Author:  Richard Farrell, program administrator with extensive experience in training and education development at the PROServer CENTER, a legal professional organization whose mission is to set a national standard for the process service industry in the United States. 
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​During the past year, many legal professional are facing not only practical challenges, such as moving to a remote work environment, but also a necessary shift in mindset to adapt to what is shaping up to be a different world on the other side of the global pandemic. ​

Although technology is coming to our rescue in many ways—for example, by the increased use of video conferencing—it is also true to say that technology speeds many things up, especially the expectations of clients and the demands we place on ourselves. Never has it been more important for lawyers and their practices to harness technology in the right way to achieve a law firm that remains efficient and well connected to its team and clients.
 
Although some legal companies and law firms may see these changes as temporary, most likely we will not be going back to how things were before. Now is the time to look at the  processes and applications you’ve been meaning to update or get in place for ages, and make it happen. It is also important to really look at how you believe the legal market will evolve coming out of this crisis, so that you can stay one step ahead. 

The starting point in any revamp of processes is to go back to basics. What do you actually need? Chances are, it is probably a lot less than you think and you don’t need to implement everything at once either.  Here are five top tools to help your law firm stay efficient during this global pandemic or other difficult times:

1. Invest in Quality Hardware
​Your team must have quality PCs and laptops so they can complete their work quickly, and your firm must keep these computers regularly serviced and updated. Nothing is more frustrating or time consuming than a slow computer. Ask for recommendations to a good local IT specialist who can advise on what hardware you need based on the programs that you run. Don’t skimp on this—your team won’t thank you and nor will your bottom line. 

2. Try a Remote Receptionist 
If your law firm is now working from home, the chances are you have already outsourced your incoming phone calls. If not, consider using a remote receptionist to field calls to your staff. If a staff member isn’t available to take a call, the remote receptionist will be able to take a message as you’d expect and email or text it to the appropriate staff member so that the call can be returned. For example, you may consider setting up a shared mailbox for incoming messages which can then be picked up by any team member. 

3. Move to Cloud Storage
From our conversations with law firm owners and paralegals over the years, getting documents and files into the cloud seems to be a sticking point for many. It is certainly a huge shift to switch from working with physical files to electronic ones, but the ease at which you’ll then be able to work on matters electronically and collaboratively far outweighs the effort in managing a switch over. Don’t forget, you don’t have to put everything in the cloud straight away, you could start with new files and then consider outsourcing the scanning of archived files later. 

4. Have a System for Printing and Scanning
​If your legal team is now working from home, they may not have access to a printer or scanner. You may consider working around this by taking in turns to go into the office once a week to check and scan in the mail you have received and to print and send anything that you may need to access remotely. You may also consider setting up a new shared mailbox to send printing to, so that it can get picked up by whoever is in the office. 

5. Invest in the Right Software for Your Firm
​Now is a great opportunity to look at what software you use and consider whether it is really working for you.  A modern law firm needs a reliable system for managing the various components of its practice. Not only should an office be able to set and organize responsibilities, but it should be able to confirm those actions were performed—and performed well.  When you’re looking for legal software, it’s important to think about what areas your practice needs the most help with. For example, if your law firm struggles with document management, look for software with exceptional document management capabilities. If billing is a weak point, software with comprehensive billing features will make the biggest impact. 

It’s possible for your law firm to adapt in this environment. Certainly, there will be bumps in the road as your firm adjusts, but with a bit of determination, you can find the tools and systems that work for you and your legal team.

Source: Clio

Author: The Process Server Center | PROServerCENTER is a legal professional organization whose mission is to set a national standard for the process service industry in the United States. 
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​Once upon a time...Back in year 2012 a man we are going to name John Smith woke up in his tastefully furnished home. It was promising to be a beautiful summer weekend in Charleston, North Carolina, and John was looking forward to spending time with his family playing games in their backyard...

First things first, John Smith was in the habit of checking his emails in the morning and it was then that he saw a message from his local bank, advising him of a recent important notice related to his account. John logged in and carefully read the notice. In fact, he read it several times. It notified him that a New York equipment leasing company, he used to do business with several years ago, has won a judgment for non-payment against him, and there was a court order to garnish his wages… John Smith felt lost... He did not know anything about the judgment, the court order, the garnishment… His finances would be in jeopardy. John knew he had to place a call to his attorney immediately… He did not know this was coming… He has never been notified… Though rarely service of process brings you good news, John Smith would have definitely preferred to know in advance… He would have rather been served with the legal papers...
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Do you know that according to the National Center for State Courts, process service is one of the top challenges confronting the justice system? Consistent with fundamental notions of due process and fairness, a person must receive proper notice of any judicial action in which he or she is made a party of. Yet process service is often a neglected step in a judicial proceeding. Proper service on a party and a correct affidavit of service filed with the court ensure that the parties to the action have been notified as prescribed by the court system.

