Practice Tip of the Week: Innovate!
As more and more tools continue to be developed to help businesses service clients, lawyers may want to take a step back and take a crack at thinking up new ways of doing things around the office.
You don't need to reinvent the wheel, but if there's a new type of wheel on the market, you might want to take it for a test drive to see if it suits your needs better than your old wheels.
Even if all you can think of are ways to save time in the way the office operates, those efficiencies should translate into savings which should translate into more earnings. And simply by taking a step back and looking at how you actually operate, it's very likely that you'd be able to find at least a few tasks that could be automated, or done better or quicker, with the help of technology.
Your Dreamed of Innovation Probably Already Exists
If your phone is constantly ringing off the hook, or not ringing enough, there are several potential solutions, and one might be just right for you. It's all about innovating the way you do things.
Rather than starting with what technology is already available, think about what you actually need it for, or how it would benefit your practice. Then, once you've identified an inefficiency or bottleneck in the workflow, search for what can fit your need. There's no point in getting new tech if it will not fit with what you're doing or if it won't be properly implemented.
Don't Just Think of Yourself
While you might only want to get new tech for yourself, getting your support staff the latest innovative legal tech to help make their job easier might actually be a win-win.
For example, you can train paralegals to use AI tools like Ross Intelligence's EVA to pull all the case cites out of an opposing brief in a matter of seconds, rather than the many minutes it would take them. Helping your support staff be more efficient can actually be a big help to you as you can feel free to delegate even more work to them.
Have an open position at your law firm? Post the job for free on Indeed, or search local candidate resumes.
Related Resources:
- Practice Tip of the Week: How to Incentivize Underpaid Associates (FindLaw's Strategist)
- What AI Programs for Lawyers Are Available Now? (FindLaw's Technologist)
- Are Robot Lawyers a Solution or Problem? (FindLaw's Technologist)
- 'HelpSelf' Legal App Uses Lawyers to Automate and Fund Self Help (FindLaw's Technologist)
FindLaw has an affiliate relationship with Indeed, earning a small amount of money each time someone uses Indeed's services via FindLaw. FindLaw receives no compensation in exchange for editorial coverage.