By: LEAP Legal Practice Management Software | AAML NJ Silver Sponsor

Family law firms are faced with many challenges when serving their clients due to the arduous nature of resolving these sensitive legal matters. Attorneys have a responsibility to ensure that the process doesn’t cause any additional stress to vulnerable parties that may include children, conflicting caregivers, and spouses. To provide effective service, family law firms should make sure each minute is optimized effectively, focusing on the needs of their clients. Attorneys and law firm staff can implement 5 strategies throughout the life of a family law matter to manage a heavy workload, prioritize tasks, and increase productivity without sacrificing quality.

• Stay organized: There are many details and files to keep track of throughout a family law matter, which may include case and client information, historical files and documentation, correspondence including letters and emails with clients and other parties, and court forms, to name a few. Law firm staff need to have access to one centralized digital file that accounts for updates in real time. Dropbox, printed files in manila folders, or files stored on local drives all run the risk of being lost or becoming quickly outdated throughout the progression of the case. Legal technology that provides case and document management creates organization not only for the firm, but for the client service they provide. This is effectively demonstrated when records are easily accessible. For example, if a client calls requesting an immediate response or if you are at court and need to reference case details without printed documentation, centralized and mobile storage allows for timely action and quality service.

• Accurately and instantly keep track of your billable time: One of the most arduous administrative tasks for family law firms is legal time recording. This process is especially tedious and requires minute-by-minute recollection if done reactively or manually. Law firms can look to implement a system to simultaneously track time while working on a case, but they need to be careful that it doesn’t create additional work for other staff. While many software programs offer stopwatches or timers, a comprehensive legal practice management solution is most effective to ensure that legal time tracking instantly records across all key functions of a family law case.

• Automate administrative tasks: Sometimes, the most time-consuming functions for a family law matter do not include client and other party events like meetings or hearings, but consist of routine, but necessary, work such as creating correspondence, filling out forms, and sharing documents. It is necessary to eliminate double data entry and reduce the risk of input error for efficient production, and advances in legal technology allow firms to automatically and accurately populate case and client information. Reducing the time spent on filling out the Case Information Statement, Summons (Divorce), or Verified Complaint for Adoption, for example, allows staff to focus on other revenue- generating tasks such as responding to clients and creating invoices.

• Collaborate effectively: Clients and other parties contact firms frequently and through different channels to keep the case progressing. Secure file-sharing platforms optimize communication and ensure that sensitive documents are only viewed by authorized parties. Third-party storage and sharing systems like Dropbox or OneDrive create these vulnerabilities and are limited in functionality necessary in family law cases, like restricting access and requesting e-signatures. Legal file sharing and collaboration technology provides firms with the assurance that their information is safe, while clients can have the convenience and transparency of this secure storage.

• Make billing and invoice payments convenient: Family law firms that implement the above habits need to complete the case, not only with the resolution of the matter, but with the firm getting paid with a digital paper trail and in a timely matter. With family law practice management software that includes instant time recording, centralized accounting, and an online payment platform, the administrative work is reduced. Manual invoicing and processing payments is eliminated, creating opportunities for staff to focus on their existing clients or even new cases.

  When these timesaving practices are implemented, family law firms can ensure that they are efficient and productive. Client and employee satisfaction will increase when firms optimize their processes. This creates further opportunities for firms to increase their revenue and grow their business. To learn more about how legal technology can help your NJ family law firm, visit leap.us/new-jersey.