Quick Wins for Automating Tasks in Your Law Office

Overwhelm. An unpleasant word, but for many solo and small firm attorneys, seemingly a way of life. Without a large staff to back them up, these lawyers are often straining under the burden of all the small, routine tasks they need to handle. This situation is leading many practitioners to turn to modern technology to transition from manual to automated processes. 

Nonetheless, many attorneys continue to be resistant to automation. There is a perception that the necessary technology will be difficult to learn and implement. And where do you even begin? With the abundance of routine tasks that simply must be completed on a daily basis, automating all this work seems like an overwhelming process, so they fail to even start the transition.

There are a few important points to consider for those automation-resistant attorneys. First, it helps to understand the true value of automation. Second, consider using baby steps. Implement automation on a small scale at first, where it is most needed, so that you and your firm can experience the thrill of quick wins. Then you can decide whether it is worthwhile to automate more processes at your firm.

Why Automate Tasks at Your Firm? 

So … are you brimming with excitement to learn new tech solutions for automating your office? Yeah, we get it. For many attorneys, the idea of a deep dive into modern automation tech ranks right up there with retaking the bar exam, brushing up on the rule against perpetuities, or getting a root canal. It just seems like too much painstaking effort when you already have to deal with the practice of law.

But that’s the irony - the overwhelm of modern legal practice is the exact reason you should strongly consider automation. The many small tasks an attorney has to repeat throughout her day end up taking a huge toll on her overall productivity. Manual processes for these administrative tasks use up a lawyer’s mental capacity, leaving less time and energy for high-value work that is more strategic, creative and billable.

Much of the mental strain of these repetitive tasks results from a phenomenon known as decision fatigue. In short, the more decisions you make, the harder it becomes to make more decisions. The resulting stress and brain fog can lead to poor decision-making due to mistakes or carelessness. An attorney may find himself creatively spent, struggling to come up with new ideas or perspectives. Or it can result in decision avoidance, where the attorney is easily distracted or procrastinates.

Automation cuts down on the many small decisions an attorney usually makes, freeing up their time and mental capacity to focus on the things that matter.  

Where to Begin with Automation for Quick Wins

Since large-scale automation can seem daunting, an effective method is focusing on small areas in order to set some quick wins in your office workflows. By beginning your efforts in the best areas for automation, you are grabbing the low-hanging fruit in the transition process.

There are many good reasons to focus on automation quick wins first. Successfully automating a few simple processes can provide motivation for attorneys and their staff, encouraging them to expand their automation efforts. People get excited when they see the effects of small wins, which builds enthusiasm about using even more technology. Quick wins create momentum for an increased shift from manual processes to automation. 

The places to look for quick wins are workflows that are time-intensive and repetitive or recurring. To identify these areas, look to your fellow attorneys, your staff, and your own experience. Cut down on the mind-numbing administrative tasks, and you and your staff are likely to experience the positive impact quickly.

What are Some Ideal Areas for Law Firm Automation?

The following are some ideal areas for automation in the legal field, along with some specific tech solutions that are easy, inexpensive (or even free), and can be implemented in just a few minutes. 

Calendaring

Court dates, depositions, mediations, filing deadlines and more - keeping track of these various calendar items is an immense hassle for most firms. Not surprisingly, it is also a great area for automation.

One free option for calendaring meetings is Calendly. This software eliminates multiple back-and-forth emails by automating the scheduling of client appointments for you and your staff. The calendaring link can be included on your website, in your email signature, or even in your client engagement letter. 

Electronic Signatures

Obtaining electronic signatures (e-signatures) on contracts can also save time and effort. DocuSign offers a free trial to sign up for their e-signature software for Word documents. It’s a Word add-in which automatically uploads the documents you are working on into DocuSign, so you can send them directly from Word.

News Updates

Attorneys need to keep up with legal and industry events, but scouring the morning news for relevant stories can suck an attorney into a black hole of current events. Attorneys can escape these black holes by having important stories come to them.

Flipboard will allow an attorney to create a Smart Magazine with stories curated from her selected interests. For more customized news, set up a Google Alert with the keyword you want to monitor. Then set up a filter in Gmail to automatically forward the message to a folder in your inbox for later reading.

Document Collaboration

Often multiple people will need to collaborate on legal documents and using email to track changes and reviews can quickly get unwieldy. Simul Docs is an easy-to-use collaboration tool for tracking redlines and reviews in Word documents. Multiple collaborators can open the latest version edit in Microsoft Word simultaneously, and their changes are automatically saved as new versions.

Project Management

Project management is another burdensome task that can be automated. Trello allows a lawyer to keep track of individual tasks in any project - identifying each task, the person responsible, and the current status. Although useful for group projects, Trello is just as helpful for solo users. Each task card can contain all the information you need to store about each task, and it's a great way to keep your projects in order. 

Document Automation

Document automation relies on automated processes to generate routine documents. One general method of document automation is using standard templates for certain document types, with variable information (such as client name, scope of work, or billing rates) filled in through simple inputs, such as client questionnaires. Standard documents such as retainer agreements and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are great candidates here.

No matter what your starting point is, seeking out simple tech solutions for automation is very likely to streamline your practice. And don’t worry - it is likely to be MUCH less painful than a root canal.

Mike Robinson is a freelance B2B copywriter specializing in the health tech, fin tech and legal tech industries. After a sixteen-year legal career in business and healthcare finance litigation, he now crafts compelling content for professionals in these verticals to help them better understand the options for technical tools that can move their business forward.