “perceived”
shortcomings. But you no longer have the option to decline to learn about
technological advances. This is the reality. If you want to practice law in the
21st century, actually make a living, and not lose your license, you must
increase your firm’s efficiency and productivity by getting in the technology
game.
 Makes sense.
So what technology
do I need for a
productive, efficient
law firm?
Jared Correia, of RedCave Consulting and former senior law practice
management advisor at LOMAP, and I have had many podcasts on the
topic, which you can find here. But I am also going to give you a short list
of the “essential”* technologies you need to at least investigate. This will
help keep you grounded, streamline your law firm and increase efficiency,
and guide you for when you are ready (which should have been yesterday,
sadly).
So, here we go, in no
particular order:

1
PRODUC TIVIT Y SOF T WARE

This is easy. You probably already have some version of productivity

software, whether it is Microsoft Office suite or Google Apps for Work,
or your own compilation of favorite applications for email, presentation
creation, databases, spreadsheets, and document drafting, storing, and
sharing. Practice tip: get them all on one easy-to-use dashboard and
synced across your devices.

2
PDF CONVER SION SOF T WARE

It’s pretty self-explanatory; this is software that will convert your

documents to PDFs. Once you scan paper documents, they are editable,
you can remove metadata (oh wait, what’s metadata?), add encryption,
and even build form files. (Are you sweating yet? Don’t. Just do a little
homework and you’ll realize it’s not that hard.) Practice tip: Being able to
transmit your documents as PDFs to the courts, opposing counsel, and
others is necessary, and, if not 100% required as of now, will be in the very
near future. It’s a convenient, time-saving way to share documents.
 3
DOCUMENT AUTOMATION/DOCUMENT A SSEMBLY SOF T WARE

Basically, a software program that streamlines document creation by

taking your most-used forms and allowing you to customize them for each
individual client. But there is more. There are different levels of integration
with your other software programs. You should be able to merge client
information and incorporate clauses from your “clause library” as well as
have plugins for your existing productivity tools. Practice tip: If you can
have your document automation/document assembly software integrated
into your law practice management software and accessible via their
dashboard, it’s ideal.

4
TIME AND BILLING/ACCOUNTING SOF T WARE

Time capture, invoicing, trust accounting reconciliation, and reporting

tools. Enough said. We don’t want your head to explode. But time-tracking
and billing/accounting software is critical and an important tool for your
accountant at tax time. Practice tip: If you ever get audited for any reason,
this will save you days and weeks of potentially lost income-producing time.
 5
PR AC TICE MANAGEMENT SOF T WARE

Some call it a Law Practice Management Solution. But it should

include client/contact management, document management, calendar
management, time-tracking, billing and accounting capabilities, and email
archiving. All of these features increase your productivity by centralizing
all of your law firm’s data in one easily accessible location. The majority
are cloud-based and therefore portable, a key component today. But
along with portability, a good Law Practice Management Solution provides
security - and in today’s ‘everyone is getting hacked’ environment, security
is critical. You must protect your client information while providing you and
your clients the effectiveness and efficiency of state of the art technology
and communications. Practice tip: Not all practice management software is
equal. Be sure to trial test many to determine the one that is the right fit for
your practice and its unique needs.

6
E- DISCOVERY TOOLS

Yes, you need e-discovery tools. What is e-discovery, you ask? It is the
electronic aspect of identifying, collecting, and producing electronically
stored information (ESI) in response to a request for production in a
lawsuit or investigation. You can now be deemed incompetent if you don’t
know how to conduct e-discovery properly and you must have an efficient
system in place to do so. I encourage you to find e-discovery vendors and
see if they have a free sandbox for you to play in and learn. And do it now.
Practice tip: Even if your jurisdiction has not implemented technology
competence requirements, it’s only a matter of time. Get ahead of the
curve and learn and implement now.
 7
DIGITAL DIC TATION

