The internet has become an integral part of our work, entertainment, and interactions with others. But last time you typed in a web address to access your email or social media of choice, did you think about how it all works? The web browser and applications you rely on daily impacts your speed, security, and overall experience—perhaps more than you know.
There are many benefits to becoming your own boss. Obviously, the potential for a higher income and not answering to higher ups are top of the list. You can decide what clients you take on, choose to specify in a certain area of the law, set your prices how you want, and you can build something from the ground up based on your values.
All that said, there are some changes you can expect when starting your own law firm. Once you take the leap, you’re no longer just a lawyer. You’re a business owner first and foremost. Which means your job now comes with all the business operations and tasks that keep your doors open (yes, that means business plans, cash flow forecasts, accounting and more!). You won’t be able to “just practice the law” anymore, and the growth of your law firm lies at your feet.
Woodpecker is thrilled to announce its new direct integration with MyCase, the leading legal case management software. MyCase was built specifically to support the workflows of law firms, and its user-friendly design is driven by the insights and feedback from the people who use MyCase daily. This new integration gives Woodpecker customers, who are also using MyCase, the ability to create client documents right in MyCase using Woodpecker templates and MyCase client data.
Legal document automation is a system or workflow that helps create electronic documents using data already collected. It is used to speed up the drafting process, so you can focus on activities that move the needle, reduce margin for human error, and maintain/increase profit margins.
In this essential guide, we’re going to walk you through what document automation is, the benefits for law firms like yours, how to choose the right software for you, and how to ensure the implementation is a success.
Many lawyers liken client interviews to a first date. Using the same analogy, in today's digital first world, you could compare a client interview form to an online dating profile. The interview form gives you information about a potential client before you meet them, and forms part of your intake process. It allows you to screen leads to see if they’re a good fit for your services, and ensure there are no conflicts.
In this article, we discuss the importance of high-quality interview form templates, how you can use them to streamline your client intake process, and what questions you should ask to enhance the customer experience.
Organization for the modern-day lawyer means the ability to easily navigate saved computer files, digital documents, and databases. This means attorneys should commit to strong naming conventions for their files, as well as for the “fields” for their databases and automated documents.
For lawyers, document drafting is a demanding and time-intensive part of the job. The constant pressure for high-quality legal documents in short time frames, especially for a high-volume practice, can be overwhelming. Fortunately, modern attorneys have access to a new way of dealing with this pressure that past generations did not: Word add-ins that assist lawyers with document drafting.
Josh Landsman is an attorney in South Florida with a focus on estate planning, tax, and probate & trust administration matters. Josh talked to Woodpecker’s Director of Customer Success about how using document automation to draft client documents enhances his working relationship with his paralegal, ultimately improving his final work product.
Now more than ever, it’s imperative that law firms use a reliable cloud-based legal practice management solution to enable remote work, keep matters organized, and continue with business as usual. When you can accomplish more things in less time, you have more time to spend on more important tasks related to your clients’ legal matters, things that truly require your specialized skills and expertise.
A vast amount of valuable time is dedicated to the client intake process and streamlining this process via automation results in reducing wasted time and duplicative efforts, improving the service experience for both lawyers and clients.
Having a standardized client intake process doesn’t just streamline things for your office. It also ensures that you have all the information you need to assess a good attorney-client fit and builds trust and confidence with potential clients.
Your client intake form should capture all of the necessary details to properly recommend, and commence work on, clients’ estate planning documents. Be sure to include these 7 key questions so you don’t miss any critical details that could affect the components of an estate plan.
Check out these 3 simple reasons why you should be embracing document automation in your organization.
We recently came across an article published a few years back on the software review site Capterra: “15 Things You Could Be Doing Instead of Legal Paperwork,” by Halden Ingwersen. The article is a hilariously irreverent look at how “Being a lawyer is ridiculously time-consuming” and how the fixes for that problem are often just one click away.
Failure is always an option, even for rocket scientists. The only way not to fail is to never really try. Unfortunately, for too many lawyers, they’d rather not try because it means they could never fail. But in today’s world, not trying is never an option.
