Adventures In Legal Tech

Jared Correia and Jill Schornack, VP of Product at Net Documents, discuss AI's role in legal technology. They explore how AI-powered tools can enhance document management, streamlining workflows and improving consistency. They also emphasize the benefits of integrating document management software with platforms like Microsoft M365 and Teams for better collaboration, document sharing, and security. The conversation highlights the need for software vendors to support customers and users to effectively leverage these technologies in the legal sphere. Episode Highlights 01:18 Introducing guest Jill Schornack from Net Documents 03:16 AI, ChatGPT, and large language models and how technology has improved over the years and how it can be beneficial and transformative for legal technology 05:17 How AI can impact legal and specifically the document management arena. 08:52 The many capabilities of AI 11:12 Data security in AI applications 12:42 The importance of properly vetting AI software and looking for solutions that allow users to design their own prompts while also having out-of-the-box AI skills 14:51 The exciting world of taxonomies for document management and the benefits of having a standardized legal data taxonomy to enhance AI workflow capabilities 18:27 The shift in adoption of tools like Microsoft Teams and M365 for document sharing, storing posts and chats, and how access controls and security measures are important in this new environment 20:30 Continuing need for cloud-based tools to support remote teams and diversified workforces even after the pandemic 20:55 Supporting customers and users through software by delivering value alongside the user while drafting documents and collaborating on virtual platforms like Microsoft Teams Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Jill Schornack https://www.netdocuments.com/ https://twitter.com/netdocuments https://www.facebook.com/ndocuments/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillschornack  

For today’s episode, Jared welcomes Brooke Lively, founder and CEO of Cathedral Capital, who discusses financial management and data reporting for law firms. By analyzing financial data with other factors, such as average case value and employee productivity, law firms can optimize their strategies and increase profit. Lively suggests using cloud-based software systems for efficient reporting and data tracking. Cathedral Capital assists law firms in setting up systems and determining data to monitor, ultimately helping firms grow and potentially transition from outsourcing to hiring in-house staff. Episode Highlights 03:25 Explaining Cathedral Capital's function as outsourced CFO for law firms 04:36 Looking at valuable data for law firms outside of financials 05:38 Discussing efficiency and productivity data 07:08 Creating strategies for law firms' growth 09:50 Importance of consistent language and terminology in data management 15:17 Connecting accounting software with case management systems 18:07 Comparing and deciding on reporting options and tools 20:03 Helping law firms set up their case management systems correctly 20:53 The importance of cash flow forecasts 22:41 The significance of employee productivity reports 23:45 When to engage a financial professional 25:00 Transitioning from outsourced CFO to in-house financial management   Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Brooke Lively https://www.cathcap.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/cathedralcapital https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookelively 

For today’s episode, Jared welcomes legal tech expert Peggy Gruenke who discusses the advantages of using cloud-based accounting systems like QuickBooks Online and integrating them with Law Practice Management software. She highlights the importance of maintaining accurate data and the need for training law firms and bookkeepers to use these systems effectively. Peggy emphasizes the focus on financial management, tracking revenue and expenses, and monitoring KPIs such as billing and collections rates. She advises engaging a professional to assist with law firm accounting and finance for increased efficiency. Episode Highlights 04:23 Debate between QuickBooks Desktop vs. QuickBooks Online and the advantages of using a cloud-based software system 07:01 The ease of transitioning from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online. 09:57 Integrating accounting software and case management software, such as Clio and QuickBooks Online 11:00 The learning curve for law firms transitioning to new software and training needed by office managers 13:27 Building custom financial reports, particularly for compensating lawyers, and running trust account reports, including the trust three-way match report. 18:23 Tracking Work in Progress (WIP) and analyzing contingent work and hourly work for revenue generation 19:45 The importance of reviewing bank accounts and finances due to the increasing number of fraud incidents. 21:19 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Tracking accounts receivable, billing, and collections. 23:51 Utilization rate and its importance in law firm management 25:52 Expense tracking and focusing on growing revenue rather than cutting expenses 27:26 When should law firms engage a professional for financial management and advice? Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Peggy Gruenke https://cpn-legal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggygruenke 

