The saying goes, nothing succeeds like success — except when you fail to capitalize on opportunity.
This past year, law firms have seen a decade-high increase in demand and revenue. This surge is expected to continue, especially among smaller practices. According to the 2021 State of Small U.S. Law Firms Report, 54% of small firm leaders anticipate moderate to high demand for services to continue in the next year; 59% expect that growth to continue over the next three years.
However, with rising demand comes ballooning legal and administrative workloads, which can drag down efficiency and revenue. In fact, small law firms say administrative burdens are among their top challenges. Nearly 80% of firms have not yet determined how to address the problem of spending too much time on administrative tasks.
Fortunately, technology tools can help firms capitalize on this surging opportunity. Legal practice management software can boost operations and slash time spent on administrative tasks that traditionally hobble efficiency. On average, firms that leverage this software capture up to 30% more of their time spent on cases, substantially increasing revenue and improving overall operations.
Legal practice management software can help you succeed in this moment of legal services opportunity. Here are six reasons why.
McKinsey Global Institute finds existing technology can automate 23% of work done by lawyers. But this doesn’t mean it replaces them entirely. Instead, automating administrative tasks helps staff focus on interactions that require emotional intelligence and handle the increasing need for their time and services. Automating internal office processes with legal practice management software saves time, elevates efficiency and helps small firms capitalize on rising demand with a more nimble, responsive staff.
Legal practice management software seamlessly integrates data, helping administrators understand how their firms allocate time and resources. By storing essential documents, programs and tools in a centralized location, staff can significantly reduce time spent hopping across multiple interfaces. A top-shelf legal practice management solution also unifies court record data and helps manage client intake and title searches.
As more firms pivot to remote and hybrid work, technology adoption and mobilizing a digital transformation strategy become more critical. Leveraging legal practice management solutions helps firms build a collaborative infrastructure across teams and departments, saving time and improving communication.
“Legal practice management software can boost operations and slash time spent on administrative tasks that traditionally hobble efficiency.”
Before the pandemic, 76% of law firms used cloud-based computing software to manage day-to-day tasks. By the end of 2021, this figure grew to 88%. The most robust legal practice management solutions are cloud-based and ready for the needs of a remote workforce. They’re equipped for day-one integration with existing videoconference tools vital for work-from-home productivity.
According to Smokeball research, at least 30% of law firm work is not billed, either deliberately or by mistake. The top legal practice management software offers time tracking as a primary function, allowing small law firms to bill and track time more efficiently and accurately. Billable hours are no longer subject to hunches and guesswork.
Leading legal practice management software also has built-in calendaring to help manage court deadlines, allowing users to view them all in one place. The software also provides greater insight into internal productivity and how efficiently tasks are completed.
Creating, processing and filing documents are huge daily tasks. Automating document creation and billing can streamline these tasks. An ideal legal practice management system includes on-board document drafting that monitors the amount of time spent preparing documents so firms can more accurately track time spent on case-related materials. It should also have a legal form library to simplify the laborious process of manually navigating and completing legal paperwork.
If demand for legal services do continue to grow in accordance with the FindLaw survey mentioned above, 2022 should be an important year for the legal profession. Implementing time-saving efficiencies will streamline workloads by automating processes previously left to less precise forms of recall.
More and more firms are catching on to the fact that legal practice management solutions empower their employees to stay on top of the increasing demands for their services. Between 2022 and 2024, industry experts predict the global legal practice management software market will see a growth rate of 10% as firms strive to keep up with the legal services boom and technology demands.
Of course, small firms won’t be exempt from these growing legal demands. Given the competitive pressures of today’s economy and the impact on smaller law firms struggling to keep pace with their more capitalized counterparts, leveraging legal practice management software is imperative.
Smaller firms will do well to look for legal practice management software that addresses their needs holistically — with proven capability in billing, data security, time tracking, document recovery, compliance, technology diversity and remote access. The right tools can unlock new benefits for your firm with a versatility that meets your needs now and in the future.
