P2P

24 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 | W I N T E R 2 0 2 2 and application integrations, such as the firm's legal practice management app. Legal practice management The New England firm transitioned its on- premises LPM system to SaaS in 2020 – and it's not looking back. The firm has a comprehensive platform in the cloud with document automation and customer relationship management features to track referrals, intake clients, manage marketing campaigns, collect e-signatures and review costs to retain new clients. With its cloud-based LPM, the firm can integrate its cloud storage, link Gmail or Outlook email to matters, track billable time spent drafting and responding to client messages, memorialize time slips and generate invoices. With an LPM mobile app, attorneys can create time slips on their mobile devices and work remotely on matters as if they were in the office. The LPM can also integrate users' Outlook or Gmail calendars and share them firmwide. Keyword searchable access to voluminous messages is a timesaver and competitive advantage. Attorneys receive automated calendar and task alerts and reminders via email and SMS texts and view integrated court docket information whenever and wherever they need it. Docketing The New England firm shares its docketing knowledge and research among staff and attorneys. Before the pandemic, the firm used on-premises docketing software that required someone to be in the office to research, track and calendar federal and state court dockets. Accessing the system through a VPN or remote desktop was simply too slow. With a modern docketing app, multiple users can research court dockets and agency information and remotely share the results via calendars and shared files. Reduce Costs Firms that increased revenue during the pandemic did not do so without cutting costs. A midsize Southeastern law firm avoided mass layoffs by reducing costs and maximizing income using online time and billing software, adopting an automatic payment processing system, communicating with clients via online portals and reducing capital expenditures on infrastructure. The Southeastern firm moved from on- premises computer resources and applications to the cloud. It no longer budgeted and depreciated capex for computer servers and network infrastructure. In addition, it redirected IT support from maintaining and upgrading on-premises servers and software to end-user support, accelerating cloud computing adoption. With increased support, staff no longer struggled with software and focused their time on high-value tasks. Time, billing and automatic payment processing Lawyers know that time is money. But the Southeastern firm did not realize all the time required to service clients and often lacked routine business processes to set fees, track time and create invoices. The firm adopted a time and billing system that integrated with its legal practice management system to hone in on the business of practicing law. The LPM gave the firm unprecedented access to client information, which made it easier to record time and bill clients accurately. The firm pulled time records, activity descriptions and client payment terms from the LPM. In addition, the firm adopted an automatic payment processing system that drastically shortened its account receivables cycle. With integrated time and billing and payment processing, the firm offered clients alternative fee arrangements, monthly retainer billing and recurring payment arrangements over time, such as weekly, monthly and quarterly. Clients responded favorably as many of these arrangements were already familiar from online shopping, banking bill pay systems and apps used to send or request money. E-bills contain links and instructions to pay online in secure client portals using automatic check handling or credit cards. Using the LPM to manage e-billing allows the firm to employ client information to create branded and custom invoices with detailed service descriptions. That level of detail reduces billing disputes and late payments, increasing cash flow. The portal also stores client payment history and provides secure online client-attorney communication. Enhance Productivity When firms enhance productivity, they increase profitability. Automating tasks from intake to document creation to invoice generation enables firms to operate efficiently in the business and practice of law. No matter the firm size, it can deliver timely, superior client work products when it works smarter. F E A T U R E S

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