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4 Trends Legal Administrators Need to Know This Very Minute

4 Trends Legal Administrators Need to Know This Very Minute
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Lauren Cahn
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On July 18, Exela sponsored the Kansas City Association of Legal Administrators (KCALA) monthly chapter meeting for July 2019. Around 15 law firms from the area attended the luncheon meeting at Lidia's in downtown Kansas City, MO. The meeting featured a lively presentation led by Exela's Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Matt Crumrine, and Exela's Client Engagement Director, Michael Marinelli on the topic, Legal Services - Trends and State of the Market.

Here are the highlights of the presentation:

It’s increasingly a “client’s market” for law firms

The digital transformation landscape in the business world is driving changes in the way clients regard law firms, the services they provide, and the fees they charge. With increasing access to data, data analytics, and alternative legal service providers, law firm clients now possess greater insight into the services they need, who (or what) should provide those services, and the terms of service delivery.

The economic environment for law firms is currently “slow growth.”

While Matt and Mike pointed out the overall demand for legal services remains strong, eight years of slow growth has put the legal industry in a hyper-competitive state. Fortunately, the possibilities for utilizing technology to boost law firm efficiency and productivity are multiplying rapidly, and law firm clients are ready to see those changes take effect. One industry periodical recently reported that one-third businesses would prefer their law firms to offer digital services, and 68% of lawyers surveyed by the American Bar Association have fielded at least one request to utilize new technologies, like e-discovery, in the last year. However, only half of all law firms have yet to respond by making use of the available technology.

Find out: is your law firm falling behind?

Even as some firms adopt digital transformation initiatives that contribute to more efficient lawyering, billing utilization rates continue to drop, with the average lawyer now working 144 less billable hours, per year, versus a decade ago.

Dynamic firms versus static firms

Recent data has revealed that law firms adopting a more proactive, or "dynamic" model of addressing client needs via alternative staffing strategies, flexible pricing models, evolving work processes, and better use of technology, are outperforming their more static counterparts. Interestingly, this suggests the gap between high-performing and lower-performing firms is not being driven through differences in practice area or areas of expertise, but with their approach to addressing traditional challenges through innovation.

Profile of a “dynamic” firm:

  • Leveraging technology and automation to free lawyers’ time for higher-value work
  • Offering clients flexible pricing and alternative fee arrangements upfront
  • Embracing continuous learning, training, and knowledge sharing
  • Top-down cultural transformation, the importance of which should not be discounted

As Mike points out, “Culture eats policy and procedure for breakfast.” In other words, a law firm whose leadership hasn’t embraced the tech-culture imperative can purchase all the systems and services available but shouldn’t expect the vast majority of its workforce to utilize them.

What’s lies ahead

We don't have a crystal ball and can't predict the future. However, Matt and Mike do believe that a small number of law firms will bet and win big on digital transformation, and a new generation of tech-native lawyers will continue to move their respective law firms toward the more dynamic approach. We've seen firsthand it is possible to teach an "old law firm new tech." We’ve got the case studies right here.

The Legal Sector is Evolving with Technology

The Legal Sector is Evolving with Technology
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Matt Tarpey
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Historically, the legal sector has been one of the slower industries to adopt new technologies. However, the unique demands of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sudden boost in legal tech adoption. This uptick in technology utilization, along with the increased acceptance of specialized alternative legal service providers (ALSPs), are changing the way many legal teams operate.

In this edition of PluggedIN: How Tech and the Pandemic are Changing the Legal Sector, we dig into how law firms and legal departments alike are finding new ways to increase productivity and efficiency.

The full issue is available for download now at: https://www.exelatech.com/pluggedin

Law Firm Boosts Efficiency Using Workflow Automation

Law Firm Boosts Efficiency Using Workflow Automation

Exela helps a national law firm improve the clarity and consistency of their document processing and storage processes.

Challenge

A national law firm with twelve offices in major cities around the U.S. was struggling operationally due to a lack of well-defined and codified processes, the need for a centralized document management structure, insufficient formalization for employee training across their various offices, and limited insight into whether workflows were in sync with the firm’s needs and industry best practices. The firm had document service delivery associates on retainer whose workload could fluctuate wildly, and their staff was frequently underutilized.

Solution

At the firm’s corporate headquarters, our solution began with improvements to document workflows. What began as a system of print and copy centers on each of the 24 floors, with a larger hub on the main floor, was systematically pared down to eventually consists of a single, holistic document solution center on the main floor. This centralized document processing center was optimized for high volumes and diverse job requirements, and although the number of print and copy locations was reduced dramatically, delivery times and production capacities were significantly improved, along with user experience.

The document solution center evolved over time to handle much more than just print and copy work. An advanced eDiscovery system that monitors public court records and automates metadata extraction and summarization was put in place, and Exela’s litigation support solutions were introduced as well to help assist with intelligence gathering and case management.

Benefits

Exela’s ongoing relationship with the firm has produced a mutually beneficial partnership and many additional opportunities for collaboration. Our litigation support services have become so mission-critical for the firm that they frequently request a member of our service delivery team to travel with their litigation team to trials to support their operations. We have since created a national account management structure to drive consistent workflows at each of the firm’s twelve locations, and we continue our proactive service improvement strategy to continually nurture our more than ten year relationship.

  • Print and copy consolidation enabled the firm to reduce their leased floor space at their corporate HQ by two floors

  • $430,000 in annual savings and cost avoidance

  • Technology and process improvements provided savings of an additional $1.75M in the first three years of the contract

  • Reduced staffing demands by 35% over an 18-month period

  • Improved end-user experience and overall productivity

 

Discover What Exela's Enterprise Legal Solutions Can Do For You

Remote Online Notarization

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