I have been in IT for a small/mid-sized law firm in Chicago for over ten years and there are few lessons I've learned about those working/sweating/toiling in the legal industry. One of those is that the technology I provide my attorneys and other legal professionals is very often under-utilized. I'd like bridge the gap between what your given, what you want and what you'll actually use because they are all very different things.
The simple fact is that most attorneys and billable staff are working hard to beat the clock with every moment of billable time possible, especially in this economy. Clients are demanding better, faster and cheaper services and today's attorney's must consider what technology is available to them to assist in meeting those demands. Don't overlook the tools you already have but aren't using. Make an appointment with one of your IT staff members and ask them to give you 15-20 minutes of a tutorial on a system you aren't using or that is underutilitized by you and/or your team. Commit to trying it for 3 business days. Don't expect to master the system, just learn a piece of it that might be useful to you and your practice. Ask your IT Management to partner with you to better serve your clients and commit to increasing your technical knowledge. Do this once a month and I guarantee that you and your technology staff will begin find several ways to improve workflow and work product for you and your team!
A take-away: Naming conventions are a very useful tool for keeping your documents and files organized and easy to locate. Many law firms use a document management system where documents are profiled using a variety of parameters such as client and matter numbers and will always have a place to "name" the document. Put some thought into this so you have an organized view of your work product and you and your team can quickly and easily locate important documents. Example: LTR Mr. Smith re: Motion to Dismiss - 9-1-10. Such a naming convention will allow you to easily search using paraments such as client/matter numbers and then find what your looking for by quickly scanning the description/document name. Remember, this will only be beneficial to you if your entire team is using the same naming convention.
Happy Friday!
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"One of those is that the technology I provide my attorneys and other legal professionals is very often under-utilized."
ReplyDeleteVery true. It often seems that a lot of legal professionals, particularly attorneys, view technology as an obstacle to getting work done, rather than a tool TO get work done. But they manage to LURVE their crackberries enough to (mostly) master them.
We've all got our work cut out for us!