At Practus, innovation isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a core value that drives our every decision and fuels our pursuit of excellence. Guided by the power of innovation, we continuously strive to elevate our technological capabilities to better serve our clients and enhance our internal processes. Technology is what made it possible to launch a fully virtual law firm back in 2018… six years later, we’re continuing to embrace new thinking to promote synergistic growth.
We kicked off this anniversary series with a reflection on how we went from a launch team of just 16 people, to a team of over 70 just six years later. That being said, Part 2 of this series discussed how shared growth isn’t just about the numbers. True growth is reflected in the relationships we’ve built, the caliber of our team, the trust we’ve earned from clients, and the ability to offer the support our attorneys need to best represent those clients. That leads us to Part 3 of our anniversary series, where we explore the bytes of sweet success through harnessing technology for firm growth.
As Chris likes to say, “it all comes down to People, Process, and Technology.”
1. Streamlining Operations Through Expert IT Support
Commitment to innovation begins with our Practus technological infrastructure. By expanding our IT team with industry experts, we’ve bolstered our ability to provide comprehensive support to our firm, while simultaneously building out more efficient systems in the backend. This strategic investment has not only optimized our internal workflows but has also positioned us to adapt swiftly to evolving technological landscapes.
How does a tech team help when it comes to Practus growth?
So, let’s talk about process! From the moment a new team member enters our onboarding system, they are backed by the Practus process (and technology). While we certainly have our ‘stack,’ we know that each practice is a little bit different. Our team is constantly researching and implementing best of breed, innovative software that helps our attorneys work smarter, not harder. Being hands on from day 1 allows our team to ensure that our attorneys are off to a strong start.
Our Systems Integrations team members work together to ensure that internal systems can handle the load that comes along with new attorneys and new clients. By implementing easy-to-use User Interfaces and Experiences, this team sets each person at Practus up for success when it comes to using our legal tech. Our Systems Integrations team strives to stay 10+ steps ahead of where we are now so that by the time we roll out new processes and workflows, the transition is as smooth as possible for our legal team.
The tech team doesn’t just work behind the scenes; our Help Desk Specialist works with non-tech team members to help with any questions they may have. In order to grow, we needed to ensure our attorneys had a direct contact for all their tech needs.
Because attorneys need to be responsive and accessible to clients, it’s important that our tech team is equally responsive. Having a team working behind the scenes and on the front lines makes it possible to have the scalability and adaptability we need to stay true to our innovative values at Practus and provide the representation our clients deserve.
2. Empowering Efficiency with Cutting-Edge Tools
Central to our mission of delivering transparent and individualized legal services is the adoption of cutting-edge project management and docketing tools. These state-of-the-art solutions empower our team to streamline case management, enhance collaboration, and expedite conflict checks. From the use of emerging technologies within our daily practice to timely ProLaw trainings, these tools help our attorneys and non-legal team work efficiently, saving our team valuable time and passing along that saved time as saved costs to our clients.
In addition to third party solutions, we have developed a number of custom solutions (including our proprietary onboarding system) that our team interacts with every day. From our custom intranet allows our attorneys to access all of their software needs within a singular custom interface to our state-of-the-art conflicts and client management tools, we pride ourselves on being a truly tech-enabled firm.
3. Enhancing Client Experience Through Holistic Technology Integration
Practus only works if it works for our clients. The client experience and their ability to receive tailored legal services is the end goal for our holistic technology approach. Some of the ways technology supports our firm’s ability to not only represent new clients, but also represent more complex legal matters on a full-service scale include:
- Faster conflict checks
Conflict checks are critical before engaging an attorney because they confirm that an attorney can act in their potential client’s best interest without adversely affecting current/former clients or other clients at the firm. Having the technology that expedites conflict checks means you can move forward with resolving your legal matter faster with an attorney you trust.
- Alternative fee arrangements
One reason that some law firms are unable to offer clients alternative fee arrangements is because their legal billing technology and systems don’t allow for a variance of the type of fee arrangement. At Practus, it’s critical that our firm’s financial incentives align with our clients’ goals by offering fee arrangements that work best for both the attorney and their client.
- Seamless onboarding experience for attorneys
Attorneys are responsible for providing legal counsel to their clients and carry that responsibility with them when they transition to a new law firm. That means changing law firms must be as seamless as possible so that attorneys can continue representing their clients even during a transition to a new firm. To create a seamless transition, we developed an onboarding system that combines personal touchpoints and the use of technology to create an efficient process. This process sets attorneys up to hit the ground running so they can continue representing their clients while starting at the firm.
- Legal tech ecosystem that promotes collaboration
By removing barriers like location, overhead expenses, and out-of-date software systems, our attorneys can jointly represent clients in matters ranging from a simple transaction to complex legal issues. The best part is collaboration is easy in a tech-forward environment; it only takes the click of a button to meet with attorneys across time zones, states, and even countries.
Traditional law firms often approach technology systems with piecemeal solutions. By adopting a comprehensive approach to technology, we’ve removed historically limited legal technology to help our firm accomplish its main goal – delivering top-tier legal representation to our clients.
A tech-forward law firm is how we started six years ago, and it’s what will propel us into the future. We hope these bytes of sweet success have given an inside look into how technology supports our firm’s growth from a synergistic perspective and improves the representation of our clients. Join us next week for the final article of our anniversary series: Sweet Harmony – Cultivating a Culture of Collaboration and Celebration.
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