Resources for law firms
Our articles grouped by topic, a one-page checklist and a short glossary.
Articles by topic
Getting started with automation
How to choose, describe and judge a first project.
- What a law firm should automate firstHow to choose a first project: small, repeated work that is easy to describe and easy to check.
- How to document a law firm's processes before automating themA simple way to write down how a task is done today, so automation starts from facts and not from memory.
- How to measure whether an automation workedWhat to measure, how to get a starting point and how to read the result without inventing metrics.
- Custom software, configuring a platform or doing nothing: how to chooseHow to compare building custom software, configuring a tool the firm already has and leaving a process as it is.
Intake and client communication
From the first inquiry to the daily mail, calls and email.
- How to automate client intake in a law firmA practical outline of intake: what to capture, who owns the next step and how to connect it to the case record.
- What a law firm's contact page needs to turn inquiries into clientsWhat to put on a contact page, what to leave out and what to check once it is live.
- A simple follow-up process for inquiries that did not become clientsA follow-up that a small team can run: who owns each step, what to record and when to stop.
- How to handle physical mail and phone calls in a law firmHow providers connected to the firm's workflow can handle mail and calls, and what the firm still decides.
- Rules for organizing a law firm's inbox and filing email to the matterSimple rules for sorting incoming email, assigning it and saving the right messages to the client file.
- A client portal: when it makes sense and when it does notWhat a client portal can do, when it fits a firm's work and what to check before adopting one.
Billing and time
How time becomes an invoice, and what the numbers can and cannot tell you.
- Connecting time worked to the invoice without entering it twiceHow to capture time once, review it and carry it to the invoice and the payment record, and what to check.
- From worked hours to collected fees: two sets of numbers that should not be mixedWhat Clio and the Thomson Reuters Institute report about billing and collection, and why the two should not be compared.
- How much of a lawyer's day is billable, and what that leaves outWhat a vendor's usage benchmark reports about billable hours, and why unbilled time is not the same as administrative work.
- Administrative time in law firms: what is known and what is notWhat a survey of small-firm lawyers reports about how they spend their time, and what no source measures.
Systems and documents
Connecting the tools a firm already uses and moving its information safely.
- Connecting email, calendar and case management: when to do it and when not toHow to decide which tools to connect, in what order, and which to leave separate.
- Preparing a firm's data before moving to a new systemWhat to inventory, clean and decide about clients, matters and contacts before any data is moved.
- Deadline control: what a calendar and reminder system must solve, and where it failsWhat a deadline system must do, the usual points of failure and how to check them.
- Connecting e-signature and documents to the matter fileHow to link document preparation and e-signature to the matter file, and what to check before you do.
- How e-signature works and what evidence it leavesHow an e-signature request works, what it records and what to review with your attorney.
- Migrating case management: phases, testing and switching off the old systemA phased plan, what to test and how to retire the old system safely.
Security and backup
What to ask a provider and how to be able to recover.
- What to ask a technology provider about the security of client informationQuestions about access, storage, confidentiality and incidents to put to a provider, and how to read the answers.
- Backups and recovery: what a law firm needs and how to test itWhat to back up, how many copies to keep and where, and how to test that recovery works.
- Multi-factor authentication in a law firm: what it is and where it goes wrongWhat it is, the kinds of method and the mistakes firms make when they turn it on.
- Phishing and email fraud aimed at law firms: signs to watch and habits that helpThe signs of phishing and email fraud, and the habits that let a firm verify first.
- Accounts and permissions: who can open what, and what happens when someone leavesHow to give each person the access their work needs and close it the day they leave.
- Keeping and disposing of firm data and devices safelyWhy deleting a file is not removing it, and the levels of media sanitization NIST describes.
Projects and support
Preparing the firm, running the project and keeping it working afterwards.
- How to prepare a law firm for a software implementationA short guide: who decides, what to write down and how to involve the team before a project starts.
- How to run a technology project in a law firm: scope, owners, phases and when to say noA way to define scope, name owners, work in phases and say no to changes that do not belong.
- How to train a law firm's team on a new tool so that it gets usedA training plan for attorneys and staff: what to teach, in what order and how to tell whether the tool is being used.
- Why monthly support matters after launchWhat changes after launch, what happens without support and what monthly support usually covers.
- What monthly technology support should include and how to evaluate a providerWhat to ask a technology provider before agreeing to monthly support, and how to compare offers.
What the data says
What published studies show, and what they leave out.
- What the data says about responding quickly to new clientsWhat a marketing agency and Clio found when they contacted law firms, and what the figures do not show.
- Client communication and calls: what is known and what is notWhat Illinois disciplinary records and Clio's calling experiment show about communication, and where no figures exist.
- Technology adoption in law firms: what surveys show and what they do notWhat ABA, ILTA and Clio surveys report about cloud tools, practice management software and AI, and why they cannot be compared.
- Communication in lawyer discipline records: what the data shows by stateWhat records from Illinois, Minnesota and Florida say about communication and discipline, and where the data stops.
- What software vendors' studies show, and what they do notWhat Clio's own studies report about its software, and the limits that come with research funded by the vendor.
