The 5 biggest mistakes lawyers in all practice areas make ( and how to fix them ) Being a lawyer, you have a good understanding of the law, excellent people skills (your clients are delighted with your service and often refer their friends to you), you re a good negotiator, you have good judgment and you have a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievements. So what s next? There are 5 common mistakes that lawyers make on a daily basis. Are you making any of them? Read on to find out and learn how to avoid them to further improve your firm s efficiency, productivity and client experience. Let s begin... 1
Mistake #1: Using Outlook for calendaring The most common calendaring software for law firms is Microsoft Outlook. Many attorneys say it is an obvious choice: we already have it, we already know how to use it and all of our contacts are already in it. While Outlook is a good tool for email, it lacks features and functionality necessary to run an efficient, successful law firm. Here are 5 reasons why relying on Outlook to manage your firm s calendar can lead to malpractice. 1. Outlook lacks rules-based calendaring Without an automated process to schedule court mandated deadlines, important events are likely to fall through the cracks. The right law office software can automatically schedule, and reschedule, your deadlines for you. Simply calendar the trigger event and all related events are scheduled for you. 2. Outlook doesn t support group scheduling Without access to everyone s schedules, it s nearly impossible to accurately calendar group events. Trying to coordinate, update, and maintain individual calendars is error-prone and counterproductive. Having one central computerized calendar for everyone in your office makes scheduling convenient and accurate. 2
3. Outlook doesn t keep an audit trail If your calendar events are changed, it s important to know who is responsible for the update. Not knowing can lead to confusion in the office, especially if the change requires additional work or information. If you need clarification on why an event was changed or who authorized it, the right software will display the owner of the change and you can ask them directly, saving you frustration and streamlining your communication process. 4. Outlook can t calculate court dates Constant updates and changes to court rules means that deadlines frequently change. Having to count on your fingers or wall calendar to schedule your deadlines is time consuming and error- prone. Any calendaring program you use should have a legal date calculator built-in to compute court days and calendar days. 5. Outlook can t distinguish between cases In Outlook, every time you look at your calendar you are looking at all of your current obligations. But what if you need to just view what you have scheduled for one particular case? Your software should be able to configure to your unique needs. In this case, you should be able to easily filter your calendar to show events for only one client, one case etc. 3
Mistake #2: Using multiple, piecemealed programs Using multiple programs from multiple vendors increases your risks and costs. With client and case information scattered in different programs, how do you know what is accurate? Additionally, double entry of data in multiple programs is risky (typos) and time consuming. Not to mention having multiple programs means having multiple support plans, programs to upgrade, learn and train. AbacusLaw is the only practice management software that seamlessly configures to your unique needs. Don t make the mistake of purchasing practice management software that doesn t. 4
Mistake #3: Relying on paper Employees spend an average of 18 minutes searching for a document. A four-drawer file cabinet holds an average of 10,000 to 12,000 documents, costs $25,000 to fill and takes 9 square feet of floor space, costing $1,500 per year. And every 12 filing cabinets require an additional employee to maintain. Going paperless will provide you with many benefits including: Improve Efficiency: Find documents faster and simultaneously share documents. Cut Costs: Reduce space and equipment to store documents, reduce hard costs in paper, toner, filing folders, etc. and reduce mailing costs by using email. Improve Client Service: Quickly respond to client inquiries, give clients electronic copies of their documents and focus on revenue generating activities. Reduce Risk: Stop misfiling, improve document security, eliminate missing, borrowed or lost documents. Go Green: Reduce paper, toner, folders, etc. 5
Mistake #4: Using software that doesn t work the way you work best Good software is like a good suit. It has to be tailored to your way of practicing and the specific types of matters you handle. A poor fitting suit can spoil your image; poor fitting software can ruin your practice. Over the years, the types of cases you handle will most likely expand. If your software can t easily grow with you, you ll waste valuable time and money switching programs down the road. Only AbacusLaw is designed to be configured for every type of matter and every kind of law firm. 6
Mistake #5: Not having a bill button everywhere you need it Many lawyers cling to the traditional ways of tracking time paper, pen and spreadsheets. But since you re so busy helping clients, you re apt to forget 10-15 minutes here and there. And it adds up! Forgetting to bill for even just 10 minutes per week is almost 9 hours of lost billable time per year! If you bill $500 per hour, you re missing $4,500! It s important to track your time, even if you don t bill by the hour. Clients like to know how you spent your time. And if you don t know how you re spending your time you won t know which types of cases are most profitable for your firm. If you don t have a BILL button everywhere you need it, how will you remember to bill for all of the tasks you do? Unlike other time, billing and accounting programs, only AbacusLaw gives you a BILL button everywhere you need it. Conclusion If you re concerned that you re at risk of making one of the mistakes above, or for any other reason, AbacusLaw can help. Call 800-726-3339 now for a free demo of the only fully integrated practice management software built to be configured for every type of matter and every kind of firm. AND for a limited time, save 30% on your AbacusLaw purchase when you purchase within 2 weeks of today s date. 7
800-726-3339 www.abacuslaw.com 8