The brilliant minds behind the NuLaw legal case management software application built their product with a keen understanding that case management is the undercurrent of the legal profession. How cases are managed from start to finish play the single biggest role in determining a law firm’s long-term success. A law firm that cannot manage its cases in a way that keeps clients happy is one that will be wanting for new clients before long.
Case management in a legal setting is a lot like the customer journey in a hospitality setting. As such, it is important that attorneys do not limit their understanding of case management just to what goes on in the courtroom. Good case management encapsulates everything from case acquisition to post settlement follow-up.
NuLaw’s legal case management application is built on the popular Salesforce CRM app. Salesforce was chosen because it provides the customer focus that makes it easy to translate customer journey into case management. When done properly, good case management produces the following less obvious benefits:
1.Determining the Optimal Amount of Work
Almost every case has a tipping point at which diminished returns become a concern. At this point, the attorney has to consider whether or not doing additional work on a case will result in any tangible benefit. Likewise, good case management helps attorneys figure out the optimal amount of work for each case by looking at relevant data from past cases.
This benefit is obviously not understood early on in the adoption of new case management strategies. But over time, data makes things easier. Good case management leads to optimal work management over the long haul.
2. More Refined Discovery Strategies
E-discovery is one of the best things to have happened to the law industry in generations. It gives attorneys and law firms greater access to more resources and an exponentially larger amount of information. But simply gathering information isn’t necessarily better. A good case management application utilizes artificial intelligence to create an e-discovery process that is gradually more refined over time. Better discovery makes for better litigation.
3. Better Financial Management
Pricing structures and billable hours are two big concerns in the business side of law. Firms have to generate enough revenues to pay the bills. Revenues have to be commensurate with billable hours to guarantee a high enough profit margin. Good case management facilitates both.
A case management tool that combines billing and accounting with all the other aspects of case management gives attorneys, their staff members, and everyone else in the office all the information they need at their fingertips. Everything from pricing to billable hours is easier to understand thanks to advanced reporting, which ultimately leads to better financial management.
4. Improved Case Acquisition
Good case management doesn’t start with the first billable hour produced by an attorney. It actually starts way back in the acquisition stage. Indeed, this is where so many law firms drop the ball. They treat case acquisition as separate from everything else in the office. It is not, nor should it be viewed that way.
Case acquisition is as important to overall case management as litigation and settlement. When case acquisition is managed with a state-of-the-art case management solution, new cases are compiled and delivered on a continual basis. This ensures that a firm is always busy.
Good case management is a combination of software, strategy, and practice. Get it right and a law firm will prosper even during less than optimal economic conditions. Get it wrong and a firm may find itself struggling year after year.
Nicola Holder 