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Going Out on Your Own?
The economic turmoil of the past two years has had a dramatic impact on those of us who chose a career in the private practice of law. For many attorneys, these conditions have created an ideal time to strike out on their own and fulfill a dream of becoming a solo practitioner. For others, substantial layoffs at large firms and hiring freezes throughout the legal profession have teamed up to leave them with no other choice but to make a go of hanging out their own shingle.
Losing Support
Whether by choice or chance, if you are one of the lawyers who have recently struck out on your own, you have probably already discovered a painful lesson: It's tough to move from a law firm environment with lots of support and resources for handling business tasks ' such as billing and client management ' to a new environment in which you're basically on your own to get those important “back-office” functions done. That transition can be very daunting ' something I learned firsthand.
After successful careers as litigation partners at Winston & Strawn, my brother Ed and I decided to strike out on our own in order to pursue lifestyles that would allow us more flexibility with our schedules and more time with our families. Our firm, Zaknoen & Zaknoen, was born in 2007.
From the first day we hung out our shingle, we were not na've about the dramatic transition we would have to navigate from relying on deep back-office resources to having none at all. We armed ourselves with as much information as possible, spoke to other lawyers we knew who had recently gone out on their own, and conducted some online research to identify prospective practice management systems we wanted to evaluate.
Here's the good news: There are many technology tools and right-sized solutions available that will help you chart these unfamiliar waters. Based on my experience, the most important thing you can do to navigate this business territory is to find a good practice management software system and make it your new best friend.
Choosing a Practice Management System
Practice management systems have been around for about 20 years. The idea is to provide attorneys with a convenient software tool for managing client and case information, including the management of contacts, calendars and documents. For a small law firm, practice management systems are especially valuable for facilitating the sharing of information with other people (e.g., partners, assistants, accountants, etc.) and saving the time of entering duplicate data in conjunction with other applications, such as billing and word processing software.
According to the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center (www.abanet.org/tech/ltrc), there are six key features you should assess when reviewing practice management systems on the market.
Case Management
Information on all cases and matters should be accessible through a centralized database. This database will manage all of the documents stored in the system. You may want to test the system to make sure that it offers fast and flexible searching, performs effective conflict checks, checks statutes of limitations and completes other routine functions that are important to your practice.
Time Tracking
Good practice management systems will record billable time on an hourly, contingent, transactional or user-defined fee basis. Make sure that any system you consider will seamlessly link to time, billing and accounting programs.
Document Assembly
Your practice management system should help draft the kinds of basic documents that are most common in your area of practice. Another convenient feature is simple links to word processing programs.
Contact Management
Find out how easily the practice management systems you're considering will track, log and store details about your various contacts with clients. This should include phone calls, e-mails and other correspondence. Callback reminders is also a useful feature.
Calendaring and Docketing
An absolute must in a system is the ability for you and any staff members to view tasks, deadlines, appointments and meetings on your schedule. The system should also make it easy for you to schedule appointments and meetings with various parties.
Time and Billing
Finally, a good practice management system needs to have strong “back office” functionality. It should track billable time, generate client invoices, link to time tracking and accounting programs, and create reports for individual billing attorneys.
The Choice for Us
In the end, we selected Time Matters from LexisNexis. Our choice has proven to be the right one as Time Matters provided us with everything we needed to make the transition from practicing law in a large law firm to practicing in a two-lawyer office.
There are four major benefits we have seen from the deployment of TimeMatters in our firm:1. Client Communications. We are able to manage all aspects of communications with clients, including e-mails, phone calls and other correspondence. All of these communications are accessible in one location, enabling us to obtain a real-time update on every contact we have had with the client throughout our representation.
2. Track Time and Expenses. TimeMatters provides us with the ability to easily track our billable time and out-of-pocket expenses for specific clients. The system has accurate time and expense reporting functionality at both the client and individual matter level.
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