Legal market analysis conducted by the Process Server Center shows that more than 87% of attorneys, paralegals and legal managers are not satisfied with their current process server. Service of process is certainly no fun! If not completed or done properly, insufficient service of process may result in a delay, breach of duty or termination of an otherwise successful trial. It could become costly.

Among legal professionals, process service is often associated with headaches! What usually happens is that either you or your legal team spend valuable time chasing process servers to check on the status of legal documents being served or to obtain a completed affidavit on time for a court hearing. Even when filed with the court, a defendant may still appear and challenge the sufficiency of the service or the veracity of the return. Your headaches from improper service of process are mounting and your legal team spends valuable resources to ensure compliance and due diligence.

Among process servers, service of process is also associated with frustrations! Most of the time clients provide very scarce information when contacting a process server for a new job. The information a client usually seeks is how much a process server would charge for serving legal documents in his/her area. Hardly any further details are provided, such as originating court, type of legal documents, methods of service allowed by the court. It is rare that a client would offer any other information pertaining to the person to be served, such as when he/she is usually home; does he work?; how is the address verified? Lack of information provided by the client and lack of details oftentimes lead to incorrect service of process or unnecessary attempts without proper due diligence.

Factors that lead to inconsistencies in the quality of service of process
Just because process service is simple, it does not mean it is easy...  A nationwide survey, conducted by the Process Server Center, shows that more than 89% of process servers struggle to retain their clients in the long-run, while 87% of legal professionals are ready to change their process server. Competition is fierce in service of process and every day new people become process servers to take the place of others. Years of working with process servers throughout the United States and interviewing lawyers, legal assistants and paralegals have helped us identify some of the key factors that lead to inconsistencies in the quality of process service:

• Ease of entry: The process service industry attracts people from many different backgrounds, educational levels and experience. People are primarily drawn by the ease of entry into becoming a process server, and the learn-as-you-go approach is applied most often when training and getting prepared to be a process server. The job requirements include a high school diploma and a reliable vehicle with the required insurance. Very few states have a certification or licensing requirement to become a process server, but even they do not have a hands-on training that reflects the reality of a process server’s work responsibilities.
• Number of process servers per area: The ease of entry into process service leads to a consistent increase in the number of process servers, particularly in busy-for-service-of-process metropolitan areas. Such increase leads to competition among process servers that is mostly based on fees rather than on experience, knowledge and reliability.
• Rules and Regulations: There are many rules and regulations that govern the process service industry. There are federal level rules, state level rules, county level rules, and even very small courts level rules. Many states have further developed their own licensing requirements that widely vary between states. There are also law firms and solo practicing attorneys who read and interpret laws pertaining to service of process in different ways. All of that, coupled with the variety of backgrounds and educational levels and experience of process servers, creates confusion within the industry, which leads to poor results and a poor image of the industry. Oftentimes process servers are so focused on trying to learn or keep abreast of updates in legislation in their own state that they cannot follow simple instructions or have a hard time keeping up with completing affidavits on time.
• Directories: Currently in the United States there are several associations on both the national and state level that attract process servers as a form of marketing platform for their services. The primary focus of these associations is to provide relevant rules and regulations updates and organize process servers to petition for or against newly introduced legislation as it pertains to the process service industry. On the directory side, there are minimum or no requirements to join these associations. There is no formal requirement for training or education; and no feedback or reviews from clients.
• Competition among process servers: The ease of entry into the process service profession leads to an increase in the number of process servers per given area. In general, competition is great for any industry. However, too much competition has its own negative aspects. According to research by Michael W. Toffel at the Harvard School of Business, “many firms are likely to bend the rules if doing so will keep their customers from leaving for a rival” (Customer-driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices, Harvard Research, 2012). An example of the negative effect of too much competition in process service is the infamous sewer service that has led to many otherwise successful lawsuits being dismissed.
• Lack of training: Oftentimes, process server forums on social media are approached by new process servers looking to find a way to learn the business and get trained. The usual advice from fellow process servers is to find a local competitor and ask to work for them for a year or two in order to learn how to serve legal documents. Available educational materials through industry associations are usually in the form of publications of the full legislation per state or on the federal level. Such publications are too narrow in scope (they pertain only to a state) and their language is full of legal jargon difficult to be understood even by attorneys. Modern online educational sessions offered by state and national associations are often presented by attorneys who mostly read and interpret state laws as they pertain to process service, again in a language and format that is difficult to grasp by most process servers.

