Law firm technology: Five key failings with solutions

Our Global Chief Executive Officer, Nicola Moore-Miller, took to the podium recently with LEAP’s Director of Lifetime Planning, Craig Matthews, to help law firms harness the power of technology and thrive. In a 45-minute podcast titled ‘Having IT and using IT’, Nicola and Craig describe five key areas in which practices fail to maximise their use of technology.

Why should law firms embrace software fully? Quite simply, technology is the enabler of success in an era of digital transformation. It’s technology used smartly that allows differentiation and gives a competitive edge by operating efficiently, performing heavy lifting, driving productivity, reaching return on investment… plus many more benefits besides.

Without further ado, five ways software fails are…

#1: Failing to invest in people

In professional services, our people are our greatest asset. Combining ‘people power’ with innovative technology takes a good service and makes it outstanding. But, what exactly is meant by investing in your people? One word: training.

Training is often seen as an unwelcome distraction by busy legal professionals juggling heavy caseloads, aiming for fee earning targets and managing conflicting priorities. Lawyers already undertake continued professional development training on specialism-themed topical subjects but less so for IT. When you consider a large part of a solicitor’s skillset is interacting with IT, most likely two or three different applications, IT training is a definite blind spot.

Some law firm owners and managers view IT training equally negatively as they’re reluctant to pay money for training on top of the potentially significant investment that’s already been made in IT. This is false economy. The technology’s price tag isn’t the only important investment and we actively discourage reducing training time at the point of sale in order to cut costs.

The repercussions of failing to invest in your people are wide reaching. First, people don’t feel valued and can’t grasp the technology, both of which combine to cause higher staff turnover and poor service standards. Second, efficiency and productivity are hampered by limited knowledge of your new application’s features and functionality.

Admittedly, in the early days of software roll out, there’s a learning curve effect but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Suffer short-term pains to secure long-term gains for rewards of a happier workforce (who feel valued and operate optimally) and happier clients (who receive quality services).

Another side effect of your staff lacking software know-how is the risk of mistakes. To quote a few scenarios, a missed anti-money laundering check could result in fraud, a mishandled case file could result in a professional negligence claim, a sloppy client onboarding process could result in a bad review, a botched client account could result in a stressful end-of-year audit and SRA investigation… the list goes on. All of these situations can be prevented by a simple schedule of training on your staff’s roles in practice.

As an aside here, training shouldn’t be perceived as a one-off event. Staff will leave and join your company, software will be enhanced and developed, functionality will be forgotten and overlooked, processes and procedures will be altered, and rules and regulations are subject to change. Training is the cure for all these ills.

#2: Failing to build the processes

Processes are the steps that happen throughout the course of a matter, from the point of new client inception to final billing. For certain areas of law, processes are more relevant than others, for example conveyancing which has a greater tendency to follow a standardised path.

You may recognise the processes in the above description as workflow. If you case management software has workflow capabilities, it’s a useful guiding support for superior case handling and progression by your client-facing teams, with triggers activating reliably so that stuff happens when it’s supposed to happen. By mapping your workflow from the word ‘go’, your software will perfectly mirror how your firm works as well as introduce standardisation and uniformity to everything you do.

However, processes are about more than workflow alone. Ultimately, processes are your office manual to promote best-in-class practice management, mitigate risks in their myriad forms and identify what to do when things go wrong. Software with built-in processes is your business’s foundation.

When purchasing new software, we strongly recommend reviewing processes, rather than replicating existing ones, before mapping into your system. It’s an opportunity to become even smarter. Thereafter, keep ‘software’ as a rolling agenda item on your quarterly departmental meetings so it improves constantly along with your processes. Bear in mind the acronym PDCA – standing for plan, do, check, act – to refine your software and processes continually.

#3: Failing to invest in technology

Thus far, we’ve analysed the failings of law firms who’ve bought new technology. But, there’s a contingent who fail to invest in technology at all. There’s a particular mentality which resents IT as a cost centre. In the current cost-of-living crisis, money worries aren’t reserved exclusively for our personal lives. They filter into the professional environment too. For instance, salaries must keep pace with inflationary increases to retain (and attract) your top talent, yet service prices must remain affordable by savvy consumers to protect your revenue stream.

These two challenges are tackled by technology. With the right software, comprising a central system containing predefined processes, you can manage larger case volumes without increasing your headcount, and satisfy demanding clients with quality service provision at a budget-permitted cost.

Having already touched upon your employees, the recruitment crisis is worth an extra mention. The newer wave of recruits, Millennials and Gen X, have great expectations regarding technology as it’s been an omnipresent force during their education, home and, now, workplace. Your technology, then, widens your employee target audience.

Unlike other capital expenditure, technology has lowered in price over the years. A £7,000 laptop bought ten years ago would set you back as little as £1,000 now. Plus, the introduction of software-as-a-service technologies has brought about further price reductions by replacing expensive hardware with cloud alternatives. Your money goes much further today than ever before.

In the UK, it’s estimated that 1-2% of turnover is invested in IT. Elsewhere, this investment is in the region of 10-20% of turnover. The more you invest in IT, the more rewards you’ll reap. Technology is a multiplier of your abilities as a business. Make a sound IT investment and you’ll soar to success.

#4: Failing to recognise (and address) system discontent

Sitting alongside undervaluing training and begrudging IT as a cost centre, people in law typically complain their technology doesn’t do what they want it to do. In these instances, the go-to fix is switching to new software. In truth, the incumbent technology is probably more than fit for purpose. The problem is only 20% of its functionality is being used. The disused 80% is the cause of discontent.

In the legal industry, there are expectations and regulatory obligations around document management, case management, time recording, billing and other functions which are common to every single law firm. Software has to contain these tools. If someone says your technology can’t manage a day-to-day task, the chances are it can – but they’re just unsure how.

Before you throw the baby out with the bathwater, gaze inwards at existing features, identify superusers, analyse processes and procedures, and ascertain if your software can work harder for your business. You may find an investment in new technology may not be needed after all. Instead, invest in what you’ve got already.

In saying this, there are occasions when legacy systems haven’t kept pace with competitive offerings, and are outdated and lacking functionality. By taking stock, understanding its faults and knowing what’s required next time round, you’re ideally placed to engage with staff at every level to secure their buy in, and engage with prospective suppliers to get your needs met in their entirety.

#5: Failing to improve continuously

If you hear ‘we’ve always done it this way’, don’t accept the status quo unthinkingly. The success of your business literally depends upon a process of continual improvement – in your people, processes and technology. The modern legal landscape is unrecognisable from, say, ten years ago. Standing still is a dangerous strategy and could lead to your demise.

It’s evolution rather than revolution. Bitesize, incremental improvements achieve better outcomes than trying to overhaul everything at once. Cast your mind back to the PDCA tactic, keep that ‘software’ agenda item rolling, stay openminded about technology and its multiple advantages, and move ever forwards to future-proof your business.

This might sound daunting but there are consultancy and training suppliers, Jayva included, who specialise in assisting law firms with complex software-related projects. Get in touch to discover our comprehensive service portfolio, ask about pricing and enquire regarding availability. Email info@jayvaglobal.com or call 0333 20 20 995.