Last year at this time, we took a look at what the experts had to say about 2020. However, 2020 has been such a difficult year for everyone, many of those predictions have gone out the window. What we have seen though is that whereas a lot of firms have struggled with the restrictions placed upon them during the Covid-19 pandemic, others have continued to go from strength to strength. Here we consider what some have been doing that makes the difference between surviving and thriving…
Firms with good workflows and practices supporting their case management and practice management systems certainly had a head start on those firms relying on aging systems and processes. Although working from home initially proved to be a challenge to just about everyone, firms with modern, functional systems in place had less of a challenge on their hands.
Communicating and sharing with others in the firm is simply more straightforward for firms with workflows/systems that are designed to support the firm’s business. It really doesn’t matter whether individuals are in the office or working from home.
Automated work practices already designed to ensure regulatory compliance, simply continued to reduce risk and the time it takes to achieve goals.
Tailored reports continue to be delivered to the right people, at the right time.
Work practices that are streamlined, more easily enable legal practitioners to spend less time on repetitive and manual tasks.
Integration with third-party applications, client portals and databases enable the sharing of consistent data throughout the firm. Integration with external sites continues to automate the process of uploading and downloading data, regardless of whether the user is in the office or working from home.
Firms with strong workflows supporting their internal systems continue to enter data just once in their case management system. Extracting and sharing data to populate fields from the Land Registry, the Courts Service, Companies House, HMRC and other accessible sites just continues to happen for them.
Firms with online systems – such as Will writing – continue to benefit from the point of view of efficiency, profitability and reputation, providing ease of access 24/7 for their clients.
Creating Wills through a collaborative online process, making the most of automation combined with personal service is soon to be a reality, with firms providing clients with our unique traffic light system to enable the client to answer questions in any order they like. Behind the scenes use of conditional logic and diagnostic tools flag up any particular issues that might require premium advice for the client.
A chatbot, or a virtual assistant, can continue to answer common questions about the law and legal procedures, or even be used to inform clients about progress on their case.
One thing is for sure, 2020 has brought technology and automation right up to the top of the agenda in those firms that intend to thrive.
