Dan Taylor, head of systems at Fletchers Solicitors, explores how firms can embrace new ideas and ways of working, and how tech innovation is a major solution that can help make firms more efficient
Innovation takes place across all business sectors around the world as companies strive to gain competitive advantage and survive in the ever-changing marketplace – and law firms can no longer ignore the need to embrace change, or they risk being left behind.
As technology advances and society becomes more fast-paced, clients are demanding better quality and more efficient levels of service. Not only this, but legislation changes, such as the Jackson reforms and the rise of fixed fees, have forced firms to change and adapt.
This means cutting out waste and making savings through efficiencies, but without sacrificing the quality of service. As a result, firms are having to adopt new systems and business processes that will give them advantage over the competition and make them more cost-effective.
However, traditionally, the legal sector hasn’t been known for its innovation and has been quite set in its ways for a long time.
So how can firms become more innovative and improve the quality of service they are offering to clients?
Improve internal case management processes
Gone are the days of manually searching through endless piles of paperwork, and we no longer have to wait for members of staff to come back into the office to get an update on where a case is up to.
With the gravitation towards the paperless office and the development of e-Discovery, staff can communicate and share documents quickly and easily. Important documents can always be to hand, and data can be stored safely and securely on the firm’s network, a huge benefit given that lawyers frequently handle large amounts of sensitive information.
In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, efficient handling of cases is now even more crucial, making paperless solutions and digital storage tools extremely valuable.
Firms need to move away from traditional methods of case management and start opting for bespoke options. Investing in tailored solutions suited to the specific requirements of the firm and its clients will help to deliver more personalised levels of service and efficient ways of working. But not only this, taking the bespoke route opens the door to future innovation and adaptations so firms can easily incorporate new ideas or changes that will occur further down the line.
Build stronger relationships between client and lawyer
Making the legal process simpler and quicker for clients should be at the top of the agenda for all firms as a way to improve the quality of service they provide.
The legal process is often complicated and can be overwhelming for clients, so any efforts that can be made to ease some of the stress will help to position a firm ahead of its competitors. For example, enabling clients to have better contact with their lawyer or the team handling their case will help to keep them informed at all stages, but will also make it easier for lawyers to obtain important information about the case.
Greater collaboration and knowledge sharing can be established between lawyers and clients through the use of specialist workflow systems and processes.
At Fletchers, we have developed a revolutionary new online interface platform, which enables clients to submit details and receive information about their case from anywhere and on any device.
As a result, this has dramatically simplified internal processes and significantly improved the client experience, as work can be started on claims within minutes of information being received.
Automate time-consuming tasks with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
There is another area of emerging technology that is slowly making its way into the legal sector.
Artificial Intelligence (