![Having a Law Office Management System in place is imperative? But how do I do this in a cost
effective manner? Answer is likely already installed on your desktop or laptop: Excel, One Note
and Publisher.
Too oftenina solopractice or small firm, a single individual (YOU,if youare a solo) isresponsibleforall
of the administrative workimperative tomaintainingasuccessful law office:Filemanagement,case
management,documentmanagement,accountmanagement,billingandinvoicing,employee
withholding,etc,etc.
Oftenadministrative timeisspentinthe earlymorninghours,late eveninghours,orworse,weekend
time [Whenthe courtsare closed] givingawayanypossibilityof awork/ LIFE balance. Gettingahandle
on the administrationof yourlawoffice isnotonlyessential,itisthe new vogueadvertisingangle.More
and more lawoffice managementsoftware ispoppingupacrossthe internet.Theirrepsare trollinglaw
firmand lawyerlistsandcold callingyouroffice (mightevenbe me?) tryingtogetyouto buyintotheir
system.Mostof these systems(AmicusAttorney,Clio,CosmoLex,HoudiniESQ,myLS,toname afew)
are veryuseful, youmightevensaytheyare worththeirweightingold,butthey come withagoldprice
tag too.
Thisis notan endorsementof anyproductsor eventhe Microsoftproducts youcurrentlypossess.The
simple factis, all attorneysneedalawoffice managementsystem, and mostlawyersalreadyhave
Microsoftsoftware installedontheirhardware and simple donotknow how touse it.
The AmericanBar Associationconductedasurveyin2014, Legal Technology Survey Report—regarding
the use of office hardware technologiesbysolopractitionersandsmall law firms.Thisreportwas
detailedinanarticle submittedby RichardFerguson. The surveyof software revealedthatmostlawyers
possess MicrosoftOutlookandMicrosoftOffice products.
Quotedfromthe report:“Desktopcomputersremainthe mostpopularformfactormade available for
use by lawyers.Although63%of lawyershave accesstoa desktopas theirprimarycomputer(the same
as in2013), the use of laptopcomputersbyattorneysis84% insolopracticesand 68% insmall firms.”
The reasonwhy I picked MicrosoftExcel tohighlightinthisarticle isbecause of the amazingversatilityin
thisprogram that youhave alreadypurchased.Additionally,there are tonsof free tutorial programsfor
Excel on-line.Simplyput,MicrosoftExcel is underutilizedandunderappreciated.It’snotthatpeople
don’tneedExcel forday-to-dayuse inalaw office, it’sjustthatpeople don’tknow how touse itvery
well.
Excel isnot justa program for addingupnumbersincolumns;it’sa programfor organizingdataand
analyzingthe relationshipbetweenthe data.Youcan use itas a database,contactmanagement
software,abillingdatabase,acalendaringprogram, ora thousandotherlegal uses.Excel isnotgoingto
replace more expensivespecialtylitigationsoftware,but Ihave created a template (Attached) thatyou
can use,modifytomanage yourlaw office. It’sstill earlyenoughinthe new yeartostickto that
resolutiontocreate a work/ life balance inyourpractice!If youdon’thave time to doit yourself,Iam
happyto come take a lookand doit for you.I neverhadtime todo it eitherwhenIwasrunningmylaw
practice.The most oftencommentIhearfrom otherattorneyswhenIam workingwiththemis:“Idon’t](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/9c0af5f3-b131-49b4-a680-7d70c108cf07-160212000614/85/Excel-as-law-practice-mgt-software-1-320.jpg)
Excel as law practice mgt software
- 1. Having a Law Office Management System in place is imperative? But how do I do this in a cost effective manner? Answer is likely already installed on your desktop or laptop: Excel, One Note and Publisher. Too oftenina solopractice or small firm, a single individual (YOU,if youare a solo) isresponsibleforall of the administrative workimperative tomaintainingasuccessful law office:Filemanagement,case management,documentmanagement,accountmanagement,billingandinvoicing,employee withholding,etc,etc. Oftenadministrative timeisspentinthe earlymorninghours,late eveninghours,orworse,weekend time [Whenthe courtsare closed] givingawayanypossibilityof awork/ LIFE balance. Gettingahandle on the administrationof yourlawoffice isnotonlyessential,itisthe new vogueadvertisingangle.More and more lawoffice managementsoftware ispoppingupacrossthe internet.Theirrepsare trollinglaw firmand lawyerlistsandcold callingyouroffice (mightevenbe me?) tryingtogetyouto buyintotheir system.Mostof these systems(AmicusAttorney,Clio,CosmoLex,HoudiniESQ,myLS,toname afew) are veryuseful, youmightevensaytheyare worththeirweightingold,butthey come withagoldprice tag too. Thisis notan endorsementof anyproductsor eventhe Microsoftproducts youcurrentlypossess.The simple factis, all attorneysneedalawoffice managementsystem, and mostlawyersalreadyhave Microsoftsoftware installedontheirhardware and simple donotknow how touse it. The AmericanBar Associationconductedasurveyin2014, Legal Technology Survey Report—regarding the use of office hardware technologiesbysolopractitionersandsmall law firms.Thisreportwas detailedinanarticle submittedby RichardFerguson. The surveyof software revealedthatmostlawyers possess MicrosoftOutlookandMicrosoftOffice products. Quotedfromthe report:“Desktopcomputersremainthe mostpopularformfactormade available for use by lawyers.Although63%of lawyershave accesstoa desktopas theirprimarycomputer(the same as in2013), the use of laptopcomputersbyattorneysis84% insolopracticesand 68% insmall firms.” The reasonwhy I picked MicrosoftExcel tohighlightinthisarticle isbecause of the amazingversatilityin thisprogram that youhave alreadypurchased.Additionally,there are tonsof free tutorial programsfor Excel on-line.Simplyput,MicrosoftExcel is underutilizedandunderappreciated.It’snotthatpeople don’tneedExcel forday-to-dayuse inalaw office, it’sjustthatpeople don’tknow how touse itvery well. Excel isnot justa program for addingupnumbersincolumns;it’sa programfor organizingdataand analyzingthe relationshipbetweenthe data.Youcan use itas a database,contactmanagement software,abillingdatabase,acalendaringprogram, ora thousandotherlegal uses.Excel isnotgoingto replace more expensivespecialtylitigationsoftware,but Ihave created a template (Attached) thatyou can use,modifytomanage yourlaw office. It’sstill earlyenoughinthe new yeartostickto that resolutiontocreate a work/ life balance inyourpractice!If youdon’thave time to doit yourself,Iam happyto come take a lookand doit for you.I neverhadtime todo it eitherwhenIwasrunningmylaw practice.The most oftencommentIhearfrom otherattorneyswhenIam workingwiththemis:“Idon’t
- 2. understandthis,Idon’twantto understandthis,Iwantto pay you to tell me whatto do.” Glad to doit, give me call.JohnW Tinder.720-375-6829. E-mail:jnylaw2010@gmail.com