Organize Cases and Your Practice Using Trello

Do you know what Trello is? If so, skip ahead to get some tips on how to use it in your law practice. If not, you'll likely be relieved to find out it's not some new social media platform that your law firm absolutely needs to be on. But, if you use it, you might be able to be a little more flexible. 

Rather, it's a free productivity tool that lets you make lots of lists that live in the cloud. If you're thinking that you need another productivity tool like you need another browser tab or app to have to constantly monitor ... well, after finding out what it can do, you might. 

Below, you'll find some tips for using Trello for your practice.

One Board Per Case

Trello lets you create "Boards" which are basically just pages that let you put together as many columns of lists as you want. The lists and columns are customizable so that you can track or manage just about any type of project or case.

As you know, throughout the lifespan of a case, there are going to be several phases, often overlapping, that require certain tasks get done. For example, a case may have a column solely for deadlines, another for discovery to-dos, or depositions, another for mediation, or pre-trial pleading prep.

From Start to Finish

One benefit to using Trello for clients is the ability to keep a client's important case info organized and in one place that multiple people can access (if you so choose to allow). You can let your client intake staff start a Trello board for each potential client, and that way, as the prospect moves from one stage to the next, the information will be in one place.

Ditch Email or Messenger for Collaboration

When collaborating on a case with another attorney, or even a staff member, using Trello to share information, ideas, and messages can be really helpful, as it keeps the information organized and accessible to the collaborators, rather than scattered throughout documents and emails (that not everyone will always have access to).

Phone Message Board

Do staff still take (and lose) paper messages? That can be easily remedied with Trello, and it can increase the likelihood that messages won't be accidentally lost in shuffle.

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