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Role Models: To Better Ensure Data Security, Check Your User Permissions

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Every law firm owner is aware that outside actors can breach data, and cause a host of problems.  Hackers are the bogeyman, in this situation .  And so, much concern is spent over password management , encryption and email scams , including ransomware and phishing.     But, to have a truly effective data security program, law firms also need to consider the access that internal staff enjoys .  An under - covered segment of most data protection laws is that those laws also require that internal users only have access to the data that they need to have access to to perform their jobs.     So, ask yourself: Does your paralegal need access to your financial data ?  Must your bookkeeper have full access to your case files ?  For screening purposes, should certain lawyers be barred from viewing certain case files?   That’s just a smattering of potential queries you could make, but the overarching idea is that you should look at each person in your organization, and ask what information
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Pick Up Line: There Are Lots of Different Ways to Manage Reception in a Modern Law Firm

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Speed of response and engagement is essential for starting legal consumers on the client journey .  If you don’t get to your leads quickly, you won’t have a chance to close them .  So, it’s important that, if someone calls your law firm, you pick up . . . or, have someone pick up for you .  That’s in part because 64% of law firms voicemails are never returned.     But, most lawyers aren’t picking up the phones on their own .  And, traditionally, the answer for that was that the law firm would hire a receptionist, who s a t in the exact same, physical space every day, while answer ed phone calls on the same , exact phone .  But now , you’ve got more options.     You can still hire a full-time, traditional legal secretary or receptionist, who can sit at a desk and pick up the phone , sure .  But, VoIP phone systems can be used from any internet-ready device .  So, you could have that person work outside the office .  And, if you didn’t want to hire an employee to do this
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Pay It Forward: How to Incentivize Attorneys and Staff Beyond Salary

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Many law firm owners are comfortable just paying out a salary .  And, that can work, for sure .  But, if you want to drive revenue within your law firm, it makes sense to look at bonusing attorneys and staff in ways that will incentivize your employees to generate or close more cases for the firm, which will lead to additional revenue. Obviously, this is a bit easier for attorney staff, since lawyers can share fees with each other, which makes it easier to create a direct incentive plan .  But, for staff , you can bonus them without sharing fees, including for converting clients from leads, for example, by doing things like offering a $50 bonus for each lead closed, potentially in a certain time frame .   This is the same method that lead generation services use to get paid by law firms, without sharing fees.     But, the place that law firm owners can really make money here is by using origination fees to bonus their attorney staff .  Law firms can provide a percentage share for
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