P2P

38 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 lockdown, it decided to make a dramatic shift and move to a cloud based LPM solution. While data migration and a cut- over to a new system are rarely problem-free, the firm was able to lean on its LPM vendor to institute best practices and bridge the gap between tech features, functionality, benefits and use cases to address unique challenges that arose relating to specific departments or roles. However, two months after implementation, several associates were making only minimal use of the firm's new system and continued to save files locally while working with clients via email rather than keeping the LPM up to date. Thankfully, the vendor was again able to play an instrumental role in increasing user adoption, recruiting tech champions to mentor others and improving ROI for the new technology. This teaches a valuable lesson: Whenever you implement new technology, you need to pay attention to the user experience, with a focus on training and communicating with your employees every step of the way. Before you choose any new technology, get an understanding of the needs and wants of your employees and seek out feedback from all stakeholders regarding their level of tech experience. The goal is to empower your people and spur adoption but avoid overwhelming them. The Prepared Firm: How a Lack of Integration Can Cause Problems Some firms were better positioned to move to remote work. A midsize litigation firm was already using a cloud- based practice management system that provided secure remote access, which allowed for an easy shift to working from home during the shutdown. However, billing and payments were still being done manually – someone had to create, print and mail invoices and collect payments that came as physical checks via the mail. To accommodate remote work, the firm selected a stand-alone app for automating payments. While it eliminated much of the paper, it also incurred extra data entry, as billing and payment information had to be reentered into the practice management platform. This is a perfect example of how decisions made in haste can lead to inferior results. The firm has since corrected its mistake and implemented a payment process that integrates with its LPM. This integration is critical because it increases accuracy while reducing manual labor and redundancy. Cash flow visibility and AR aging controls are critical to understanding the firm's financial health, and eliminating inaccuracies and inefficiency is the true win from payments integration with LPM. The Virtual Small Firm: How One Person Can Spur Widespread Change Pandemic-related delays caused state courts across the nation to slow significantly. Rather than taking the delays as inevitable, one family law practice in West Virginia faced the challenge head-on by lobbying the Supreme Court of West Virginia to change an existing rule and add uncontested adoptions to a list of hearings that could be handled via videoconferencing. In this case, the firm had embraced the benefits of technology and virtual work long before the pandemic hit, relying on cloud-based tools and virtual desktops, which made for an easier transition in early 2020 than most law practices experienced. While other firms and court calendars ground to a halt, the early-adopter firm completed 43 adoptions in June 2020 alone! Even though the courts had been reluctant to change and deeply entrenched in their status quo, the needs spurred by the pandemic were a signal of where things needed to go. Any concerns of the courts regarding how to virtually manage hearings have since been answered, in part by security measures like encryption and strong password protection. The lesson here is that the future is F E A T U R E S

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