Maine Law Practice Management

Building and managing processes is the key to managing a successful business.  That includes law firm businesse s, by the way.  Even if attorneys have been reticent to adopt processes into their business models.     Processes are rooted in workflows – which are just aggregations of tasks .  Tasks within a workflow each need to be assigned to at least one individual .   Entire workflows can be managed via software tools, like productivity software, task management software and/or law practice management software – which means that lawyers don’t have to be overbearing micromanagers any longer .  Checking on the status of a case is as simple as logging in, and seeing which tasks are due -- which have been done, and which have not.   Law firms that use workflows tend to be more efficient, make fewer mistakes and offer their clients a more consistent customer experience.     But, what sort of workflows do you need ?  At least these f...

Despite what you hear, time never appears to be on your side.     And certainly, everyone is looking to maximize their time .  In terms of business management, that means that you’re always looking to inc rease the volume of cases you can take on, which you can do by increasing your utilization rate .   But, this all starts with achieving a level of personal efficiency, because: if you can’t be efficient yourself, it’s very difficult to ask others, including your staff and associates, to be more efficient than you are – you’ve got to be the leader, in that context.     So, if you’re struggling in becoming more efficient, here are three tips you can take to the bank:     (1) