Digital White Papers

ILTA WHITE PAPER: NOVEMBER 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 23 Law firms should choose clients with a matter portfolio that supports strategic and financial objectives to advance the firm's overall reputation and marketing strategy. However, not all firms are taking deep dives into process assessment, which might lead to significant costs resulting from lost time and missed client or business opportunities. At the inception of a client relationship, automation and process improvements can lead to tangible benefits. Starting with the new client intake process, new business pursuits often grind to a halt due to long, inefficient and often outdated processes. This is one of the most common challenges law firms face today, but it can be resolved by implementing streamlined processes supported by new technologies. A more effective new business intake (NBI) process can propel growth, mitigate risk and ensure new clients align with the strategic business and financial objectives of the firm. However, many firms struggle to get it right when it comes to streamlining the process. Without the proper strategy in place, it's difficult for law firms to ensure that conflicts clearance and new business intake strike the right balance. It's not that firms lack the ability to craft NBI processes; the issue is that current processes, though they might seem satisfactory, are often bogged down by multiple layers of approvals, many of which are completed manually and contribute to the backlog. Law firms face continuous pressure to be quick, yet thorough, and the new business intake process is no exception. What's the hold up for bringing in new clients? Several factors act as hurdles to successful NBI models. FOUR HURDLES HINDERING NBI Lawyer Time: Conflicts reports are usually large and extensive files, so a manual review process can require a significant amount of lawyers' time. Competing internal priorities often delay the review process, as lawyers might take too long to get through the report. This process becomes even longer and more complicated as firms grow or expand across borders. Interdepartmental Dependencies: Checking and clearing conflicts are important elements of NBI, but business processes should be looked at from a cross-functional perspective. For example, firms might spend too much time on conflict resolution and not pay enough attention to potential financial risks associated to the matter. Firms might not be addressing two core elements of an effective NBI process: financial and marketing considerations. Alignment with Strategic Direction: There might not be a consistent approach in choosing client work that matches the firm's strategy and legal specialties. As a result, valuable time and energy is wasted sorting through opportunities that might not be a good fit for the firm. Business Intelligence: Many NBI functions are still decentralized with disparate lines of business making strategic decisions without consulting their colleagues, which poses serious potential risks for the firm. Breaking down silos, centralizing data repositories and establishing firmwide procedures will better equip firms looking to expedite their NBI process in a secure and streamlined way.

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