For today’s episode, Jared welcomes Giselle Rodriguez, an immigration lawyer, to discuss how she uses marketing tactics such as social media to reach clients and her ideal audience as a millennial lawyer. She recalls how she built her law firm straight out of law school and how she became successful in her practice. Giselle also discussed her approach to marketing her practice, which combines both traditional and modern methods and using her presence in social media to help educate people on immigration and dispel any negative stigmas associated with it. Episode Highlights 01:26 Getting to know who the guest is 03:24 How Giselle started her firm straight from law school 05:47 The difference between the marketing strategies of millennial attorneys and older attorneys 07:36 Building a marketing plan for her firm 11:04 Using referral marketing and community involvement in marketing your services 12:57 Getting a website and choosing an SEO provider 15:27 TikTok as a social media platform for marketing 17:33 The benefits of building social media engagement 21:03 Repurposing contents for TikTok 23:34 The difference between using Instagram and TikTok 24:37 Producing content for Facebook 26:56 Stint as an actress Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Giselle Rodriguez https://gmrodriguezlaw.com/ https://www.tiktok.com/@attorneyrodriguez https://www.facebook.com/gmrodriguezlaw/ https://twitter.com/gmrodriguezlaw https://www.instagram.com/gmrodriguezlaw/ 

For today’s episode, Jared welcomes Mark Palmer, Chief Counsel at the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and LegalTech FutureLaw Mentor, to talk about his role as an ethics attorney for the state commission. Together, they discuss the different ethical issues related to email communication, sending messages to clients, and even the role of technology and AI. Mark highlights the importance of keeping clients informed, but also warned against the potential risks of giving away confidential information. Additionally, he advises to utilize a secure client portal for communication and data security, as well as reviewing privacy settings on smartphones to preserve client confidentiality. Episode Highlights 03:58 What the daily life of an ethics attorney looks like 05:07 Different channels to reach out to Mark and his team 06:18 The dreaded ethics issue they are usually facing involving emails 10:49 Texting or sending messages to clients 11:21 The three C’s 13:59 Carrying around smartphones, the landmine of confidential information 20:22 Ethical mind fields involving chatGPT and other similar technology 24:40 Supervising employees with respect to technology 27:13 Kinds of issues that are related to unauthorized practice of law Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Mark Palmer https://www.2civility.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcpalmer https://twitter.com/palmerlaw 

For today’s episode, Jared welcomes legal consulting expert Mary Juetten, CEO and Founder of Traklight, to talk about utilizing KPIs in a law firm. According to Mary, it’s recommended to have only a few primary KPIs, as too many can make it difficult to track performance accurately. She discusses the importance of reporting, both for looking back to analyze past performance and for looking ahead to inform future behavior. Mary also emphasizes the importance of using technology to generate KPIs and reports but notes that legal-specific technology is not always necessary. Episode Highlights 01:58 What Valentine’s Day means for Mary 03:22 What is KPI or the Key Performance Indicators? 05:02 Reporting in conjunction with KPIs 07:12 The interaction between different processes and KPIs 10:42 Building processes and generating KPIs for law firms 13:14 How often should you measure KPIs? 19:48 Financial and quantitative components of KPIs for law firms 21:41 Soliciting client feedback 22:48 How Mary gets attorneys to buy into their projects Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Mary Juetten https://traklight.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryjuetten 

For today’s episode with Joshua Hostilo, Blake Roberts, Marie Burgess, and Igor Selizhu, we discuss legal technology through case management software. Each guest suggests using automation and work plans to increase efficiency, as well as native language support and other features to improve the client experience. They also highlighted the importance of mergers and acquisitions in the field and advised attorneys and law firms to stay aware of changes such as non-lawyer-owned law firms. Episode Highlights Their best New Year’s Resolutions failures - 2:34 How lawyers can use law practice management software and recession-proofing a law practice. - 6:40 Improvements in case management software for a better client experience. - 11:58 Benefits of utilizing case management software for law firms. - 15:53 The future of law management software. - 14:42 Adding automations in the case management software - 21:11 Impact of mergers and acquisitions in the technology space. - 24:29 Their favorite case management report and why. - 30:18 Essential integrations for case management software. - 32:19 Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with the Guests https://filevine.com/ https://lawmatics.com/ https://joinparadigm.com/ https://smartadvocate.com/ 

