Starting a New Law Firm: Technology 101
Tech is a cornerstone of practicing law, and unfortunately many firms are saddled with legacy products or imperfect solutions. One of the biggest advantages to a new firm is the ability to select the right tools without any baggage or added expense from migrating data. The technology needs of a new firm are usually minimal, but a great foundation helps facilitate a better experience for attorneys, staff, and clients.
PC vs Mac
The battle continues, and Mac has become a viable option for law firms in recent years. Microsoft’s Office suite works great, but typically the more specialized software dictates the ability to use Macs or not. Some firms will use virtual machines or remote desktops to allow Mac users to access certain apps, but this can cost extra and creates additional steps for attorneys to work.
Mandatory Tech
Practice Management & Accounting
This is the most essential system for your firm, and where all your revenue will flow through. For accounting, you may have a system separate from your practice/matter management system, often referred to as “general ledger”, although it may include other components as well. For example, Quickbooks is one of the most popular accounting platforms for small businesses, but does not include any law firm specific features, especially for managing matters.
For the smallest firms, time and matters may be tracked manually, such as using an Outlook calendar and Excel sheets. However this scales very poorly, and with even a handful of attorneys, billing and trust accounts quickly become a nightmare. Great startup solutions for firms include Clio, Cosmolex, and for plantiff’s firms, Filevine is a great option.
EMAIL AND DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
Email and work product are the core of every law practice, and must be stored somewhere. There is no contest for email, Microsoft’s 365 platform integrates with the majority of legal software and is the industry standard. Firms with a few users may be able to use Google’s G Suite platform, but it becomes difficult to run a firm with beyond a handful of people due to non-existent integration with most legal software.
If the firm is ready for a fully featured document management solution (DMS), the two leading options are:
Epona sits as a layer on top of Microsoft 365, customizing it for legal work. That means functionality is already built in natively to Office, Windows , and the majority of apps.
iManage has been the leader in DMS technology for the legal industry since the 2000s. There are a large amount of integrations available, especially with most common legal software, and other competitors have built their software in a similar way due to the broad familiarity with iManage.
optional tech
document comparison
Word’s built in document comparison tool works well enough, but sometimes you need to convert a PDF to Word format to compare, or more complex documents are a struggle to evaluate. Litera’s Compare product is the industry standard for those comparing lots of contracts, and is simple to purchase, use and install.
Secure Document Intake & Sharing
Whether letting clients upload files to the firm, or sharing discovery with opposing counsel, files need to be kept secure. Citrix Sharefile is used frequently in the legal industry to handle both these functions since it is easy to use and familiar to most attorneys and staff.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the technology your firm can take advantage of. Want to talk about document automation, docketing, billing automation, and more? Ready to take the next step on starting your own firm? Talk to one of our law firm experts today!