• Reasons why a Case Management Software is better for your firm

    Case Management Softwares (CMS) has become indispensable in today’s competitive market. Most law firms have abandoned the traditional pen and paper approach, and have chosen CMS for increased efficiency, firm-wide collaboration, and optimal client experience.

    These softwares, broadly provide threefold benefits to the user firms:

     

    • Increased efficiency, by saving time and promoting collaboration within the firm.
    • Reduced errors due to misplacement or loss of files or information, missing deadlines, and miscommunication.
    • Client satisfaction by meeting the standards and expectations, with the help of the tools and resources offered by these CMS.

     

    The traditional approach apart from being outdated has its many flaws. As individual attorneys employ their individualized processes according to their comforts and needs, a gap is created within the law firm, resulting in non-uniformity in documents, miscommunication, loss of important information, attorneys catching up with rules and procedures, multiple reviews of drafts and an overall wastage of time, all piling up to reduce the firm’s efficiency and adversely affect the client experience. With a CMS in place, you can ensure a great client experience, by increasing efficiency and collaboration, and at the same time reduce significant cost involved in the paper – pen approach. 

    Case Management Softwares help you save important time spent on unimportant routine tasks. Our system provides a well-structured overview of the general information of a case, the information of the attorneys working on the case, facilitates communication amongst them, helps you keep a track of deadlines and important dates with respect to a case, helps with e-discovery, provides up to date forms and templates, maintains a checklist for every case and most importantly, we also keep all your data safe, at all times.

     

    Save the time spent on manual work:

    In the competitive world, law firms cannot afford to waste time on mechanical tasks like scanning through heaps of data manually, trying to find relevant information; apart from being time-consuming and tiring, it is also money badly spent. Case Management Softwares’ comprehensive database will help you save 48% of the time you spend on these tasks so that you can utilize it in the most profitable manner. All your files and information are stored in a centralized location so that you don’t have to spend any time looking for them.

     

    Great client experience:

    Case Management Softwares help you maintain a great relationship with your clients by keeping them in the loop at all times. Your clients do not have to wait for important updates on a case as we keep them informed by providing all-time remote access. Through our system, you can share, communicate, and collaborate with your clients, while we keep a track of all the data you exchange. We help you meet the expectations of your clients with ready access to information, tools, and resources.

     

    Firm-wide collaboration:

    With a CMS in place, your firm can work collectively without having to waste time on the delay in communication. A CMS will keep your attorneys informed of the status and help them know when to step in. It provides a better and more efficient way for everyone at your law firm to access up-to-date legal information, communicate, and share knowledge and documents.

     

    Calendar sync:

    Make sure that you meet every deadline and never miss an important date or event, with our system as it also keeps a track of all the cases. You can use a CMS to schedule important deadlines and share them across the firm to ensure transparency.

     

    Up to date system:

    A Case Management Software keeps our system up to date with the changes in laws and the related rules and procedures, so that you have credible information and tools, your clients can rely upon. It is a reliable resource to assist you with keeping in pace with these progressions so you can envision and address your customers' needs. It's basic, in this way, that updates are constantly made to guarantee you have the data and tools that you need to be a trustworthy resource, the clients can trust and rely upon.

     

    Reduced errors:

    By taking over the manual tasks at your firm, a CMS do not just save your time for more valuable tasks, but also ensure great quality by reducing the occurrence of human errors. With paper and pen approach, there are more chances of misplacing or losing important information and documents. With an effective CMS in place, no information is ever lost. We keep your case files organized and help you access them with ease.

     

    Keep your data safe:

    We provide a secure cloud-based platform to keep your data safe. CMS also ensure the data is protected at all times to maintain the confidentiality of your clients. Auto data backup at regular intervals makes sure that even the smallest of the information is not missed and is safe. Your data, saved on cloud, is safe from any probable loss due to a hardware malfunction and can be accessed easily.

     

    Conclusion:

     

    CMS are the new essentials of the legal industry. Initially, firms were reluctant to invest in tech-based systems to manage their cases; however, slowly Case Management Systems have taken over the manual or pen and paper approach of case management, because of the advantages they bring to the table. 

    The traditional approaches have been made redundant with the familiarization of CMS in law firms. These software save firms the valuable time spent on a manual task, facilitate teamwork and communication, thus increasing efficiency and collaboration, they help maintain uniformity across the firm and keep everyone updated on important events and help maintain a great relationship with your clients by giving them easy access to important information on cases. They are intuitive programs, designed specially to give results immediately and provide 24 hours support to your firm.