Today we spoke with Brooks Derrick of the Derrick Law Office about how he operates his presence as an attorney through community engagement and KPIs. He also talks about how he uses legal tech such as Filevine and Pipedrive to automate documents and track leads and improve his law practice.   Episode Highlights Why Jared started a law practice and how he did it. - 2:58 Investing in Technology for a law firm. - 5:27 Integrating Pipedrive with Filevine for an improved Intake process. - 8:03 Starting with the Intake Pipeline. - 9:24 Automating the workflows and implementing KPIs with Filevine. - 11:48 Determining which workflow should be automated and which one should be human-controlled. - 14:16 Deciding which KPI to use and track. - 15:51 Managing a growing team. - 20:28 Building community presence as an attorney. - 22:23 How Brooks manages his time between his family and busy law practice. - 27:04   Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Brooks Derrick https://www.derricklawoffice.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/brooksderrick https://www.instagram.com/lawyerfriendsfood https://www.youtube.com/@derricklawoffice https://open.spotify.com/episode/5u5R0KKMLsvbWtYTxp7ZsO?si=_uK2E9KfRk6kIVMLr1ASoA 

Today we spoke with Tim Del Castillo of the Castle Law: California Employment Counsel about building a successful employment law practice. He discussed the importance of using technology to streamline processes, staying up to date on legal developments, and keeping in touch with clients. He also highlighted the need for lawyers to use networking and content marketing tactics to help promote their firm. Episode Highlights How Tim got into the practice of employment law. - 4:01 Going from being a principal to a lawyer. - 5:22 Clever branding: How Tim came up with their brand name and tagline. - 8:23 Using AI in legal logo design. - 10:14 Staying on top of the practice from a professional development standpoint while running a firm with several employees. - 12:45 What strategies he employs as a networker to try to get cases. - 15:25 The importance of hiring a coach for your business. - 17:59 Marketing for growing a law practice. - 20:26 Automation in the legal practice: Installing and deploying new technology in the firm. - 22:18 Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Tim del Castillo https://www.castleemploymentlaw.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdelco 

Josh Goldstein, CEO of the Goldstein Immigration Lawyers, joins Jared Correia to discuss immigration law practice and the technology required for providing effective customer and client service. Josh shares his thoughts on hiring for law firms, and the two discuss the benefits and options available in the legal technology space. Josh is the CEO of his law firm and has a law degree, but does not work in legal production. His responsibilities as CEO are to come up with a vision for the firm, a strategy, and to make key strategic decisions. He has a director of operations who reports to him, as well as leaders of different departments within the firm. Josh believes that lawyers should only perform those tasks that require a license to practice law, and that non-lawyers should handle the rest of the work. He also thinks that a law firm should have a director of operations who has experience with staffing, HR, sales, marketing, and tech. Highlights Ice breaker: Who is the old guy that Josh prefers? - 2:03 Why he decided to be in the immigration law practice in Los Angeles. - 3:01 How being a CEO and a lawyer affects the staffing around the firm. - 7:37 How the hiring process started. - 8:30 Hiring non-lawyers for the firm. - 10:16 Working remotely for law firms. - 12:09 Staying on top of the game as an immigration lawyer. - 14:45 Marketing for firms. - 18:26 Benefits of technology in the immigration law firm. - 20:52 Best advice to growing your firm. - 26:20 Episode Resources Connect with Jared Correia jared@redcavelegal.com https://redcavelegal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredcorreia https://twitter.com/RedCaveLegal Connect with Josh Goldstein https://jgoldlaw.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Immigration.Visa.Lawyer/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshualgoldstein