The ABA TECHSHOW Conference and Expo, held in Chicago, Illinois, brings lawyers and technology together. It’s where lawyers learn about legal technology, emerging trends, and practical tips to help their law practice be more efficient and innovative. The PLF practice management attorneys (PMAs) compiled the following takeaways from the 2022 TECHSHOW that you may want to incorporate into your practice.
Tech Stack
Evaluating a firm’s “tech stack” is an emerging trend in the legal industry, referring to the list of technological services and products that lawyers use to run their practice. One creative way to assess your firm’s tech stack is to examine each product in light of the firm’s bottom line. What are the firm’s strategic goals and how do the firm’s tech tools fit within that framework? For example, if one of your goals is to expand your marketing efforts, review your tech stack for available marketing tools and assess whether they are effective for that purpose.
Client Relationship Management (CRM) Software
CRM software, like Lawmatics, Law Ruler, or Insightly, helps make the intake process more efficient by automating many steps, including scheduling appointments, creating and extracting information from intake forms, and sending reminder emails. These programs track data about potential clients so you can see their progress through the intake process and the rate they are converted to clients. This information is useful for determining whether a certain marketing strategy is effective. It allows you to identify any roadblocks in your intake process and brainstorm how to create a smoother experience for clients.Virtual Receptionists
Virtual receptionist services are an important tool in a firm’s “tech stack” for those without a receptionist. Services like Ruby, Posh, and Smith.ai supply on-call receptionists who answer phones when you are out of the office or outside of regular office hours. These services also offer online chatbots to provide another instantaneous avenue for communication with current and prospective clients. A few of these services have added new features to assist firms with client development. For example, Smith.ai now makes outreach and follow-up calls to leads to ensure a connection is made with them.Specific Tools
An annual audience favorite, “60 in 60” is a session on specific apps, hardware, and other technology for attorneys. Here are three clever tools to inspire innovation.- Canva is a website for creating logos and infographics, which can be an original and captivating way to convey process or statistical information.
- Levitate AI is a marketing service that generates client-specific emails for building long-term relationships. Sending targeted and timely emails to your clients during and after representation maintains a personal connection for a fresh approach to promoting your firm.
- Loom is a video recording website that allows you to easily create short videos with both a speaker view and computer screen. Firms can innovate onboarding or training processes with new employees by showing them how to e-file, use an internal program, or train for tasks via video.
To discuss these topics or have other technology questions answered, contact the PMAs. We would love to brainstorm with you to find the right software and creatively integrate tools into your firm. You can submit an inquiry through our website or call us at 503.639.6911. For further resources, head to our website at www.osbplf.org > Services > CLEs & Resources, and our discounts page for discounts on certain software programs.