    A CMS is a fruitful investment for your firm; it will be a committed and reliable tool in the journey of your firm as you move forward, employing the software in your day to day business.

     

    This article is written by Shubhangi Tripathi, an Attorney Associate at Absolaw. For sales or other enquiries, please Click Here or write to us on admin@absolaw.com.


  • Impact of the Pandemic on Law firms

    Several industries are devastated because of the coronavirus induced recession in the economy. Industries such as Aviation, Tourism, Hospitality, etc have taken huge hits and currently have come to a screeching halt. Every sector of the economy is suffering because of the pandemic and the legal services sector is no exception. I am penning this blog after examining how the pandemic is affecting the business procurement and continuity at major law firms around the world. We will also be able to see if smaller law firms can weather out these times of crisis.

     

    There has been a huge impact of the pandemic on the customer demand which was earlier there in the market. For the Law Firms situated in the United States, there has been a notable shift in the dynamics, where the clients have preferred to pursue only those matters which are extremely crucial. Clients have become more high-strung about the practice area they are filing litigation for and are usually seen converging on some specific issues such as Labour, Employment, Healthcare, and Aviation related Laws. Overall, the entire industry, as far as the practice areas are concerned, has seen a negative impact of at least 18%, and litigation in some areas, such as Energy, Financial Services, Technology, Media and Telecom has seen a sharp decline of at least 22% this year. Also, an apparent decrease was observed in the Corporate M&A, Capital Markets, Venture Capital and Corporate Financing, with major law firms turning only towards some of the practices stated above.

     

    However, from previous periods of crisis, a trend has been observed that law firms and law practitioners are generally good at handling downturns in business and are at greater capabilities of weathering out the economic shifts. During the 2008-09 economic crisis, it was observed that the top 100 Am Law Firms were productive in countercyclical practice areas and were very good at making advances towards a wider range of scenarios. However, during the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic, there has been seemingly perpetual retardation in the court systems, owing to the less technologically advanced state of affairs and the initial closure of courts for hearing, investigation, and dispute resolution. Law firms that have Global Finance as one of their major practice areas are more likely to get affected by the crisis because of the nature of the business. Firms that are more locally operated, such as the ones in the state of Texas and Washington have even observed profit gains. On the other hand, firms headquartered in New York are more likely to get affected by the crisis by losing a share from the profits by at least 3%.

     

    Keeping in mind the lessons learned from the previous crisis and the ongoing pandemic, there could be various things that the law firms could focus on, to maintain a grip on the market and to keep generating revenue. As a paradigm shift has been observed in several business practices, law firm operations should be more client-oriented, and law practitioners should more concentrate on how these unprecedented times are testing their client's businesses. Clients should be reached out at least once in a day by dropping them a personalized email if possible, even of a line or two, so that if there are any legal challenges faced by them, those could be uncovered and a clear nexus could be established between the client and the counsel. Lawyers should focus on learning more about crisis advisory and how the same could be turned beneficial for the clients.

     

    Lawyers could also make a difference by sharing relevant articles which contain intel for their customers regarding the various business and practice areas in which they operate. This would initiate the flow of information and also help the existing clients and new customers gain some trust in the law firm. New publications such as blog posts and newsletters should be circulated, free of cost so that the knowledge of all law firms in a particular practice area could be established and impacted to the masses.

     

    Another aspect by which the law firms could be more useful in these testing times should be the pricing that they are quoting to the clients and they should be very competitive about it. This plan of action if more relevant for the global law firms that are facing multifarious business outages, and by the means of competitive pricing, they may attract new customers and even venture into new practice areas. During the ongoing pandemic and a few more months to come, pricing can break the shackles of discipline and they should be more catered towards the needs of the clients and attracting new prospects. Firms may even offer one-time discounts such as Proof of Concept, Calibration Period, etc. so that they may venture into new markets and acquire new business.

     

    It is still highly uncertain till when these times are going to affect the business, but law firms can weather this crisis out by developing a far-sighted approach to tackle the situation, and it is also quite certain that these things are going to become the new normal and law firms should be keen in developing the practices where they may keep their existing clients and also acquire new customers from the market.



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