All of these factors lead to inconsistencies in the quality of service of process and to the mounting confusion among clients who need to hire a process server. The lack of a meaningful review process, the ease of entry into the profession (apart from a handful of states requiring certification or licensing) and the increasing number of process servers, both full-time and part-time, lead to fierce competition based mostly on the difference in the fees process servers charge for serving legal documents. There is nothing else (except a word of mouth reference) that a client can rely on in order to select and hire a process server who is knowledgeable, reliable and consistent.

Need for National Standard for Process Service
Based on the surveys mentioned above, the current approach to finding a professional process server frequently leads to inconsistent quality of service of process, inefficient performance, low pay and poor image of process servers in general. The Process Server Center aims to clear the confusion within the industry and help provide better solutions for both process servers and legal professionals through specific, actionable solutions, the development of relevant training for process servers and the administration of PROServer LIST, the first nationwide exclusive Directory for Certified and Pre-Screened Process Servers.
 
There is a definite need to revolutionize the process service industry in a meaningful way, different from legislation imposed rules and regulations that often confuse and cause hardships to industries. There is a clear demand to implement a National Standard for Process Service built on the basis of the very needs of process servers. There is strong call for new and modern solutions for:

• Training that ultimately helps a process server do his job
• Increasing the entry requirements for process servers into this profession
• Hands-on Directories with relevant reviews and feedback
• Continuous education for both process servers and clients who hire process servers

The implementation of a National Standard for Process Service will help legal teams:

• Eliminate headaches from improper service of process
• Save time and money due to delays in lawsuits because of incorrect process service or late affidavits of service
• Increase consistency of the quality of process service
• Eliminate hassles from improper service of process
• Advance process servers' training and knowledge
• Improve accountability among process servers and prevent sewer service of process
• Increase transparency of the quality of work process servers provide
• Award process servers for their service quality with increased service fees
• Change the competition factor among process servers from fee based to quality based

 
Even in light of the increasing pace of technological advances, personal service of process remains “personal” and it is still the most reliable way to ensure compliance with constitutionally imposed due process of notice to a defendant and the opportunity to be heard. Without proper service of process a court has no jurisdiction over a defendant and may not proceed. Understanding the importance and weight of service of process is essential to the outcome of a lawsuit. Knowing your process server is imperative and selecting a process server must be on the basis of experience, education and reliability, not on the service fees he/she charges to serve your legal documents. It is indeed time to revolutionize the process service industry in the United States, to advance the profession, to clear the image of so many really good and professional process servers who lack the proper tools and platforms to distinguish themselves and truly show their high professionalism.

Author: The Process Server Center | PROServerCENTER is a legal professional organization whose mission is to set a national standard for the process service industry in the United States. ​
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​Traditionally, the idea of working remotely might seem like an approach that is too difficult for the demands of the legal profession.  However, if one looks more closely at how to actually work remotely and what lawyers and paralegals need in order to utilize today's technological advances, remote work in the legal industry seems more and more viable. In fact, in light of the rapidly changing environment during the last year, many legal professionals are embracing remote work. Lawyers and paralegals are discovering that remote work allows them to protect their families, clients and communities, while leading to better efficiencies and higher level of productivity.

Whether you have considered working remotely as a legal professional in the past, or whether you are exploring it for the first time, this guide contains 9 clear, practical tips to help you run a remote legal practice without interruption:
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​1. Communicate Changes Clearly

If you have been running a traditional law firm model, and have decided to begin working remotely, whether permanently or temporarily, it is absolutely critical that your law firm clearly communicates any changes. Send an email to your clients, vendors and staff, making it clear that you are shifting to remote work. Share your new policies and set expectations for which communication channels to use, how meetings will take place, and how often you will be contacting clients. If in-person meetings will no longer take place, let everyone know and introduce video conferences by adding links to video invites within the notes section of any calendar events.

