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    One Size Fits You: Picking the Right Legal Tech

    by SimpleLaw on
    Attorney Case management software Lawyer

    Legal tech is truly helpful for any size law firm.. But, law firms are not guaranteed success when they implement legal tech. If you’re preparing to invest in legal tech for the first time, it can be tricky. You’ll want to be sure the option you’re considering is best for you, your potential clients, and your firm.

    Research the Marketplace

    Legal tech has the potential to significantly improve your law firms’ workplace efficiency. From case management, financial management, and communication with clients, there’s a lot of efficiency to gain.

    But you won’t gain the “true one-stop shop” from your legal tech. Shocked we are admitting that? Well, we say it because it’s true. The ABA’s 2018 Techreport on Practice Management made that assessment of our whole industry. The reality is that not all legal tech providers fulfill the nuanced needs of all attorneys and law firms. Legal tech providers offer a variety of benefits, including document control and storage, access to local court filings and legal databases, file-sharing capabilities, and more. However, these and other benefits are available in varying combinations and for varying prices. It’s very important for you to know which legal tech providers provide what, and for how much.

    So, as you take your first steps into the legal tech marketplace, we recommend you do some reading. The American Bar Association’s 2018 Techreport (which we’ve been reading and re-reading!) is a fantastic place to start. Check out Attorney at Work and Lawyerist, too. They provide great information on legal tech options. 

    Identify Your Pain Points

    As you’re researching the options and acquainting yourself with the many options, you’ll want to draft a list of your pain points. So, consider this your “What I Need from My Legal Tech” list.

    A sample list of pain points could include:

    • Document storage and sharing capabilities
    • Clients’ access to Calendars (to streamline appointment-scheduling)
    • Paralegal support services (ahem … SimpleLaw singularly provides this service)
    • Case-referral functions (which likely go hand-in-hand with document storage and sharing capabilities)
    • Electronic billing capabilities for clients
    • Time-keeping capabilities within the software
    • Access via handheld devices

    Your pain points can look just like, sort-of like, or even nothing like this brief list. Your list, which you should order from most important to least important, should reflect your practice’s needs. So, consider the problems you experience most. And how you spend your time. And, well how you would rather spend your time.

    If you want to spend less time managing paper documents, document management is critical. If managing the business side of the business frustrates you, look for billing and payment features. And the list goes on.

    Without a list of prioritized pain points, you may feel overwhelmed by what the legal tech industry offers. There is no shortage of bells and whistles out there! But, prioritized pain points mitigates all that, like a camera lens focusing in on the foreground of a shot.

    Networking and Reading the Headlines

    There are lots of other places to get information, too. Of course, networking and the news are great resources. 

    So, learn from others who have already purchased legal tech. Their experiences are well-researched. Learn from the experience of others! Check out there highs and lows of adding tech. And how they adjust their practice and workflow to the new tech. Your fellow attorneys and your local Bar Association will likely abound in information for your practice.
    Again, we recommend online sites like Lawyerist or Attorney at Work. They provide a lot of great information and research in one place. 

    What’s Your Budget?

    The answer to this question supercedes even Priority No. 1. The reality is that money makes most of the decisions for you.

    In light of this, you’ll want to assess when the right time is for your law firm to invest in legal tech.

    Depending on the price of the platform, if you can afford to buy now, awesome. If later, you should think about how the firm can prepare for the upcoming transition into legal tech.

    Investing in legal tech isn’t about lawyers becoming tech-savvy. Although, that may well be advantageous to the practice. Investing in legal tech is about investing in your clients’ cases, your law firm, and in maximizing your time practicing law. Legal tech helps you manage the rest.

    Compare assessments of legal technology. Because, well, not all summaries are seen with the same lens So research! Do it early, often, and thoroughly. But remember not to spend too much time on it. You could go around and around endlessly!

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