How to Use Automation to Increase Efficiency at Your Law Firm
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The Clio webinar discusses the importance and benefits of automating law firm operations to enhance efficiency and client experience while addressing the ethical responsibilities lawyers have regarding client confidentiality and the supervision of staff. It outlines processes that can be automated, such as billing and document management, and emphasizes the necessity of continuing education to stay relevant in technological advancements. The session concludes by highlighting the tools needed for successful automation and future learning opportunities for law professionals.
![Confidentiality
ABA Model Rule 1.6
(a) A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client
unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in
order to carry out the representation…
(c) A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or
unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the
representation of a client.
[Comment 18] …inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of information relating to
the representation of a client does not constitute a violation if the lawyer has
made reasonable efforts to prevent the access or disclosure.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/useautomationtoincreaselawfirmefficiency-200714223308/85/How-to-Use-Automation-to-Increase-Efficiency-at-Your-Law-Firm-18-320.jpg)
![Duty of Competence
ABA Model Rule 1.1
[Comment 8]
“To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep
abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits
and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing
study and education and comply with all continuing legal education
requirements to which the lawyer is subject.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/useautomationtoincreaselawfirmefficiency-200714223308/85/How-to-Use-Automation-to-Increase-Efficiency-at-Your-Law-Firm-19-320.jpg)
How to Use Automation to Increase Efficiency at Your Law Firm
- 1. Use Automation to Increase Law Firm Efficiency A Clio Webinar
- 2. Joshua Lenon LAWYER IN RESIDENCE AT CLIO Attorney admitted in New York @JoshuaLenon
- 3. Agenda • Benefits of automation • Automation process • Create an automation plan • Legal technology • Questions
- 4. Benefits of Automation At a certain point, time is no longer money.
- 13. Growing law firms focus on billable work, not busy work.
- 14. Lawyers are maxed out • 77% of lawyers work outside of business hours to catch up on work • 58% believe it’s what is necessary to succeed. Top reasons for working outside of office hours
- 15. Create Efficiencies and Automate • Achieve more with your day by cutting down on time it takes to do repetitive tasks • Increase firm-wide efficiency and collaboration • Enhance the client experience with timely bills and communication • Create a sense of wellbeing because of streamlined processes, reduced mistakes, and elimination of tedious tasks
- 16. Automation and the Rules of Professional Responsibility Automation is both required and a minefield
- 17. What are the ethical considerations? • Lawyers have a duty to safeguard confidential client information • Lawyers have a duty to protect client property, including client files from loss • Lawyers have a duty to be competent in technology • Lawyers have the responsibility to supervise non-lawyer staff
- 18. Confidentiality ABA Model Rule 1.6 (a) A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation… (c) A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client. [Comment 18] …inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of information relating to the representation of a client does not constitute a violation if the lawyer has made reasonable efforts to prevent the access or disclosure.
- 19. Duty of Competence ABA Model Rule 1.1 [Comment 8] “To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which the lawyer is subject.”
- 20. Duty of Competence by State
- 21. Continuous Ethical Duties •NY Ethics Opinion 842 •Lawyer should stay abreast of technological advances to ensure that the storage system remains sufficiently advanced to protect the client’s information, and the lawyer should monitor the changing law of privilege to ensure that storing information in the “cloud” will not waive or jeopardize any privilege protecting the information. CA Formal Ethics NO. 2010-179 Because of the evolving nature of technology and differences in security features that are available, the attorney must ensure the steps are sufficient for each form of technology being used and must continue to monitor the efficacy of such steps.
- 22. Nonlawyer Supervision ABA Model Rule 5.3 (b) A lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the nonlawyer shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the person’s conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer…
- 23. Securing Communication of Protected Client Information ABA Formal Opinion 477 ”A lawyer generally may transmit information relating to the representation of a client over the internet without violating the Model Rules of Professional Conduct where the lawyer has undertaken reasonable efforts to prevent inadvertent or unauthorized access. However, a lawyer may be required to take special security precautions to protect against the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of client information when required by an agreement with the client or by law, or when the nature of the information requires a higher degree of security.”
- 24. Automation Can Go Too Far
- 26. What can you automate? • Anything you handle more than once! • Process mapping can help you identify areas of your workflow that are ripe for automation “How to Take the Work Out of Your Workflow”- Nehal Madhani, Attorney at Work
- 27. Repetitive • Do not require any interpretation or decision-making. • Entirely monotonous, and ripe for automation
- 28. Administrative • Require minimal interpretation but not analysis of substantive legal issues • Cannot be entirely automated, but can often benefit from creating new efficiencies • Should be delegated to an assistant or paralegal where possible
- 29. Substantive • Require interpretation and critical thinking • Require your legal education and expertise • This is what clients want to pay for!