Checklist
A one-page checklist for choosing a first project to automate.
Checklist: what to automate firstGlossary
Short, neutral definitions of the terms we use in the articles, with the articles that explain each one.
- Intake
- The first stage of a new client relationship: gathering the basic details of an inquiry and deciding what happens next.
- Automating client intakeWhat a Law Firm Contact Page Needs
- Integration
- A connection that lets two tools share information automatically, so nobody has to enter it twice.
- Connecting Email, Calendar and Case Files
- Automation
- A task that a system carries out by following steps written in advance, with a person reviewing the result when needed.
- What to automate firstMeasuring Whether an Automation Worked
- Workflow
- The ordered steps a piece of work follows from start to finish, and who is responsible for each one.
- Documenting Law Firm Processes First
- Case management system
- Software where a firm keeps its matters, contacts, documents, deadlines and notes in one place.
- Connecting Email, Calendar and Case FilesCustom Software, a Platform or Nothing
- Client portal
- A private website where clients can see documents or messages from the firm instead of receiving them by email.
- Client Portal for a Law Firm
- Backup
- A separate copy of information, kept so that it can be restored if the original is lost or damaged.
- Law Firm Backups and Recovery
- Recovery test
- A trial in which a firm restores information from a backup to check that it really works.
- Law Firm Backups and Recovery
- Data migration
- Moving a firm's information from one system to another, usually after tidying it.
- Preparing Law Firm Data Before a MigrationMigrating Law Firm Case Management
- E-signature
- A way of signing a document electronically instead of on paper.
- E-Signature and Documents in the Matter FileHow E-Signature Works in a Law Firm
- Deadline calendar
- A calendar or list that tracks the dates by which something must be done in a matter, with reminders.
- Law Firm Deadline Control Systems
- Access permissions
- The rules that decide who can see or change each piece of information in a system.
- Accounts and Permissions in a Law FirmSecurity Questions for a Technology Provider
- Audit trail
- A record of who did what in a system, and when.
- Security Questions for a Technology Provider
- Technology provider
- A company that supplies or supports software or technology services for a firm.
- Security Questions for a Technology ProviderMonthly Technology Support for Law Firms
- Matter
- A client's case or engagement at a firm, with its own documents, deadlines, notes and billing.
- E-Signature and Documents in the Matter FileOrganizing Law Firm Email and Filing It
- Conflict check
- A search of a firm's records, before taking on a new client or matter, to see whether it could clash with people the firm already represents.
- Automating client intakeDocumenting Law Firm Processes First
- Docketing
- Recording the deadlines and court dates of a matter in the firm's calendar so that none is missed.
- Law Firm Deadline Control SystemsConnecting Email, Calendar and Case Files
- E-discovery
- Finding, collecting and reviewing electronically stored information, such as email and documents, for use in a legal matter.
- Law Firm Backups and RecoverySecurity Questions for a Technology Provider
- Retention
- How long a firm keeps each kind of record before deleting or archiving it, and who decides.
- Law Firm Backups and RecoverySecure Disposal of Law Firm Data
- Recovery time objective (RTO)
- In plain words: how long a firm can be without a system before the interruption becomes a real problem.
- Law Firm Backups and Recovery
- Recovery point objective (RPO)
- In plain words: how much recent work a firm can afford to lose, which decides how often a backup must be made.
- Law Firm Backups and Recovery
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Signing in with something more than a password, such as a code from a phone, so a stolen password alone is not enough.
- Multi-Factor Authentication for Law FirmsSecurity Questions for a Technology Provider
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- One sign-in that gives access to several tools, so people keep one login and the firm manages access in one place.
- Security Questions for a Technology ProviderConnecting Email, Calendar and Case Files
- Document management
- Keeping a firm's documents organized, searchable and tied to the right matter, with a record of versions and changes.
- E-Signature and Documents in the Matter FileOrganizing Law Firm Email and Filing It
- Template
- A document prepared in advance with blanks that are filled in from matter data, so it is not written from scratch each time.
- Documenting Law Firm Processes FirstE-Signature and Documents in the Matter File
- API
- A set of rules that lets one program ask another for information or send it, which is how many integrations work.
- Connecting Email, Calendar and Case FilesConnecting Time to the Invoice
- Time entry
- A record of time worked on a matter, kept so it can be reviewed and billed.
- Connecting Time to the InvoiceA lawyer's billable day
- Scope
- What a project will include and what it will not, agreed before work starts so both sides know what to expect.
- Running a Law Firm Technology ProjectPreparing for software
- Support agreement
- A written agreement with a provider that sets what ongoing support covers and how problems are handled.
- Monthly Technology Support for Law FirmsWhy monthly support matters
- Data export
- Getting a copy of a firm's information out of a system in a format that another tool can read.
- Preparing Law Firm Data Before a MigrationSecurity Questions for a Technology Provider
- Cloud software
- Software that runs on a provider's servers and is used through the internet instead of being installed on the firm's own computers.
- Security Questions for a Technology ProviderCustom Software, a Platform or Nothing