Make sure you clearly share with your clients why you are working remotely so that your they can understand and see these changes in a positive light. By communicating clearly, you can make the transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved.  When it comes to your law firm staff, speak to any regular staff about how you will continue to work together while you are remote, and let the staff know if they are meant to work remotely as well. If you are considering to close your law firm office, put a notice on the homepage of your website and a sign on the door. Make sure the sign include information on how to reach you so those who come knocking do not feel like they have hit an impasse.
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2. Set up Remote Access to Cases and Documents

If you are considering working remotely, it is difficult, if not impossible, to carry your filing cabinets with you. It makes sense to ensure you have access to as many documents and case details as possible online. Before you begin your remote work, scan paper documents, digitize anything you might need that is paper-only and not already scanned into your computer or the cloud. You can do this yourself, put a staff member in charge of scanning documents, or find a legal document scanning service to help you get started. 

If you are planning to work remotely for an extended time period, and others at your firm are as well, you will need to take special precautions to ensure your law firm’s server is protected from potential fires, floods, power outages, or other possible problems, and—depending on the situation—taking these precautions may be extremely difficult. If you are planning to work remotely full-time, you may not need a law firm server at all! Instead consider a cloud-based document storage which allows you to securely access your files and easily collaborate on them from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection.  Some cloud-based storage solutions your team may consider are Clio, Dropbox and Box.
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3. Ensure Your Internet Connection is Solid

As a legal professional, you cannot have the internet dropping off in the middle of an important video conference meeting. If you are working remotely, a strong internet connection is critical to your success in order to meet deadlines and ensure all processes run smoothly. In addition, if you need to collaborate with clients and staff on important legal documents, they will have to be stored in the cloud rather than on a local server or computer. A strong internet connection ensures that you and your staff can easily access these documents when you need them.

To make sure that you have a strong and reliable internet connection, test your internet speed for free and talk to your internet provider about the level of speed and stability you are getting with your current package. Consider upgrading if you feel that your internet connection is not stable enough. If you are working out of your local area or expect to regularly go on business trip, consider investing in a portable Wi-Fi hotspot in order to avoid troubles with spotty Wi-Fi connections when away from your home office. 

​4. Keep Client Communications Secure

If you are working remotely, you need to consider multiple secure ways to communicate with your clients. At the very least, you should be able to provide case updates and ongoing communications online, via text, or over the phone. With many communications methods available, the key thing is to make sure any channels your legal team is using are encrypted and secure. As a legal professional, you need to uphold your duty to keep client information confidential, and if communication channels are not encrypted, it is all too easy for others to gain access to client conversations.

5. Consider Your Clients’ Remote Experience

Clients will be looking for you and your services whether you are working remotely or not. If you want your remote legal practice to be successful, you must provide clear information on your website, create a streamlined onboarding process, and be frank about the fact that you are working remotely and what experience your clients can expect.

Even if you are remote work is only temporary, your ability to be flexible and show that you are still available to clients could very well lead you to connect with clients who otherwise have a difficult time getting the legal help they need.  Consider offering consultations over the phone or via video to create peace of mind for potential clients, and send newly signed clients a welcome letter with details like how best to contact you, how often to expect communications, and what times you will be available.

6. Set up Post Office Box Forwarding

Depending on how you are currently running your law practice, and depending on the type of law you practice, going completely paperless may take some time. If you are working remotely temporarily, contact your local postal office to set up a temporary mail forward from your office to the address you will be working at.  You can also minimize mailing expenses by opting to receive bills for any business expenses online, and by sharing client invoices online as well. 

7. Be Accessible by Phone

Even if you do not have an office, there are still clients who will want to contact you via phone. For temporary remote work, forward calls from your number at your law firm to your mobile phone, or another number you can easily access while away from the office. For permanent remote work, consider switching to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone service, which allows you to make phone calls from your computer.  It is also worth investing in a headset for top-notch sound quality on any calls.

If you are working remotely, consider also a virtual receptionist service. It can help you ensure that calls do not get missed and potential new clients do not slip through the cracks. This can be helpful if working remotely means you will need to handle more calls than you are used to, or you will be working in a different time zone, or if you will be working irregular hours.

8. Present a Professional Appearance

With the power of technology and a strong internet connection, you can meet anyone, anywhere, anytime with video meetings with clients, vendors, staff, and a variety of other people. Working remotely does not mean your professional standards should lapse. It is a given that you will need to look professional for video meetings, but with some effort and planning, you will look extra smart and create a strong, positive impression on clients and other legal professionals.

