Running your own boutique firm is no easy feat. The industry requires dedication, patience, and careful management from client intake to completing day-to-day administrative tasks.
Technology is a leading driver in today's advanced and competitive legal sector, which is typically an old-school industry in its practices and systems.
With new software for law firms available, all offering varying specialties and selling points, it can be challenging to understand the actual software must-haves. It’s almost impossible to evaluate the available options even after narrowing them down.
That’s why we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. We’ll take you through the top seven software your boutique law firm can benefit from to retain more clients and become more profitable in your niche.
The top 7 software your boutique law firm should consider
The following software solutions are must-haves for small law firms:
Chatbots
According to a recent survey of legal professionals, lawyers spend about 48% of their time completing admin tasks like collecting leads and scheduling appointments. Lawyers did not go to school to be business professionals and there are so many complex technologies out there that require too much technical expertise.
That’s why an intuitive and easy-to-learn chatbot can help small law firms like yours optimize your work processes and save you more time to focus on your clients.
A chatbot can help you with the following:
- Manage your appointments
- Answer frequently asked questions
- Help clients navigate your services
- Automate lead qualification
Amy, the most intuitive chatbot solution designed to meet the needs of small law firms checks all the boxes above. This means fewer late nights responding to frequently asked questions and combing through your inbox to book appointments, all while offering the utmost support, even when you sleep.
Document Management Tools
Every case you handle comes with multiple supporting files and documents. It's risky to keep such sensitive data in your hard drive due to cybersecurity risks.
Legal document management software stores the files in a secure vault while offering other handy capabilities. Apart from the reduced security risk, these solutions also let you track documents easily. Most of these are cloud-based, allowing access and collaboration from any location.
You can leverage numerous free storage solutions like Google Drive or seek additional storage limits using premium options. Other options include Worldox and NetDocuments.
Legal Calendaring and Docketing Software
Keeping track of your calendars and schedules is no easy task, and smaller law firms aren't exempted. Savvy law firms are now turning to legal docketing and calendaring software that offers a central location to track and manage several calendars. These tools also synchronize important court dates, document deadlines, and new meetings with your Google, Outlook, or Apple calendars.
These solutions also schedule appointments automatically around your calendar. Examples include:
Practice Management Software
An attorney usually handles several tasks on a typical workday. With increased documentation and extensive operations, it can be hard to stay ahead of every aspect.
Practice management software centralizes every element of a successful legal practice at one spot. This may include task and matter management, new customer intake, timekeeping, reporting, and billing.
Relying on a central platform solution to manage your practice instead of numerous individual tools can connect everything nicely. These tools can streamline and automate critical workflows, secure your documents and business information, and grant access to all your data from a central location.
Examples include:
Video Conferencing Software
With almost every company maintaining a remote or hybrid workforce, video conferencing software solutions have become more popular. These solutions let you mimic in-person interactions between staff and clients, performing better than basic phone conversations.
They aid face-to-face communication from remote locations, offer meeting time flexibility, and attach session logs to specific matters, intakes, or contacts for future reference. Examples include:
Time Tracking Tools
With team members working from home, it's crucial to create accurate time-tracking policies. Failing to track your task could lead to lost revenue, and the numerous distractions encompassing remote work arrangements mean a more apparent need for time tracking software.
This solution can be a significant boost to your overall efficiency and productivity and will aid your goals. What's more, you'll quickly view task analytics, identify and retain top performers, evaluate workflow, and simplify billing.
Examples include:
Billing
Maintaining your client billing tasks will keep your firm thriving in a remote work setup. This task is quite challenging when team members are in different locations. However, billing software will streamline the process, from tracking time to invoice delivery.
Law firms can't afford to waste resources and time by sending late bills. Instead, you need comprehensive billing software that facilitates timely invoicing and faster payments by clients.
Examples include:
Final Thoughts
Growing law firms experience numerous challenges and running your own firm comes with its own set of headaches. Handling too many admin tasks at once can actually reduce your productivity and hinder your firm’s growth.
While you may have numerous options to try out, if anything, try leveraging a chatbot built just for boutique law firms to help you stay on track and handle more client inquiries. Amy can help your firm respond to client inquiries with 24/7 availability and make appointments with a calendly integration, so you can help service your clients, even when you sleep.
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