IT has been growing with time. Most industry sectors are now working with IT. Most companies are keeping their applications and data in the cloud. AI is transforming messenger websites and platforms. Businesses are using chatbots for providing 24*7 support to their customers. The business of IT services and law is still paying the catch-up game.
Legal departments and firms should look for new approaches for improving their performance. They should look for new ways that can improve their productivity. However, still many law firms still don’t have employees that can drive innovative technology. IT has changed our world in thousands of ways.
If law firms want to keep up with their competitors, then they need to embrace the latest technologies. Attorneys should look for ways to deal with these challenges. In this article, we are going to talk about how IT services can transform your law firm.
Moving Away from the Traditional mediaÂ
Legal firms should consider the new legal tech. This new legal tech includes everything from messaging, chat platforms, and SaaS. IT startups are increasing every day. You can find hundreds of new IT startups every day. Legal IT hackathons and conventions are becoming common everywhere. The investment in legal tech is skyrocketing. It is up more than 700% in a year.
It is safe to assume that the tech world is taking over the legal space. The legal services sector can’t hide from the latest innovations. Legal firms should consider implementing the latest legal tech into their practices.
How Legal Tech will change the legal sector
If you are a traditional law firm, then you are going to face a lot of challenges in the market. It will be difficult for traditional law firms to compete with the latest tech. The new tech entrepreneurs will have a significant effect on the legal services.
Lawyers’ methods or work environments might change with these new technologies. There is a lot of pressure on law firms to change their traditional methods.
Adapting to new technologies is a challenge for traditional industries. Lawyers must be comfortable with the new tools. They should understand the importance of these new technologies.
If you want to retain talent, assure good quality of work, and increase employee engagement, then you should consider implementing the latest legal tech. Reforms like these will help you in motivating your employees. It will ensure that your employees are happy. You will have a healthy work-life balance.
Change is a good thing for every industry. Your clients will also get a lot of benefits from these latest innovations. The legal services will be more available to them. Also, your services will be more efficient. Your services will become more transparent if you are using the latest technologies. The cost of these legal services will also come down. You will have a better profit margin as your operating costs will be less. All this will help you in improving your services.
Areas where you can use Legal Tech
There are various methods and products available in the market for law firms. These products will help you in streamlining your business processes. If you are implementing AI, then it will help your lawyers and staff in various ways. It will also help you in saving a lot of time. However, you should ensure that you are finding the right solutions for your legal department. These solutions should help you in increasing the productivity of your law firm.
Some of the main tech innovations that you can use are:
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Automation
There are various ordinary processes that are necessary for a lawyer. However, sometimes these processes can take a lot of time. Due to this, the bill keeps increasing. Automation is the perfect solution to this problem.
You can automate your expense and time record entry. This will ensure that your lawyers don’t need to manually do these entries. You can also automate the budgeting process. Document review can also be automated. All this will remove the burden from your lawyer. They will have more time to focus on cases.
Invoice submission is another manual process that you should automate. You can also automate the entire client intake procedure.
The idea of implementing Artificial intelligence and automation is stressful. However, these technologies are not going to replace your lawyers with robots. AI will provide you with tools that will help you in increasing human efficiency.
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Cloud Technologies
Modern law firms are moving their data and applications. The cloud provides a lot of advantages to modern businesses. You can save a lot of money by storing your data and applications in the cloud.
If you are using cloud platforms, then you don’t need to worry about buying your own hardware or software. Also, you don’t need to worry about maintaining the hardware. All you need to do is buy a monthly plan from your cloud provider.
Cloud will also help you in scaling your law firm. If you want more storage, then you can easily get it. You don’t need to worry about buying more hardware for increasing your storage.
Cloud technologies are helping law firms in improving their productivity. Many law firms are using cloud technologies for workflow improvement and document management. You can also protect your data by storing it in the cloud. Most cloud providers are working on improving their security. They are working with the best security professionals for ensuring that their cloud space is secure.
Law firms generally use a lot of paper. If you are using cloud computing, then you can save a lot of operating costs. You don’t need to worry about writing everything on paper. There are various cloud tools where you can write and store your data. They will even help you in collaborating with other team members.
You don’t need to worry about finding files in your drawer. Everything can be stored in the cloud. You can store huge amounts of data in the cloud. The ability to store and share relevant data in real-time can transform your firm. You will also contribute to a better and green climate by saving paper.