• Tidy your background. It is important to meet professional contacts from a professional-looking space. What is the view behind your computer? Clean any shelves, and keep the kitchen or laundry baskets out of sight. If all else fails, just sit in front of a blank wall or use an image as your background.
• Prevent distractions. Lock the dog out of the room, give a heads up if your kids are home, and turn down the volume of other devices (or turn them off). If you are not at home, find a quiet place to meet. 
• Choose strong lighting. Harsh or dim lighting can make it appear as if something is off when you are on video. Choose a room with stronger-than-you-think-you-need incandescent light (or LED energy-saving lights that imitate incandescent light).
• Keep your video on. Best video meeting etiquette is to always appear on video. It shows you are present and engaged in the conversation, and gives your clients and colleagues visual cues about how you are reacting.
• Use a headset. Today’s laptop microphones are strong, but a headset provides crisp, professional sound quality on your calls—a critical consideration if someone on the call has low hearing.
• Mute yourself when it is not your turn to talk. From construction going on down the street to your own typing, background noise is louder than you think on the other end of the video. Consider your surroundings, and mute yourself if needed; just be sure to give your full attention to the video camera.

​9. Take Care of Your Mental Health When Working Remotely

Remote work can be isolating. If you are used to interacting with others directly on a daily basis, suddenly sitting alone all day can be a tough change for your mental health. To combat the downside of remote work, create a routine, and create some distance between your work and personal life. Here are some tips:

• Dress for work. Do not sit in your pajamas all day long. Instead dress and groom yourself as if you are going to the office.  
• Set office hours. Without a commute and a separate space for work and home, it is easy for your work and your personal life to blend together. It takes a tremendous amount of self control to only work during certain hours and separate work and life. Try taking a short walk at the start and end of your day to create a mental boundary between your work and personal time.
• Work in the same area. Create a remote-work routine by working in the same space every day, preferably from a home office, or a setup resembling one. If you are sharing limited space with someone else who is also working remotely, set a clear schedule for video meetings in the most appropriate locations, and/or stake out your own clear workspaces.
• Call a friend or coworker. If you are not regularly in contact with others while working remotely, prioritize calling or video chatting with one person each day—whether it is a friend or another lawyer or paralegal. 
• Step away from screens. As a legal professional, there is always more work to do. If you love your job, it is easy to sit in front of a laptop all day in the name of productivity—but that is a recipe for burnout. You need to take care of yourself in order to take care of your clients, so unless there is an emergency, stick to your work hours and unplug outside of that time.

​As a legal professional, it is entirely possible—with the right preparation and support—to work remotely in today’s digital age. Equipped with the proper tools, and by following a few key best practices, you will continue to run a profitable law firm while providing good client experiences. Depending on the situation, your clients may even appreciate the convenience and efficiency of a remote experience. By selecting secure tools, communicating clearly and effectively about how your remote practice will work, and maintaining a strong internet connection, your firm can thrive from anywhere. 

Source: Clio

Author:  Richard Farrell, program administrator with extensive experience in training and education development at the PROServer CENTER, a legal professional organization whose mission is to set a national standard for the process service industry in the United States. 
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In a rapidly changing environment, law firms have had to adapt the way they work and run their firms. They had to make changes from the way they interact with their clients to the way they collaborate with their team members and vendors, including process servers.  Legal professionals are facing not only practical challenges, such as moving to a remote work environment, but also a necessary shift in mindset to adapt to what is going to be a different world. Overcoming these challenges takes even more time and effort, and having smooth processes and reliable vendors has become a must. More than ever, paralegals want to save time and resources and be able to quickly find process servers who have the skills and potential to take charge and eliminate hassles in process serving. With remote work continuing into 2021, process servers need to be more self-sufficient and proactive about the quality of services they provide and the way they manage their businesses.

Here are five tips to help you be the BEST in your role as a process server or the CEO of your process service agency:

Take Initiative
No one tells a CEO what to do every day. If you want to grow your process service business (or your role as a process server employee), you need to take initiative. Ask yourself what you can do that is above and beyond what an attorney, a paralegal or your boss has asked you to do. If you think something could be done in a better way, make a suggestion for how to improve it. If you see something that needs to be done, start doing it. Take the initiative to research an address before you make your first attempt. When you are trying to serve a respondent, don't just knock on the door, but take the time to talk to neighbors, check names on mailboxes or do a skip trace.  These are not only great ways to learn and get better at what you do as a process server, but you will also demonstrate that you are ambitious and willing to take on more. 

