The days when law books lined the rooms, lawyers sifted through boxes of discovery, secretaries put phone messages on sticky notes, and clerks hurriedly ran important documents to the courthouse to make filing deadlines are mostly relics of a bygone era in law.

Today, successful law firms are electronically connected. And the best law firms need the best IT. This is where an experienced Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer set one firm apart from another.

How can IT improve a firm's business?

Personal injury law firms that recruit top trial attorneys now also compete for top IT professionals. A qualified COO or CIO knows how to translate the law firm’s needs into goals and concrete technology practices. For example, using automation to make repeat manual tasks more efficient and free that time up for lawyers to handle the higher-end aspects of a case, such as analyzing, strategizing, and preparing for trial.

How can IT improve a firm’s business? Here are some key priorities:

• Streamlined and automated workflow that saves money and reduces errors
• Case tracking, from client intake to settlement distribution
• Allocation of duties in big cases shared across the firm or between multiple firms
• Communication between attorneys, support staff and clients
• Integration of the full range of electronic needs into one platform
• Increased conversion rate from qualified call or referral to client
• Centralized document storage and case management
• Precise data analysis upon which to make important decisions
• Secure data storage and communications
• Accessible use of secure cloud-based technology
• Accurate, well integrated billing and accounting system

An experienced COO or CIO must understand how to implement IT strategies in a manner that's compliant with legal ethics and practice standards. This is especially crucial in a client-heavy, high-volume personal injury law firm.

How IT supports personal injury success: A case study

Since its founding 30 years ago, Morgan & Morgan has grown into the largest personal injury law firm in the United States. The firm maintains offices in 33 cities in eight states. Most importantly, the firm enjoys a reputation for reaching high settlements and jury verdicts for injured victims in complex, high-stakes litigation, as well as for its high level of client satisfaction. How does a firm of this large size effectively litigate multiple complicated claims? One crucial factor is its technology system.

Integrated central platform

Morgan & Morgan reduced its five platforms into one unified platform. With everything in one place, the firm can now manage intake, client communications, task allocation, discovery, deadlines, scheduling, settlement negotiations, trial preparation, billing, and damages distribution in one integrated platform.

Using a comprehensive platform reduces time, costs, and the potential for mistakes and unnecessary task duplication. In a firm with multiple offices and hundreds of lawyers, an integrated central system is crucial to securely share information and create consistency.

Client intake and conversion

The greatest technology system in the world won’t do much good if the firm is losing clients at the door. Conversion is, therefore, one of the most important factors in a law firm’s ultimate success. Morgan & Morgan was able to increase its conversion rate by 35% from qualified call to client by using advanced screening and intake technology.

Case referrals and legal networking

Does a case present a conflict? Has a client asked for help on a legal issue the firm doesn’t handle or in a location outside the firm’s geographic scope? Would the case benefit from a partnering agreement with another attorney?

Choosing not to take a case should be viewed as an opportunity to build useful relationships within the legal community, while helping clients get the legal services they need. Through an integrated electronic referral network, Morgan & Morgan sent 25,000 active referrals to more than 500 law firms located throughout the nation in 2016.

Cost savings through process automation

An automated and streamlined system helps a firm do the best job possible for its clients, while cutting business expenses. Lawyers and support staff save valuable time once reserved for rote tasks that technology can now automate. Duplication doubled the expenses for a single matter, which adds up over time and across a large PI firm. Unrecorded expenses may never be billed and unintentionally absorbed by the firm. Process automation, therefore, translates into cost savings. For Morgan & Morgan, automated processes have saved the firm 20%.

Data analysis

Personal injury attorneys deal in facts and evidence, constantly relying on statistics to prove what happened, who is responsible and how much damages resulted. Why not do the same for the firm’s business operations?

Accurate, thorough data can be used to make well-informed decisions and then to measure whether those decisions had the impact the firm expected. Morgan & Morgan could see through hard statistics that its technology improved its conversion rates, increased efficiency, saved time and money, expanded its referral network, and enhanced its overall performance.

Get started: sophisticated technology for your personal injury firm

More and more PI firms are investing in sophisticated IT tools. But, what does a PI firm truly need? Modern PI firms have prioritized technology that increases efficiency, profits and client satisfaction. To do so, IT professionals often focus on building a centralized system that integrates key factors, like intake, case management, security, and analysis.

Intelligent intake

Intake serves two important functions. First, effective intake ensures the firm isn't turning away potentially lucrative cases nor accepting inappropriate cases that drain its valuable resources. Second, the firm can use the intake information to assign duties, allocate resources, and create case strategies. Litify's intelligent intake questionnaires provide a thorough, consistent system to start each case off on the right foot.

Case management and tracking

Who has done what and when? Has anything slipped through the cracks? What is the overall strategy? Where are the documents needed for the upcoming hearing? What happens if an attorney leaves the firm? Having a clear, central case maintenance system is important in any law firm. For a high-volume, deadline-driven personal injury law firm, it's essential. Litify delivers a uniform, central system that promotes efficient case management and tracking.

Cloud security

A data breach is a firm’s worst nightmare. Some firms have avoided using the cloud for fear of hacking or data loss. Unfortunately, these firms miss the many benefits that cloud technology offers. In fact, according to Gartner, cloud-based solutions that are managed properly are more secure than on-premise solutions. Litify is built on an enterprise-grade infrastructure, known for its data security. Our system keeps data secure while remaining easily accessible to authorized users.

Reports

A fully integrated system has the advantage of storing information all in one place. This not only makes working the case more efficient, but also makes analysis more accurate and easier. Litify provides valuable metrics and real-time insight into the full range of issues that affect a firm’s operations and performance.

The future of IT in PI

IT is rapidly changing. To remain competitive, personal injury law firms need to adopt new technology. This doesn’t mean firms should have to adapt to platforms that don’t meet their needs. Litify’s configurable Practice Management platform allow Managing Partners, CIOs, and COOs to build a system that's ideal for their firm. Or, in the event that a firm doesn’t have an IT department, the platform is user-friendly and comes with experienced technology support. Litify's customer success resources deliver responsive advice, training, and troubleshooting to IT professionals, attorneys, and support staff so attorneys can focus on their clients, not their technology.