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#ClioWeb
Automate Your Law Firm (Revisited)Work Smarter, Not Harder
A Clio Webinar
Joshua Lenon – Clio
#ClioWeb
#ClioWeb
#ClioWeb
#ClioWeb
Automate Your Law Firm (Revisited)Work Smarter, Not Harder
A Clio Webinar
Joshua Lenon – Clio
#ClioWeb
Instructors
Joshua Lenon• Lawyer in Residence at Clio• Attorney Admitted in New York• @JoshuaLenon
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Agenda
• Letting your law firm work for you (10 minutes)• Beyond the traditional employee (15 minutes)• Coordinating distributed teams (15 minutes)• Using Clio to automate (20 minutes)• Questions (5 minutes)
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LETTING YOUR LAW FIRM WORK FOR YOU
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Why Automate?
Source: Michael Mills of Neota Logic
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Time Does Not = Money
• Average number of hours worked in a day were 8.9 and average hours billed = 6.9.• 39% of time worked is not being billed in the solo
and two-attorney firm segment.
Source:LexisNexisLawFirmBillableHoursSurveyReport
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Billed vs Unbilled Time
60% 60%76% 74%
92%
73%
40% 40%24% 26%
8%
27%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1 2 3to5 6to10 11to20 20+
Unbilled
Billed
Source:LexisNexisLawFirmBillableHoursSurveyReport
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Unbundled Legal Services
Colorado Bar Ass'n Ethics Op. 101 (1998), amended 2006
The Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct, and especially Rule 1.2, allow unbundled legal services in both litigation and non-litigation matters. A lawyer who provides limited representation must nonetheless make a sufficient “inquiry into and analysis of the factual and legal elements of the problem” to provide the competent representation required by Rule 1.1.
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Automation Necessities
Automated law firms need 3 tools to run 24/7:1. Document automation2. Client facing technologies3. Triggered actions
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Document Automation
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Client Facing Technologies
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Client Facing Technologies
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Triggered actions
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Zapier Ideas
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Zapier Ideas
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BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL EMPLOYEE
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34.60%
31.30%
29.00% 30.00% 31.00% 32.00% 33.00% 34.00% 35.00%
AlternativeStaffingStructures(Practitioners)
AlternativeStaffingStructures(Non-Practitioners)
Whatfuturefactorscouldhavethegreatestimpactonlegalindustryfirmsoverthenextdecade?
Source: ILTA Legal Technology Future Horizons Survey, 2015
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61.10%
56.30%
44.40%
24.70%
10.80%
4.90%
18.10%
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%
PART-TIMELAWYERS
CONTRACTLAWYERS
STAFFLAWYERS
OUTSOURCINGNON-LAWYERFUNCTIONS
LOW-COSTBACK-OFFICECENTER
OUTSOURCINGLEGALWORK
NONEOFTHEABOVE
Is your firm currently pursuing any of the following
alternative staffing strategies?
Source: Altman Weil Law Firms in Transition Survey, 2015
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Recommended Staffing Expenses
Firms should limit staff salary & benefits, not including attorney draws: 45% of total revenue
Outside professional services (e.g., accountant or management or marketing consultants): 2%
Source: Ed Poll, LawBiz
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When automating your law firm, try adding services before personnel.
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Rule 5.3: Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistant
With respect to a nonlawyer employed or retained by or associated with a lawyer:
(a) a partner, and a lawyer who individually or together with other lawyers possesses comparable managerial authority in a law firm shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm has in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that the person's conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer;
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Possible Staffing Options
1. Professional Services2. Back Office Help3. Attorney Aid
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Professional Services
• Accounting software–Xero (xero.com)–Quickbooks Online
• Accounting services–Kahuna Accounting (kahunaaccounting.com) –Bench Accounting (bench.co)
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Back Office Help
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Back Office Help
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Attorney Aid
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COORDINATING DISTRIBUTED TEAMS
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4 Key to Successful Virtual Teams
Harvard Business Review identified four necessary components to successful virtual teams.
