A Better Question: What’s the Best System for Your Practice?
Your goals include three E’s: operating Efficiently and managing Effectively while providing the best client Experience. You need customer relationship management (CRM) to manage relationships with people and matter management to move matters to completion. Both should relate all records for calendar, documents, e-mail, notes, phone, and billing. Basic table stakes are organization and easy access to all these records by contact or matter. Ease of customization plus any number of differentiating features will likely be the determining factors in your system selection. Real productivity comes from a streamlined client process with document assembly, automated work flow, and useful reports.
It may help to visualize a 3-D “Practice Management Box” for case management, client billing, and firm accounting. Ideally, an all-in-one system is a single 3-D box. Separate systems may be viewed as independent but hopefully integrated boxes.
The width of the 3-D box is a baseline of record types, including contacts, matters, events, tasks, documents, notes, e-mail, and phone records; along with client time and expense, trust, invoices, and payments; and income, expenses, and other accounting entries.
The depth of the 3-D box involves customization. This includes necessary information fields, frequently used document and billing templates, work flows of automatic records, and finally a full set of management reports. Designed well, these customized elements become the sheet music for scripting your ideal client process, the secret to true productivity.
Examples of a simple custom work flow may include a required field for referral source and then a work flow for a referral thank-you; or a work flow to confirm by document or e-mail each new appointment event. An advanced work flow would apply a set of many tasks and documents and capture the statute and other deadlines for each new litigation matter.
The height of the 3-D box is a combination of differentiating factors, including the user interface, productivity features, and special functions. How intuitive, fast, and easy does the system feel? Which system offers the best functionality for repetitive tasks such as document assembly, scanned documents, e-mail, and attachments. Other important functions could include a firm-branded client portal, e-billing, e-filing, online payments, advanced billing features, built-in e-mail, mobile apps, online web forms, advanced work flows, and integrations with other programs.
Your 3-D system image defines your ideal system and serves as a rubric to judge which system earns the title as Best for Your Practice.
Problems, What Problems?
Too often the two main problems with practice management are that users don’t practice and managers don’t manage. It is important to allocate sufficient time to implement and train. Well-trained staff are proficient, productive, and can handle a larger workload. Look for training resources such as in-context help, a step-by-step training guide, videos, and live online classes. Have a specialist on call for tactical, quick answers and periodic lunch-and-learn sessions for more strategic planning.
Use the system to manage by objective and by exception. If the objective is 150 hours per month, a report listing one line per timekeeper with total hours this month billable, non-billable, and total will let you know if you are on track to meet your objective. A missing time report showing dates with low or missing time is an example of management by exception.
Use Lists to Manage and Monetize
Lists help manage mailings, deadlines, follow-ups, referral thank-yous, discovery, and marketing to professionals. Any good system will list tasks by staff, by category, and by matter along the guidelines of Getting Things Done (GTD). Delegate work to others and then focus first on what’s important, urgent, and that only you can do. Track exceptions such as past due to-dos.
The Value of Experience
A lawyer tells his client, “all these documents are free, we only charge for our experience.” My theory of everything states, “unless you have ready access to a subject matter expert, you are destined to attain a small fraction of the potential benefits.” Just as your clients are better served when guided by an experienced attorney, lawyers at times are better served by an advisor with experience in your type of practice.
I recall a young lawyer in South Carolina making a greater-than-average system investment as she started her new practice. I told her I was impressed with her investment in systems. She said, “Tom, I want to make sure that my capacity to do the work always stays ahead of the amount of work I have.” She was wise for her age by planning for growth. Perhaps she will become a future ABA president!
