The Modern Practice: Working Smarter, Not Longer
How would you handle a client that burns hundreds of your billable hours on administrative tasks, organizational work, and everything but practicing law? Some might say, “If the client is paying enough, I’ll put up with it.”
But what if that client didn’t pay for the time you were spending and prevented you from working on legal matters for paying clients? At some point, every small law firm has to confront this demanding, resource-hogging client – because this client is the law firm itself.
That’s right. Running your law firm can eat up your billable time, energy, and profitability unless you identify your problems and implement a plan to overcome them.
Where does the time go?
In a formal survey of more than 300 solo attorneys and small law firms, Thomson Reuters found that many attorneys work an average of 60 hours per week, or 3,120 hours in a year. Attorneys reported that they spend an astounding 40% of their time on business development, administrative tasks, staff management, and other activities aside from practicing law.1
That 40% equals:
- 1,248 hours a year
- 24 hours a week
- 52 days
- 10.4 work weeks
What would you do with an extra 1,248 hours?
Identify opportunities for improvement
Of course, running a law firm takes time, no matter what. But it’s important to recognize where your law firm is inefficient, what your strengths and weaknesses are, where time and effort can be saved, and what your clients demand before you can make improvements.
This might seem obvious, but only 16% of small law firms report having taken steps to map and refine practice workflows,1 even when they know there are opportunities for streamlining.
Bring it all together
One of the challenges a small law firm must overcome to become an efficient, modern practice is leaving old methods behind in favor of new, integrated business processes and systems. Integration brings focus and efficiency to your law firm, making the many facets of the law firm part of one efficient system.
The Modern Practice is built on the integration of four pillars of success:
1. Attracting and retaining clients
Business development is often put on the back burner while pressing client needs are addressed, but building a roster of clients and providing responsive customer service to each of your clients is necessary for your law firm’s long-term success.
- 78% of small law firms say finding new clients is one of their biggest challenges.2
- 41% of consumers expect an email response within six hours.1
2. Practicing law
Legal drafting and research are at the heart of most law practices. Quick, thorough, and effective research and drafting translates to higher success rates, as long as your law firm’s matter management processes follow through and ensure deadlines are met, data is secure, and clients are well informed.
- 34% of malpractice claims against small law attorneys arise from improper calendaring.3
3. Client management
Today’s clients expect more for less. Managing client expectations, tracking matter progress, and keeping them informed is essential. But you should be compensated for your time. With efficient and consistent time tracking and billing processes, you can reduce the unbilled time you spend on client matters.
- Client service is the number one reason law firms lose high-value work.4
4. Managing finances
Successful management of your law firm’s finances means reducing write-downs and fee adjustments. If you don’t establish accurate budgets and clear cost expectations, you will end up working more for less.
- 31% of matter time was reported by small law firms as written off.1
With The Modern Practice, you can:
- Attract new clients and better service existing clients to increase business profitability
- Understand client needs, market realities, and competitive advantages
- Provide your clients more organized, cost-efficient, and effective legal work
- Maintain secure, flexible access to both your legal matters and business systems
- Ensure prompt client service, clear communication, and fair, straightforward billing
- Keep clients coming back to you and advocating for your firm
Learn more about The Modern Practice and how your law firm can become more efficient and profitable in 2018 at: legalsolutions.com/modern-practice
Sources:
State of the U.S. Small Law Firm Survey, Thomson Reuters, 2016
Forrester Research
ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers’ Professional Liability Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims, 2012-2015
Altman Weil Chief Legal Officer Survey, 2016
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