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SaaS or Software-as-a-service
SaaS is growing quickly with time. The explosion of SaaS is transforming various industries. SaaS uses cloud computing for transforming business tools.
Many law firms are already shifting towards SaaS tools. They are using secure SaaS tools for doing their daily operations. SaaS tools will help you in managing your general billing. It will also help you in managing your accounting functions. You can store and back up your documents in digital format. Also, you can sign your documents digitally from mobile apps.
SaaS tools will help you in managing your workflow and projects. Your lawyers can access the relevant files and documents through a secure portal. The best thing about SaaS is that your employees can work from anywhere in the world. All they need is access to the internet. If your employees have access to the internet, then they can access your documents from any location.
This will help you in increasing the mobility of your lawyers. According to a survey, more than 97% of lawyers are using their smartphones for completing their work. Most lawyers travel with a smartphone when they are traveling. They will use their smartphone for accessing their documents.
Lawyers are also using mobile technologies for presenting evidence to juries and judges. They can use mobile technologies for securely storing and sharing documents.
There are also some disadvantages of all technology. However, you can’t ignore the impact of these technologies. Lawyers can’t advance their careers if they are not using these latest technologies.
Lawyers should get proper IT support for their IT needs. However, it is difficult to hire a dedicated IT team for a legal firm. Thus, legal firms should consider working with an MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire will help you in solving this problem. You will get access to a large IT team if you are working with Bleuwire. Thus, you don’t need to worry about hiring your own in-house IT team.
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Case Management
Case management software will help you in unifying your lawyer desktop calendar, task systems, filing system, and contacts in a single unified package. It is perfect for organizing and managing your deadlines. You can also store client information if you are using case management tools. Case management tools will help you in coordinating your communications.
These tools will also provide proactive guidance to your lawyers. They can easily manage their practice if they are using case management tools. It will give timely feedback to your lawyers about how things are progressing.
Some of these tools will also provide automation benefits to your lawyers. They will help you in eliminating a lot of manual processes. Thus, your employees can save a lot of time by using these tools.
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Email and data encryption
Law firms should take data encryption very seriously. You should understand the impact of these encryption strategies. Legal firms have both legal and ethical duties to protect their client’s data and cases. You must encrypt your data for addressing these duties. Legal firms should ensure that your data is secure.
You should use encryption to protect the data that you are storing. If you are storing data in your local servers, then make sure that it is secure. Data in motion should also be protected.
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Data backup
You can easily replace a computer system. However, you can’t replace the sensitive data and intellectual property that you are storing. The main problem with hard drives is that they can crash. Your laptops can get stolen and you can lose the data that is stored in them.
The best way to avoid data disaster is by backing up your data. If you are using a cloud service, then they will provide tools to you. You can use these tools for backing up your data. In case of data loss, you can restore your data.
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Measuring metrics
It is important to know what happened and the root cause behind it. However, most law firms still do not measure their expenses or activities.
According to a report from Accudata, law firms can increase their revenue by 66% by improving their data practices. Actionable data can help you in improving your firm. It will help you in understanding what you are currently doing and how you can improve it. If you are making business decisions based on beliefs only, then you will suffer in the future. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are using data for taking decisions.
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Financial Management
Law firms were traditionally using paper for tracking their finances. There are various software packages available in the market that can track every transaction that your lawyers are making.
The most important benefit of these tools is budgeting. If you are using business management software, then you can easily create your budget. These tools will help you in managing your budget effectively. You don’t need to worry about spending hundreds of hours managing your budget.
Long-term and short-term planning will be easy if you are using good financial management software. Most businesses are still not thinking about the future. These tools will help you in evaluating your current status. They will help you in aligning your current status with your future goals. Thus, you can actually focus on achieving your future business goals.
Conclusion
IT is taking over the entire world. Every sector is moving towards technology. Law firms need to join the rest of the world. We have already mentioned the primary benefits of improving your IT strategies. You will probably never go back to the traditional medium after using the latest technologies.
Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire are helping many law firms in maximizing the benefits of technologies. They will ensure that you don’t need to worry about the pitfalls of these technologies. Bleuwire has access to the best IT professionals. These IT professionals have the knowledge and experience to provide the best IT service to your firm.
Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.