The law industry is one of the most crucial industries to uplift and uphold law and justice. However, it is also steadfast in holding onto and maintaining traditions. As important as some traditions may be, they prevent innovation from being introduced and incorporated into the law industry.
This lack of innovation in the law industry has created setbacks for it to evolve in this ever-changing era. Therefore, to meet justice and client expectations more efficiently, it is vital that law firms now embrace change and innovation.
Learn how law firms can upgrade their productivity using innovative tactics and strategies!
1. Improve and Increase Communication Methods With Clients
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Technology has drastically changed how we communicate- many professional settings have rapidly shifted from emails to text messages.
This change has been brought about after seeing a significant reduction in miscommunication between different individuals and increased productivity and ease of communication. Moreover, by using alternative methods of communication, there has also been a substantial decrease in the time taken to communicate compared to older methods.
That being said, there are still unavoidable circumstances in which emails are highly preferred as the mode of communication. However, clients and firms have shown their growing preference for newer methods of communication over time, and we have listed some of the most recommended below.
- Establish a business number for your law firm and use that to text respective clients when needed.
- Continue emailing formal updates Via email.
- Establish client portals through which you can share sensitive information with clients.
- Instill a receptionist section at your office and direct all calls and messages there. They must also be adapted to record and forward the relevant information to the respective departments and lawyers.
2. Increase Your Law Firm Services Accessibility To Increase Your Client Base
A prevalent problem of traditional law firms is their lack of accessibility, hindering their ability to gain a higher client base.
Many firms still rely on word of mouth for marketing. Although word of mouth is an essential form of marketing in today’s modern world, where the internet and social media have revolutionized marketing, there are more effective ways for your law firm to be seen.
Moreover, it is also time to update your firm’s website and incorporate technology to increase your online visibility and access. The following are some essential ways you can make your law firm’s services more accessible to both present and potential clients.
- Upgrade your law firm’s website by incorporating coding practices that aid in creating a more easy-to-navigate website for website visitors. Moreover, you must familiarize yourself with international standards, namely ‘Web Content Availability,’ or Level AA or WCAG 2.0. When you develop and design your website under these standards, you immediately boost your website’s chances of ranking and meeting client criteria and expectations.
- Upload pre-recorded videos on your website that answer frequently asked questions by clients or short valuable tutorials on topics like ‘How to hire a lawyer using your firm’ and ‘How to know if the lawyer is a good fit for the client’s needs.’ These tutorials may play a crucial role in eliminating common questions that clients may have. Another critical element to incorporate into these videos is the subtitles or alternative texts in various languages.
- Include a variety of images on your website. A bonus is to add alternative text, which is backend coding that appears on the screen to explain the context of the image for those who can’t view it.
- Be inclusive at your firm and hire lawyers with disabilities who would also use these alternative texts and other communication channels.
- To increase your accessibility through marketing, you must further explore effective marketing campaigns for law firms that will significantly increase your visibility for target and potential clients and create a robust competitive brand image.
3. Automate Your Client Intake Process
Paperwork is one of the staples of a law firm’s workload. Paperwork and documentation can be tedious for lawyers and clients. On top of that, the process of waiting for appointments can also be frustrating for clients.
This is why law firms have now started streamlining and automating repetitive processes. This includes creating an automated process through which clients can immediately book appointments with their lawyers instead of waiting for receptionists to get back to them.
Another innovative step that law firms have taken is allowing for e-signatures on legal documents to increase flexibility for lawyers and clients, enabling them to move ahead with the motions from anywhere.
Moreover, another impressive advance by many law firms is creating easier-to-navigate and fill client intake forms. They have achieved this by embracing technology, which allows them to easily customize the documents to cater to the needs of different clients. Ultimately, this means that clients only have to fill in a certain number of relevant data entry forms instead of a long, grueling form to be filled by hand. These forms also eliminate the chances of manual error.
Many law firms have made these client intake forms available and easily downloadable through their website, making client onboarding more streamlined.
Numerous tools are available to help you automate your client onboarding and form automating process; however, ensure that you select one suitable for your practice management software. After choosing the right tool, you can automatically garner a contact list of potential clients after they fill out the forms.
4. Create a Virtual Law Firm
It may be shocking to some, but virtual law firms do exist, and they have been steadily rising in number as people witness the productive benefits of employing remote lawyers in law firms.
Hiring remote workers has proven to boost business productivity and revenue in other professions, and the same is now being seen in law firms. The following are a few of the crucial benefits that can accompany establishing a virtual law firm with remote lawyers onboard:
- When you no longer need to pay rent for office space, you will enjoy a s significant permanent reduction in overhead costs.
- There will be no more stacks and boxes of paperwork to worry about handling and storing because a virtual law firm will be based on cloud-based software that will hold everything online. This leads to lower maintenance costs.
- When lawyers have greater flexibility, they can pass that on to their clients, and therefore, the firm benefits from improved client relationships.
- A virtual law firm will grant employees greater flexibility. It will allow them to improve and better manage their work-life balance, ultimately leading to better-rested and less stressed lawyers. This boosts morale and productivity.
Conclusion
Law firms can greatly benefit from incorporating innovation into their culture and processes, and we have highlighted the four easiest and most beneficial ways to achieve it.
Technology often plays a crucial role in implementing innovation. Therefore, it is always recommended that you learn more about how technology has changed the legal world.