1. Right people2. Right leadership3. Right touchpoints4. Right technology
Source: Getting Virtual Teams Right, by Keith Ferrazzi, HBR, December 2014
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Right People
People• Good communication skills, • High emotional intelligence, • Ability to work independently, and • Resilience to recover from snafus
Size• Virtual teams smaller than 10 people are
more effective
Roles• Three tiers of team members:
1. Core - strategy2. Operational - decisions about day-to-day
work3. Outer - temporary or part-time
members with specialized expertise
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Right Leadership & Touchpoints
Leaders• Foster trust• Encourage open dialogue• Clarify goals and guidelines.
Touchpoints• Kickoff• Onboarding• Milestones
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Right Technology
Distributed teams require less communication channels, not more.
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Distributed Team Policies
1. Set tools for your team.– Accessible– Easy to use– Platform agnostic
2. Reports are essential– Performance– Audits
3. Enforce usage
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USING CLIO TO AUTOMATE TASKS
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3 Automation Techniques in Clio
1. Automate data entry2. Automate data outputs3. Automate replicable results
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AUTOMATE DATA ENTRY
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Custom Fields = Automation
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Custom Fields = Automation
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Custom Fields = Automation
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Types of Custom Fields in Clio
1. Checkbox2. Contact Select3. Date4. Email Address5. Integer 6. Matter Select
7. Money8. Picklists9. Text (Multi-Line)10. Text (One-Line)11. Time12. Web Address
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Custom Fields for Matters & Contacts
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Arrange Custom Fields
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Custom Field Sets = Greatest Automation
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Court Rules
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Court Rules
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Court Rules
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Outside Data Entry
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AUTOMATE DATA OUTPUTS
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Document Automation
The average knowledge worker spends 11 hours a week generating documents. 6 of those hours are wasted time.
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Document Automation
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Document Automation
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The average knowledge worker spends 11 hours a week generating documents. 6 of those hours are wasted time. Clio gives you that time back with easily generated documents from your own templates. Never cut and paste again.
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Billing Automation
Most small law firms (61%) reported spending about eight hours per month on their billing process
Source:LexisNexisLawFirmBillableHoursSurveyReport
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43%
43%
14%
Yes,undocumented
Yes,documented
No
Source:“LawFirmBillingSurvey,”BusinessofLawBlog,08/28/2014.
Does Your Firm Have a Billing Process
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Traditional Billing Process
1. Hourly Billing2. Generate Invoice at Matter’s End3. Mail the Bill4. Sticker Shock5. Wait
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Monthly Billing Data
• ~115,000 bills generated in the first 3 months of 2015
• 36.5% of those bills were marked as paid on the SAME DAY– Trust Accounts Advanced Fee Deposits– Flat Fees Upfront– Credit Card Payments
Unpaid63%
SameDayPaid37%
Q12015Bills
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Create professionalinvoices witha single click.
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Share Bills via Email
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Clio Payments
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AUTOMATE REPLICABLE RESULTS
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Types of Malpractice Errors
45%
30%
15%
10%SubstantiveErrors
AdministrativeErrorsClientRelations
IntentionalWrongs
Source: ABA Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims - 2012
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Expect a Malpractice Claim
Practice areas most likely to have a malpractice claim:• Real estate - 20.33%• Plaintiffs’ personal injury - 15.59%• Family law - 12.14%• Estate, trust and probate - 10.67% • Collection and bankruptcy - 9.2%
Source: ABA Profile of Legal Malpractice Claims - 2012
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Malpractice litigation costs for professional litigation is $122k.
Source: Estimating the Cost of Civil Litigation - www.courtstatistics.org
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Tasks
1. Draft Client Welcome Letter2. Draft Complaint or Answer/Counterclaim3. Complete Domestic Relations Financial Affidavit (Client) (DRFA)4. Revise DRFA5. Review file to determine if temporary hearing is necessary6. Review file and determine if discovery is necessary 7. Calendar six month discovery deadline8. File New Case /File Answer9. File/Serve LOA10. Follow up with client on intro information11. Update Clio with Matter Info12. Review file for opposing party DRFA
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Task Lists
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Task Lists
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Task Lists
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Easier and faster to manage your firm.
A recent survey of 3,500 lawyers found that Clio saved them 8 hours per week in managing their practices.
Clio’s users call this their #Clioday.
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QUESTIONS?
