COVID-19 has compelled many law firms to move their practice and the team that runs it to a remote setting. Some firms had already taken the leap to a remote team and or virtual firm prior to COVID-19. Whatever the situation, I know with certainty these firms have experienced a great deal of dissociation from their prior day-to-day operations as a result of the transition.

Coming from an in-firm paralegal and management background, I transitioned to the remote freelancing paralegal world in 2018. Since that time, I have encountered dozens and dozens of law firms seeking virtual and contracted paralegal services, all using a unique approach to the virtual world. I have also transitioned into managing and running my own team, encountering communication and efficiency hiccups along the way.

We all know of Zoom and cloud based filing. Below are some of my most effective and useful tools you maybe haven’t heard of that I have come to deeply appreciate over the past two years in running a virtual team:

1. VOXER

I was introduced to Voxer by one of my clients and it has absolutely changed the way my team communicates for the better. One of the most crucial benefits that a firm loses upon moving their team to a remote setting is the lack of ability to verbally ask quick questions. To replace that well known and appreciated open communication we experience in the office, Zoom is too over the top and texting or emails become too time consuming and confusing.

Voxer is absolutely the answer. Voxer is an application you can download that turns your phone into an electronic walkie talkie. Since my team has started using Voxer, we can enjoy that effective and useful ability of quick verbal communications as we would walking past one another’s office.

2. SHIFT

For those of you that have multiple online platforms you use to manage your firm, Shift is an incredible time and clutter saver. Shift is a desktop app that allows you to centralize all of your important platforms such as Gmail, Clio, Slack, DropBox, etc. There are thousands of apps available for use within Shift. You can also have your court websites, research platforms, accounting software, and more on this app. For those freelancers out there managing multiple firm email addresses, you can have numerous Gmail accounts signed in, allowing you to toggle through and have real time notifications.

As the name says, you can Shift through all of your platforms with ease, eliminating multiple open screens.

3. CALENDLY

If your team is trying to schedule consultations, client meetings, or mediations for you, Calendly is a great option to have your availability accessible at all times. Although I am sure your assistant has access to your firm calendar, I hear it frequently from my attorneys that their staff is not great about avoiding scheduling meetings on your errand days, your days to stay home with the kids for homeschooling, or simply not accounting for your travel times.

You can set up Calendly to only allow scheduling during times and days that are acceptable to you without clouding up your calendar with blocks. Calendly will sync with your calendar in real time and update your availability accordingly.

4. HELLO SIGN

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For documents that allow electronic signature, HelloSign is absolutely wonderful. It is self-explanatory, but this has cut back on mailing and post office runs, back and forth scanning, and promotes better efficiency and clarity within your remote team.

5. SLACK OR GOOGLE CHAT

Within platforms such as Slack or Google Chat, you can have conversations in different “channels” or “threads” set up in whatever way is efficient for you. I personally find that creating a separate thread for each client matter is the best approach to keep the conversations relevant and centralized for access. In fact, I used this type of platform even when I was full time in-office.

I encourage all of my clients and my team to try to eliminate the use of email as much as possible. Conversations get lost in threads, someone forgets to copy a relevant participant on the matter, and a cluttered email inbox leads to stress and lack of clarity on priorities.

6. GURU

Guru was introduced to me by an attorney client that has, hands down, the most efficient and thorough processes in place I have ever seen in a law firm. Guru is a website that allows you to make index cards for your teams reference. This is a great tool for storing information such as practice guideline links, law firm policy and procedures, court-specific requirements, general firm and attorney information and more. The sky is the limit and it is absolutely wonderful to have a centralized area everyone in the firm can access information. This is also a great tool to have for purposes of new hires.

If you find yourself repeatedly answering the same questions, catching the same errors, etc., Guru is an absolute solution for you.

7. TASK AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Task and project management is huge for running an efficient and profitable business and shouldn’t be overlooked. A firm, on any given day, should know exactly what their teams’ workload looks like and where they may need to adjust and reprioritize. It is also a clear and dry way of seeing if you need to bring in a contracted paralegal to offload some big deadlines approaching. Law firms waste countless hours that could be otherwise billable time simply because they do not have an efficient project management system in place.

I personally use Asana for my task delegation because that is what works best for my team. There are many options out there such as Teamwork, Monday, Wrike, and many others. It all comes down to each individual persons’ viewing preference. I would highly recommend to choose a platform that allows for calendar viewing of tasks, the ability to communicate and share documents within a task, sub tasks, and limited viewing features.

Many firms also use software geared at law firms such as Clio, MyCase, Rocketmatter, Practice Panther and Smokeball (to name a few). I personally find that for purposes of project management, software not exclusively marketed to law firms are more cost effective and overall better for all intents and purposes.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you are finding your firms’ productivity failing at the hands of inefficient systems, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for a law firm management rebuild. We bring senior level paralegal experience and years of virtual work experience to help bring better processes to your team. We have learned through our experience that law firm management isn’t a “one size fits all” application. Your firm and those who run it are unique and requires a custom approach to efficient management that will work for YOU.

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read full privacy policy here.“

Our Top 7 Tools for Managing a Remote Law Firm