Processes are the backbone of your law office. They are the systems that get things done on a daily basis. Without them, your practice could not provide quality legal representation and sustain itself. But what if your processes could be improved? What if a bit of tweaking and changing could help you provide even better client services while increasing firm profits?
To streamline a system means to make it more efficient and effective through the implementation of work methods that are easier and quicker to employ. This post is all about the ways that Legal Project Management (LPM) can help streamline your firm’s processes for the benefit of the practice and your clients. In case you haven’t heard of LPM before, I’ll start with an explanation of what it entails.
What is Legal Project Management
Even if you aren’t familiar with LPM, you have probably heard of project management before. It involves the breakdown of individual projects into various stages for better organization and administration of each step.
Project management has become a staple of numerous industries, including construction, IT, and healthcare. Now, it’s gaining traction within the legal community.
LPM takes these same principals and uses them to better manage legal matters within a law firm. Instead of working your way through each new case as it comes, you develop an organized system for handling similar matters. With LPM, your firm’s processes are streamlined, helping you to improve client services and increase firm profitability.
Efficient and Effective Processes
Planning it out
The key to successful LPM is planning. Effective project management requires you to consider the necessary components for reaching the overall goal and determine the best direction for implementation. If you have worked on similar matters in the past, the work is essentially done for you. Just take a little time to review those cases for key tasks and the amount of time it took to complete them.
If you are working in a practice area that is new to you, the planning stage may take a little longer – but it will be worth it. Taking the time to analyze the process now will result in a more streamlined workflow that can benefit your practice for years to come.
Fixed Fee Billing
Planning also allows you to expand your firm’s billing capabilities. The use of fixed fee arrangements has skyrocketed within the legal industry, but some firms are still hesitant to get on board due to uncertainties about adequately setting these fee amounts. With LPM, you can confidently offer fixed fee services because you have done the work to ensure the matter’s profitability.
Attorneys often quote a fixed fee without a clear understanding of what the case will actually entail. LPM gives you the tools to honestly evaluate the necessary steps of a matter, so you can provide a quote that is well thought-out and inclusive of all tasks necessary to complete the case.
Client Services
One of the biggest benefits of LPM is the positive effect that it has on client interactions with your practice. Effective project plans consider the client’s wants, then apply the firm’s capabilities for successful completion of the matter. With LPM, you can foster effective ongoing attorney-client relationships through:
- Fixed fees that establish a comprehensive budget, so there are no billing surprises on the backend for the client
- A timeline for task completion and assurance that the case is reasonably moving forward
- Communication ahead of time about expectations and open lines of communication throughout the case
Streamlining your firm’s processes with LPM could mean happy clients, favorable referrals, and repeat business.
Efficiency Equals Profits
Increased efficiency often leads to increased profits. With an effective LPM plan, your efforts are consistently promoting increased profitability in a number of ways:
- Proactive calculation of fees allows you to thoughtfully consider all task and time needed to complete a matter
- Periodic project reviews help identify potential delays and roadblocks before they cause delays in the case
- Regular reviews allow you to determine what aspects of the project are negatively affecting the profit margin
- By having independent steps within the matter, you can make timely changes before the work exceeds the allotted budget
Each of these safeguards, when implemented correctly, can result in higher profits for your firm.
Easier and Quicker Methods
Successful LPM requires a software that helps you implement your overall projects, as well as the individual tasks, in a quick and easy manner. The developers at TimeSolv have been working on LPM for years. They’ve used their knowledge and innovation to create a platform that seamlessly handles your LPM needs while providing your firm with the tools to make project management happen with little extra effort.
With Time Solv’s LPM capabilities, you can:
- Easily break each matter into specific tasks
- Assign timekeepers to each task
- Define budgets for each timekeeper to complete the task
- Establish critically
- Use tracking features to monitor how much time each task is taking
- Provide firm management with oversight tools for adequate monitoring of the project’s progress
- Identify areas of concern and address them in real time
- Place time and billing limits on individual project members
- Gain insight into the best methods of increasing profitability for similar matters in the future.
- Promote the best use of your resources
- Leverage the knowledge gained during a project by repeating the same plan with greater efficiency
Your Firm Needs LPM
A comprehensive project management system streamlines your firm’s processes, making them more effective, efficient, and profitable. LPM helps your practice work smarter to efficiently handle cases, instead of wasting time and resources on unnecessary tasks. It also allows you to confidently offer fixed fee billing alternatives, with the assurance that the quoted fee adequately covers your attorneys’ time and efforts. Click here to learn how TimeSolv provides you with the tools you need to implement LPM and streamline your law office.
About Erika Winston:
Erika Winston is a freelance writer with a passion for law. Through her business, The Legal Writing Studio, she helps legal professionals deliver effective written messages. Erika is a regular contributor to TimeSolv and a variety of other publications.