Most lawyers already have the hardware they need—smartphones and

desktop or laptop computers—to increase their productivity with their
voices.. Getting any type of app or software which allows digital dictation
means you can work anywhere, verbally create documents and templates
quickly, delegate tasks so you can focus on the highest and best use of
your intellectual capital and time, create action lists, and more. If you are
stuck in traffic or have a few minutes between meetings, you can capture
your billable time and not lose reimbursable expenses. Rushing through
the airport and have a brilliant resolution for a client’s case? No problem.
Digital dictation. The explosive growth of smartphones, voice-activated
systems, and speech recognition applications makes it easier than ever
for you to turn talking into a time-saving activity for greater productivity.
Practice tip: Look for a software provider that uses encryption, is HIPAA
compliant, near perfect reliability (no one can guarantee uptime at 100%),
physical security around their actual data centers, and tight controls on
data access through a system of permission.

8
VIRTUAL C ALL SERVICE

Studies show over and over that the first 30 seconds of a client call can
make or break your practice. When contacting a service provider, reaching
a live person who responds effectively to the caller’s needs will result in
a much greater chance of converting that call into an appointment and
retention. If the lawyer can get the potential client in the door, has a good
reputation, and knows how to close a sale, they will have a new client. But
how that first call is handled sets the tone. If the first introduction is a warm,
friendly and professional person who knows how to handle calls to your
office, it’s priceless. If a call goes to voicemail because you are in court or
on vacation or they reach you when you are mentally unprepared to be as
pleasant and knowledgeable as you should be, odds are they will continue
calling other lawyers until they reach a live (or responsive) person. Practice
tip: A good call service that acts as your front desk receptionist (or more
depending upon the service provider) is priceless and money well spent.
“Essential” is always a debatable and a subjective term, so
you will have to do a cost-benefit analysis on the value of your
time required to do these tech-oriented tasks versus hiring
someone or getting the technological assistance that is lifting
all other law firms around you. And I personally appreciate
the acknowledgment that sometimes we have to have others
assist us in office management, whether an individual in office
or virtual or the actual physical technology. There are a lot
of brilliant lawyers who are techno-junkies, getting their fix
with every new electronic toy or software package out there,
spending hours updating their current systems with every
new program that emerges. Well, we are not all like them,
and it really is okay that we aren’t. We just have to be smart
enough to realize our strengths and our challenges and
compensate accordingly.

How do I deal with the

process of improving my
law practice by adding
all this new technology?
I don’t have this type of
downtime!
Yes. You’re a solo or small firm lawyer who wants to practice
law. But when you launched your law firm, you committed
to being a business person who either does all the
business functions or delegates those functions to another.
‘Another’ includes delegating to technology to make your
responsibilities as a lawyer easier. That’s why, unless you
have the funds to hire multiple employees, you can no longer
ignore getting relatively up-to-the minute technology into your
office in order to be more cost-effective, streamline functions,
stay competitive with your peers, and present “large.”
 And even if you could hire as many people as you’d like, more and more
courts are demanding you utilize technology when communicating with
them or filing documents. If you cannot call up necessary documents or
information while in court even as opposing counsel has her whole office at
her fingertips, you are ultimately a less effective trial lawyer. Without access
to your law firm documents while in court, you will have to take a recess
and reschedule.

How efficient and profitable is that?

Now in that case we’re talking about the impact on actually practicing
law. What about the emotional and financial impact on your clients? And
dollar-for-dollar, it also means you get to earn more and keep more of what
you earn because of this efficiency. But we can’t ignore that going from
your current situation to the new, improved and more ABA Model Rule
compliant version will take time.

Change is painful for a lot of people - especially busy lawyers - because it

requires you assess the current state of your law firm, figure out how to
align your attitude and vision for your practice going forward, commit to
the reward, invest your time and money in the necessary software and
hardware, and then benchmark your progress. One thing you will not hear
from anyone is that “Change is easy.” It’s not. But it is necessary.
 So, start moving
and increase
your law firm’s
efficiency with
technology.
Stop playing the
no-win avoidance
game and get the
technology you
need to win.
Susan Cartier Liebel is a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of
Solo Practice University®, the only online educational and professional
networking community for lawyers and law students who want to create
and build their solo/small firm practices. Subscribe to the SPU blog. Follow
on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.