Every law firm is different, each with its own unique characteristics. A law firm that practises several areas of law, manages complex cases and has sophisticated fee earner needs is probably better with a fully integrated suite of practice management software. Especially for its staple software modules such as legal accounts, case management, time recording and CRM (client relationship management). The more straight-forward law firm, specialising in just one niche area of law perhaps, may be fine with separate applications.
- Topic:
- Legal
It’s a question we often get from our law firm customers and one that’s top of the agenda for many senior partners and managers in the legal sector. In this article, we look at why legal client experience is now one of the most important parts of a successful law firm’s strategy and some top tips for law firms to consider.
- Topic:
- Legal
The focus on firms and whether they are complying with their anti-money laundering obligations continues, with a further firm having recently been fined £2,000 for multiple breaches, including it telling the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) it had a compliant firm wide risk assessment (FWRA) in place when it didn’t; it also didn’t have in place compliant AML policies, controls and procedures.
The property sector remains a high risk area of work and according to the latest Financial Action Task Force (FATF) report there is “a poor level of understanding” of AML risks and how to mitigate them.
- Topic:
- Legal
The short answer is yes. However, law firms should avoid taking workflow customisation too far. Intuitive workflow customisation functionality is a key benefit of flexible case management software. Experts in specific areas of law – e.g. conveyancing, crime, personal injury – to name just a few – are well-positioned to enhance the running of legal departments, through workflow customisation, enabling firms to drive greater efficiency and increase profitability. Over-complicated workflows, however, are rarely used to their full potential by busy fee earners, and are incredibly difficult to support. A happy balance needs to be achieved.
- Topic:
- Legal
A law firm’s decision to switch to new software can be based on a wide variety of reasons, but one thing they all have in common is they are all striving to make their businesses better.
Changing software is no small undertaking. It affects everyone in the firm. But with the right supplier a software switch for the right reasons will undoubtedly improve the business.
With many years of experience in the legal software sector, we are pleased to be at a point where we receive many enquiries for Access Legal software every day. In this blog we reflect on our analysis relating to the seven main reasons law firms are choosing to switch to new legal software.
- Topic:
- Legal
Time is a big deal for any law firm and possibly one of the most challenging aspects of running any legal practice.
This blog poses the question: ‘Do your fee earners effectively value, manage and capture your firm’s most precious commodity?’
- Topic:
- Legal
Law firms look to the marketplace for new business software for a wide variety of reasons, but on the whole most are underpinned by a desire to better manage their caseloads, their finances and their client relationships.
When firms find their fee earners are spending a significant proportion of their time doing necessary but trivial tasks that don’t add any value whatsoever, such as:
- Entering data manually
- Retrieving data that is siloed within disparate software applications
- Enduring inefficient inter-departmental workflows
- Living with inadequate reporting
…it is definitely time to start reviewing the firm’s software situation.
- Topic:
- Legal
Legal case and practice management software pricing – what law firm buyers can expect?
When it comes to paying for software there is a vast array of pricing models you may come across when reviewing the legal software space. With legal tech, many software providers offer cloud solutions only these days, i.e. software that is hosted securely on the cloud for which you pay a monthly fee per user. Other suppliers however, offer both cloud and on-premise options.
The options are split down further. Law firm software for the cloud usually comes with two choices. It’s either pure SaaS (software-as-a-service) sometimes referred to as browser-based software or web-based software. The user interface in this scenario is a web page accessed via the user’s browser. Its servers are typically outside the firm’s local area network, and users control and run the software and process data from their local desktop device. The other cloud-based option is cloud desktop software – which is still SaaS, but it uses a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The RDP connects desktop PCs and laptops to operating systems and applications that are running on a remote server in the cloud. This scenario enables all processing to be done in the cloud, whilst the desktop device only needs enough computing power to display what is happening in the software graphically to the user, on their local desktop screen.
- Topic:
- Legal
