Document Management for Law Firms

Law firms of all sizes have been scrambling since the COVID pandemic to find stability and success. Whether your law firm is a small business, or you are part of a large corporate firm, law firms are facing constant challenges in the 2020s.

To maintain competitiveness, and reduce costs in an increasingly volatile environment, law firms should consider leveraging document management solutions to improve productivity and save money.

Challenges Facing Law Firms of All Sizes

Having a law firm comes with a lot of challenges. Here are just a few of the challenges facing law firms today:

Remote or Office Work?

Pretty much every business sector was impacted strongly by the pandemic. Law firms overall did well in transitioning workers to remote work, and legal services are somewhat easily handled in hybrid and home office environments.

Yet, many legal business owners are now wanting their employees to come back to the office. However, resistance is a factor, as many employees prefer to work from home. Workplace vaccine mandates have also caused some issues with luring some team members back to the office.

To fully be flexible, law firms need to find a balance between office work and remote work, perhaps through hybrid work setups.

Additionally, the scramble to enable remote work during COVID meant that many technologies were thrown together in an ad-hoc way. (A document management solution can fix this, see below.)

Competition and Cheap Consumers

While these workforce disruptions have been continuing, the business environment for law firms is highly competitive. Lawyers now must compete with cheap online legal services and advice websites. Consumers are expecting more for less money. And now inflationary pressures are causing many potential clients to close their pocketbooks.

Acquiring and Retaining Clients

Because people now want more for less, it can be a challenge for law firms to gain new clients as well as to keep them. For smaller law firms especially, getting new clients in can be extremely difficult, and trying to do so while making a profit. Client acquisition can take time and resources but is a necessary evil of doing business in law.

Getting Paid

Even if a law firm does manage to take on new clients, that doesn’t mean the clients are going to pay. Unfortunately, much administrative time can be wasted by law firms as payments are collected. Additionally, keeping track of billing hours and communicating value to the client is a critical part of the mix, making getting paid even more of a challenge.

Technology Woes

Without the proper workflows, doing business these days can be frustrating. And for law firms, it can be devastating when technology isn’t working properly. This can be compounded when you have remote workers who might be using home computers and other devices that aren’t under direct control of the law firm. Lack of good technology workflows can also hamper productivity and efficiency.

Compliance

Who knows better than a lawyer the importance of being compliant with applicable local state and federal regulations? Yet, without the proper technology technologies and workflows, it can sometimes be challenging to keep up with the basics of compliance such as privacy of client files and the like.

How Document Management Can Help Law Firms

A document management solution for law firms can save both time and money. A document management system is a technology that utilizes secure cloud storage and software to store, index, and manage digital documents. A document management system also has collaboration tools to enable coworkers to work together on documents securely and efficiently.

With document management, files can be quickly searched via customized search criteria and accessed either on-site or remotely. All files and collaborative connections are protected with enhanced security. Additionally, compliance tools are built-in to make sure records are secure.

Gain the Benefits of Digital Document Management for Your Business

RJ Young has extensive experience working with law firms to establish robust technology systems that enhance efficiencies while saving on costs. With our document management solutions for law firms, you can create a secure way for your team to work either onsite or remotely, improving productivity and streamlining operations.

Wanting to improve collaboration and efficiency for your law firm? RJ Young can help. Contact us today at 800-347-1955 to talk to one of our document management experts.