The American Bar Association’s Law Practice Division publishes a monthly webzine, Law Practice Today, covering the latest topics in law practice management. June’s edition focused on solo and small firms, including what technology they use—or should. Here are some highlights from the issue:
“Top 10 Tools and Tips for Solo & Small Firms” by Stanley Tate
“The law is easy. But the business of law can be crushing. Every day, you’re worried about more than solving your client’s legal problems. You’re focused on marketing, client onboarding, customer service, billing, etc. Basically, being a solo or small means that you’re tasked with executing the roles of many. So how do you do that while keeping your sanity?
Two things. First, you get crystal clear about the business of your practice. Second, you leverage software and automation to scale. There are countless ways to do both of those things.”
“Keys for Finding the Right Practice Management System” by Natalie Kelly
“According to the recent ABA Legal Technology Survey Report, the adoption rate of practice management systems barely made it over 30% of responding lawyers. Even then some of the respondents were clearly confused about what practice management systems are, since they listed Microsoft Outlook as their practice management system of choice.
Solo and small firms can benefit greatly from practice management systems to help organize matter information and track the work being done. Many systems are available to meet these needs for lawyers. How to select the right system is a vital question for many solos and small firm practitioners. ”
“How Microsoft’s Data Breach Impacts Law Firms (and Their Clients)” by Nicholas Gaffney
“The 2021 Microsoft data breach shook the cybersecurity industry to its core because of the sheer amount of data that the company collects. The thought of one of the oldest and largest technology companies having its database compromised raised alarms across every industry, including the legal community.
Law firms receive and store highly sensitive information and are notorious laggards in protecting themselves with proper cybersecurity measures. In this roundtable discussion, experts weigh in on how law firms are at incredible risk and how they protect themselves—and their clients—from having their data compromised by hackers.”
Check out the rest of Law Practice Today’s “Solo & Small Firm” Issue here!
