The Legal Toolkit

In order to succeed in the current economy and to ensure sustainability, law firms must constantly review and refine the way they conduct business. Although lawyers have likely heard of agile, lean, six sigma, and other technology-driven management systems, Legal Project Management (LPM) has been tailored to the practice of law specifically. So how do law firms use LPM practices to scope, plan, and manage legal work efficiently, with a cost-effective structure for clients? In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Heidi Alexander interviews Edge International GC and LPM advisor Pam Woldow about the five steps of the project management system, how it has specifically helped law firms she works with, and how to implement LPM in your large law firm or small practice. Pam goes over the essentials; in order to be truly efficient, lawyers must communicate properly with clients, create an intricate plan, monitor work, and review. She discusses the ways technology can assist these processes and how these concepts can be scaled to a solo or small firm practice. Tune in to hear specific details about where lawyers can start implementing this today. Pam Woldow is a partner and general counsel for the global legal consulting firm Edge International. Previously, she held similar positions at Altman Weil, served as deputy general counsel of Pennsylvania and chief counsel of the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance, and directed litigation management for a public financial services company. Pam also advises law firms and corporate legal departments in Legal Project Management and is the co-author of “Legal Project Management in One Hour for Lawyers.” Special thanks to our sponsor Amicus Attorney.

Jared Correia interviews local search engine optimization industry leader Mike Ramsey about the components of an effective online marketing campaign, recent and upcoming Google algorithm changes, and specific actions lawyers can take today to improve their local search marketing. Special thanks to our sponsor Amicus Attorney.

Heidi Alexander interviews Jason Treu, former lawyer turned marketer and business coach, about building relationships, social engineering, and practical steps lawyers can take to improve their networking skills. Special thanks to our sponsor, Amicus Attorney.

Jared Correia interviews Ryan Anderson, trial attorney and founder and CEO of Filevine, a project management and collaboration tool for lawyers, about email inefficiency and the future of communication in law offices. Together they discuss how the lack of restriction to email access has become a problem for lawyers, businesses, and individuals.

How can solo and small firm lawyers modify their practices to compete in the changing legal market full of companies like LegalZoom and Shake? Heidi Alexander interviews two people who are on the technology side of offering legal services. Abe Geiger, the founder and CEO of Shake, and Bill Palin, an attorney and app developer, discuss why they decided to create the legal technology tools, how solo and small firms might use these tools to gain a competitive advantage, and which non-legal mobile apps lawyers can use to increase efficiency in their practice.

In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Jared Correia interviews senior information technology manager Kyle Albert about what ESI is, how solo and small firms can manage e-discovery in-house, and, when outsourcing, what to expect from an e-discovery service provider. ESI is an industry term, Kyle explains, for any digital data including computer documents, emails, or even Facebook messages. Any lawyer researching or gathering electronic data is already doing e-discovery, but maybe not very well. Kyle suggests informative e-discovery blogs and videos, discusses in-house software and vendors, and recommends cost-lowering solutions for law using a service provider. Although many lawyers think that e-discovery is a big budget process that only the AMLaw 100 firms are doing, it’s actually a reality for almost every attorney today.

In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Heidi Alexander interviews Nicole Bradick, former litigator and chief strategy officer at Curo Legal, about what it means to have a lean business, how to apply lean concepts to law firms, and where new lawyers and established law firms can start. Bradick begins by clearly explaining the lean concept; the company builds a minimum viable product, measures how it helps clients, learns and adapts to feedback, and repeats the process. Lawyers can use lean concepts, she says, by making fewer initial assumptions about client needs and adapting to what works. She discusses how law firms should maintain low overheads to adjust for shifts in the market while adopting efficient practices to increase productivity. Cloud-based technologies like practice management systems, contact relationship management systems, email platforms, research tools, and document management systems can be beneficial in streamlining practices, but Bradick urges lawyers to properly learn to use the technologies or risk creating more problems. Obviously, starting a lean law firm is easier said than done, but it will likely be successful in this changing legal market.

In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Jared Correia interviews lawyer and legal technology expert Nicole Black about how and why lawyers adopt mobile and wearable technology, how they are using tablets, smartphones, and smart watches in their practice, the role of cloud computing, and what to watch for in the legal ethics of wearables. Black discusses how the spread of cloud computing has made mobile computing possible by reducing battery and storage constraints. From there, she says, smart watches are the lawyers’ solution to impolite interruptions and the inconvenience of situations in which phones are not allowed. Also, most people are comfortable wearing a watch already (we used to wear them before smartphones). Black believes smart watches will be the gateway to Google Glass, or something similar, as we all become more comfortable with the constant presence of technology. Tune in to learn about some amazing ways lawyers have already used wearable technology and some ethical factors to consider.

In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Heidi Alexander interviews Alison Monahan and Lee Burgess, founders of the online resource Trebuchet Legal, about the steps to creating an alternative legal career path and what students should be doing in law school to prepare for the future. Monahan and Burgess each discuss their beginnings in big law firms and why they decided to seek out paths of advising other lawyers. To take a different path, they explain, lawyers must be interested and willing to take risks, learn new skills, and take the plunge.

In this episode of The Legal Toolkit, Jared Correia interviews data analytics specialists Patrick Fuller and Bill Sowinski about the analysis of current trends in the legal field, why and how a law firm should implement analytics, and the recommended technologies and processes for big and small law firms. Fuller discusses current trends in the Am Law 200, the Top 200 U.S.-based law firms ranked by revenue according to the American Lawyer magazine. He talks about how Am Law’s metrics are emblematic of the market and how this directly correlates to law firm revenues. Sowinski discusses why metrics and analytics are increasingly important for a law firm to be successful in the future. If used properly, analytics can become a differentiating factor for the firm and increase client intake. While big law firms can afford expensive technology and experts, Sowinski explains, small law firms can still use analytics by planning and implementing discipline to capture data. In the future of the legal field, Sowinski says, analytics won’t just be beneficial, they’ll be necessary.