- 30. Creating your firm’s automation plan Area to automate: Which process will you tackle? Problem: Why is this a pain point for your firm? Solution: What will a new process/technology to do help? Identify the product or process here. DRI: Who will lead up implementing this, and by when? Budget: How many hours and dollars will you designate for this project? Sustainability Plan: How will you get the firm to adopt this change and keep iterating on this?
- 31. The average knowledge worker spends 11 hours a week generating documents. 6 of those hours are wasted time. Clio gives you that time back with easily generated documents from your own templates. Never cut and paste again.
- 33. Automation Necessities Automated law firms need 3 tools to run 24/7: 1. Practice automation 2. Client facing technologies 3. Triggered actions
- 35. Types of Malpractice Errors Source: ABA Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims - 2012 45% 30% 15% 10% Substantive Errors Administrative Errors Client Relations Intentional Wrongs
- 36. Practice Automation 1. Refine and automate billing 2. Remove redundant text 3. Automate calendaring
- 37. Law Firm Billing Process • 70% of law firms bill once monthly • 27% of law firms still mail physical bills • 88% of law firms offer no discounts for early payments • 57% of law firms report having overdue bills
- 38. Area to automate: Billing Problem: We take too long to bill Solution: Utilize cloud-based practice management to track time and expenses, generate draft bills in bulk, do bill approvals, and send invoices electronically. Start accepting online payments DRI: Managing attorney, office manager, office assistants. One to two months. Budget: Cost of practice management, legal payment processing, 16 hours of time to research, train, customize and implement. Sustainability Plan: Set billing cut-off date, and days to send bills. Keep everyone accountable.
- 39. Other Billing Automation Wins • Bulk Billing • Generate bills in bulk • Edit bills in sequence • Bill approval process • Bulk sharing with clients • Bulk trust payments • Paying multiple invoices at once • Customizations • Custom bill themes • Custom billing rates for each user • Discounts for early payment • Interest for late payments
- 41. Accept Online Payments • Among people who’ve had a legal issue in the past two years: • 50% are more likely to hire a lawyer who takes electronic payments • 47% are more likely to hire a lawyer who accepts automated payments or fund transfers • 40% would never hire a lawyer who didn’t take credit or debit cards
- 43. Payment Plans Seamless, integrated online credit card payment solution available within Clio, that allows you to receive payments with your client's credit card information.
- 45. Remove Redundant Text Area to automate: Document generation, getting signatures and sharing with clients Problem: Making errors, manually entering data that exists elsewhere, repeatedly sharing the same documents with clients Solution: Create a good first draft of commonly used documents, and easily share the latest version with clients with a client portal DRI: Managing attorney, paralegal, other office staff Budget: Built into some practice management solutions, standalone products vary in price. Duration depends on number of documents. Sustainability Plan: Continuously add to document library. Update documents when necessary
- 47. Automate Calendaring Problem: Deadlines take forever to calculate accurately, difficult to keep updated on rule changes Solution: Use a deadline calculator to auto-populate based on calendar rules for your jurisdiction DRI: Managing attorney, office staff responsible for deadlines Budget: Tools charge per matter or per user per month ($19- $69), built into Elite plans at Clio Sustainability Plan: Do training, input dates as soon as a trigger activity occurs (trial scheduled, discovery served, etc.)
- 48. Court Rules
- 50. Shift Data Entry to Clients
- 51. Public Forms for Data Entry
- 52. Esignatures
- 53. Esignatures
- 54. Esignatures
- 56. Clio Scheduler
- 58. Zapier Ideas
- 59. Zapier Ideas
- 61. Legal Technology There’s more choice everyday
- 65. Conclusion
- 66. Law firm automation frees up lawyers to focus on utilization efficiencies, improving the success of their firm and client experience.
- 67. Upcoming CLE-Eligible Webinar: Mindfulness and the Practice of Law Upcoming Virtual Meetups: • How to be an Advocate for Access to Justice and Legal Reform • How to Build and Maintain a Positive Online Reputation Article: How to Transition to a Paperless Law Firm Legal Podcast: The Daily Matters Podcast, Hosted by Jack Newton Webinars, blogs, podcasts and more!
- 69. Questions
- 70. Poll - Clio Customers Only Would you like to learn more about: (select all that apply) a. Adding Clio payments b. Adding Clio Grow (client intake) c. Clio Cloud Conference - gone virtual! d. No I’m not interested
- 71. Poll - New to Clio Only Would you like to learn more about Clio? (select all that apply) a. Clio’s Suite of Products b. Clio Cloud Conference - gone virtual! c. No I’m not interested