Be a Team Player
In our experience CEOs of process serving agencies often act as a bulldozer. If someone does not do something the way they want it done, they just do it themselves. But there is a limit to what any boss can get done on their own. What usually happens is that you start to burn out or you miss important serve by dates or don't notice the mistakes your process servers make. The more that happens, the more your legal clients become frustrated and the faster the quality of your process service falls. If you want to scale your work and have a bigger impact, you have to learn to work with a team. Collaborate with your process servers and trust other people to help you get the job done. Especially early on in your career as a process server agency boss, when you may not have direct reports, you need to learn to lead through influence. Build relationships with the people you work with to establish trust. 

Ask for Help
A good leader has confidence but is also humble enough to know that they don’t have all the answers. Tapping into the expertise of others around you will help you learn and grow. Build a strong network of process servers, attorneys and paralegals you can reach out to in areas where you have less expertise. Make learning a priority so you have a good set of process serving resources to reference. Show your clients that you have thought through some potential solutions before going to them with a problem, but don’t spend too long spinning your wheels before reaching out for help. It’s okay not to know all of the answers, even if you are the CEO of a process serving agency.

Your Ears are Your Best Tool
I learned an important leadership skill from my father who taught me to “keep my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut until I had enough information to make an informed decision.” A good leader has enough emotional intelligence to know when to speak and when to listen. If you are working as a process server or run your process serving agency, you have to listen to what your client needs before you offer them your service or expertise.  If you make decisions before you have enough information, you might make mistakes that could have been avoided. You don’t need to be the first person to speak every time an attorney calls you to retain your services. Ask questions and listen before you weigh in. This is a great way to learn and it will help you earn the respect and trust of your team and your clients.

Be Willing to Take Risks
No one gets anywhere in life by staying small. You have to take risks and be willing to fail if you want to grow and make an impact as a process server. However, make sure you do your homework and have data to back you up before you try out a new idea. It’s good to take risks, but they should be smart well-informed risks. Part of being the CEO of your process service business is being willing to take responsibility if your ideas don’t work out. No matter how well prepared you are and how well you execute, you still might fail. And that’s okay. We often learn more from our failures than our successes. Take the time to learn from your failures but don’t shy away from risks.

Do not be afraid to take charge as you are growing in your process service career. If you want to develop leadership skills, you have to be willing to grab the reins. You don’t need to know all of the answers to lead. If you are asking for help, listening, and making informed decisions, you will have a solid base to grow and learn from as you continue to build your process serving business.

The best way to learn is through experience. Each new experience teaches you what works well and what doesn’t and helps you create a management style that works for you. If you have any questions about better managing your process service business, our PROServer Center team is here to help.

Author:  Brani Andreev, MBA, is an expert in nationwide management of process service, consultant, speaker, and developer of the breakthrough Management Model of the 4Ps™ that ensures the consistent quality of process service.
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​The judicial system did not escape the debilitating effects of the current challenging times. Courts shut down or moved to a virtual environment. Remote work became the norm and members of the legal community are fighting to find a stable footing. During these difficult times it has become crucial to rely on legal technology for everything from electronic filings to digital depositions to virtual hearings. Legal experts are providing insights and predictions as to the future of the legal industry and the direction in which it will continue to share. Few people in the legal industry have the experience and knowledge to weigh in the way Karl Harris, CEO of Lex Machina, can. In a recent interview with John Goodnow from Above the Law, Harris shared his insights on the changes to come and the factors that will allow law firms to succeed in the new legal world. 

​Law Firms on the Cusp of a Fundamental Revolution
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According to Karl Harris the legal industry will experience changes in the way they deliver their services. "The stakeholder that’s going to be driving the change is clients", Harris shared. He sees part of this revolution to involve a continuing shift away from the traditional billable hour model. “The billable hour, it’s just got to go away, right? Nobody likes it. Clients don’t like it, the associate that’s got the little timer on their screen doesn’t like it, nobody likes it.” Harris further explains that under the billable hour, “there can often be an adversarial relationship with a client and its outside counsel, as you’re kind of wondering, ‘Are we really in alignment? Are our incentives aligned? Are they doing the right thing?’ ”

​To Harris, law firms that succeed and will continue to be change agents for the legal industry are the ones that lead their firms to become active partners in promoting their clients’ business goals. From a necessary evil and a line on an expense sheet, clients now take on a central role in the legal industry process. Harris believes that by sharing risk and aligning a law firm's success with that of its customer, firms will become more efficient with their own resources. Being efficient and moving toward fixed-fee work does not necessarily mean that a law firm's revenue will go down. “It’s okay if a fixed-fee arrangement actually results in a higher fee than what a billable arrangement would, because what the client is paying for is reduced risk, and people are willing to pay to reduce risk", Harris adds.

