These 7 New Technologies Are Making Law Firms More Efficient

All law firms, regardless of size, strive to achieve efficiency in their legal service delivery. In the 2019 edition of Altman Weil’s Law Firms in Transition Survey, 43.1% of firms with less than 250 lawyers and 63.6% of firms with 250 lawyers or more used technology tools to replace human resources. What follows is a look at 7 technologies that are improving law firm efficiency similar to how electronic document stamping improved on Bates-stamping.

The following 7 technologies fall into the areas of:

·         information management software,

·         law practice management software, and

·         eDiscovery software.

Specific software products are described, but it is the technologies more than the products that are highlighted. Different products fit different firms depending on several criteria, such as:

·         cost,

·         versatility,

·         ease of use,

·         security assurances, and

·         degree of support.

Information Management Software

Law firms use various technologies and software to cope with the increasing volume and complexity of information. With improved security, many firms have moved information management and governance to the cloud.

Drive Enterprise

Keeping documents in the cloud offers several benefits. Documents can be kept in folders that are private or shared. Sharing allows multiple users to review and edit documents in real-time. Drive Enterprise offers shared drives allowing teams to store, search, and use their files anywhere on any device.

Drive Enterprise is designed for businesses and is perfect for law firms. It is affordable, versatile, and secure. This includes Google Docs (like Microsoft Word), Sheets (like Microsoft Excel), Slides (like Microsoft PowerPoint), and more. Firms already using Microsoft products can upload them to Drive Enterprise. Other software products include Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box.

Soda PDF Pro

A PDF creator, editor, and converter that will Bates stamp any number of electronic documents is necessary software in any law firm. Adobe Acrobat is the standard and Soda PDF Pro performs on a par with Adobe Acrobat and is more affordable.

Law Practice Management Software

Cloud-based software for a law firm is considered a must by many attorneys. It allows access to case information and firm data from any device and to anyone the firm grants access.

Clio

Clio is a popular cloud-based law firm management software receiving high reviews on Capterra, a free service for businesses to search available software.

MyCase

MyCase is ideal for smaller firms with between 2 and 49 users. It compares favorably with Clio in almost every way and offers the same product features as Clio.

There are also similar software products available, such as PracticePanther, Needles, HoudiniESQ, and more.

Attorney Nicole Black is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and other books and articles about the juncture of law and evolving technologies. She serves as the legal technology evangelist with MyCase. She wrote an informative article for the ABA Journal, The Ins and Outs of Law Practice Management Software, covering many of the important considerations a law firm needs to examine when making a law practice management software investment.

eDiscovery Software

Any law firm involved with litigation of any kind will be involved with electronic documents, including emails, text files, graphic files, image files, spreadsheet files, data files, video and audio files, and various markup language files. Specific software is required to handle these electronic documents that can sometimes number in the millions.

One consideration for law firms will be whether to complete eDiscovery in-house or to use vendors or other law firms. This decision will depend on the complexity of the types of litigation and the size of data. For those firms that do their data processing in house, the following two software programs are considered best for small businesses.

Logikcull

Logikcull is a secure cloud-based software that claims it makes reviewing data as simple as doing a Google search. Discovery projects can be commenced quickly and from any device.

Relativity

Designed for use in litigation, information governance, internal investigations, or government requests, Relativity is considered a complete eDiscovery software specifically meant for managing large volumes of data as well as identifying issues particular to the search criteria. Relativity is cloud-based but can also be installed on Windows.

CaseMap

Customizable, cloud-based, and easily integrated with other eDiscovery software, CaseMap gives the litigator one of the best ways to organize and analyze evidence. Organizing medical records and important case-specific documents is simplified with this case management software.

The technologies that make for a more efficient law firm allow users to access information from anywhere on any device. Utilizing the software described above, users may review, edit, and share firm and client information using the tablet for reading that best fits their needs and preferences. To find the best reader for the apps presented and more, go to Hayk Saakian to read Best Tablet for Reading – Top 7 eReaders of 2020.