Digital White Papers

11 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Creating and Renewing Client Relationships and Fee Arrangements Monitoring: Make Data Consumable and Accessible Forming non-standard relationships without subsequently monitoring them can lead to problems. The challenge is these types of maers do not allow for any margin in inefficiency and can quickly turn from profit to loss. The most effective way to monitor is to put data in front of partners in an engaging and easily understandable manner. When partners have data readily consumable and accessible on their desktops, tablets and smartphones, they can stay informed about what is happening on their maers and avoid "pre-bill surprise," possibly eliminating the subsequent need for write-downs or write-offs. Proactive alerting can also be a tremendous advantage and is an important aspect of any solution. For partners to deliver excellent client service, they should know when they are nearing budget limits or when billing is required due to the start or end of a milestone. KEITH LIPMAN Keith Lipman, Esq., President of Prosperoware LLC, is a well-regarded expert in the areas of information management and e-discovery, and he has been involved in information management for over 19 years. Prior to his work with Prosperoware, Keith served in numerous capacities, including paralegal, lawyer, IT director in a law firm and technology consultant to law firms. He is frequent speaker and author on the topics of e-discovery and the management of email, documents and records. Keith can be reached at keith@prosperoware.com. Notice of Renewal The ability to manage the renewal process proactively is important. Many outside counsel guidelines require a minimum notice period before rates can be raised. Failure to meet these critical deadlines can cause a reduction in revenue. By leveraging an automated system to track notice and renewal dates, firms can avoid missing such deadlines. Actionable Arrangements Law firms require technology that allows the arrangement to become actionable, giving partners the ability to manage their maers and readily understand every time entry or expense that might violate a client's OCGs and therefore not payable. Partners must be empowered to take rapid action to avoid unnecessary write-down and write-offs and prevent leakage. ILTA

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