Agile Enough to Meet Clients' Evolving Needs

According to Harris, the question is which law firms are going to be able to meet that change. In conversations with law firm leaders and partners, the number one question on their minds is if the firm is agile enough to meet the changing and evolving needs of their clients. Unfortunately, the answer to this question among paralegals, attorneys and legal assistants is negative. Law firms do not feel generally agile enough to meet the new and fast changing needs of their clients.

Harris said he sees this as a deeply untenable state of affairs, especially for law firms that employ a traditional fiscal system. “There’s a lot of risk, year to year, in the law firm model. At the end of the year, you pay out all the profits to partners and you start with zero. You finance the firm for three quarters of the year with loans from a bank. You’re not even in the black until the last few months of the year, and then you make all your profits. Like, if you make one mistake, it can bring down an entire firm.”

One of the most important questions a law firm can be asking itself, according to Harris, is about its leadership team. “What’s the profile of the ultimate decision-makers at these large law firms? Are they nimble, technology-savvy? Where are they at in generational turnover, and what’s their willingness to take risk and make changes?” In the months and years ahead we see competition growing stronger and more sharp-elbowed. Law firms that are not ready to pivot quickly as circumstances merit could find themselves pushed right out of business.
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Leveling The Field

Based on fast technological advances in the legal industry, small and midsized law firms are quickly embracing new tools and applications. Technology is becoming a great equalizer in the legal field, one that allows small and midsized firms to punch above their level. These changes lead to an increase in competition, that challenges the status quo for large, highly leveraged law firms.  As more attorneys have the tools to service their clients, the level of competition and customer service goes up, and the legal industry begins catching up on the ground it has lost to the broader business world.

Harris gave the example of trying to decide whether to file a motion for summary judgment in a major case. The traditional method of making that decision might be to email blast the firm for insights on the judge or opposing counsel, and then trying to use whatever anecdotes arrive to supplement the attorney’s legal reasoning and judgment. With Lex Machina, however, an attorney can click a few buttons to pull statistics on:

• their judge
• profile their opposing counsel
• generate expected returns on cases of specific types in their jurisdiction
• gather evidence to support decision-making on any number of other issues.

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“What AI is doing right now is massive pattern matching at scale", according to Harris, "That’s what machine learning, natural language processing does: it makes sense of patterns that may be too hard for the human to hold all the data in their mind … . It’s great at processing lots of data at scale, but it’s just matching patterns. There is no intelligence that’s replacing your judgment, so don’t be afraid of AI. Embrace it. Leverage it to your advantage.”

Software can quickly pull the 10 most recent successful and unsuccessful MSJs a given judge has ruled on, or calculate what percentage of cases of a certain type succeed or fail in a given jury pool. And software does it faster, and for pennies on the dollar compared to what it would cost an associate or partner to generate the same data. That data helps attorneys make better litigation decisions and helps them communicate more effectively to their clients on why a given recommendation is the right one.

Winners And Losers among Law Firms

“Law firms are going to need to change, and there will be winners and losers,” Harris noted. When asked about the one factor that, above all, will determine which firms succeed and which do not, Harris answers, “Law firm leaders need to make sure they’ve got that customer-centric product management approach. At the end of the day, the firm is your product. Be listening to your clients. Watch what they’re doing. Be aware of the data. Look how they’re evaluating your performance, and don’t fight that. Embrace it, because you’ve got to be in line with your customers.”

Similar to factors that influence other type of businesses, the success or failure among law firms will always come down to how well we serve our customers. We live in a time where there are plenty of technological and innovative companies and leaders who give law firms the tools, know-how and actionable tools that would help them do what the legal industry already does but better. Tools like Lex Machina or PROServer List are just a couple of the many great solutions available to law firms, both large and small, to embrace the changing needs of their clients and truly get on the path of becoming winners.  
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​Source: Above the Law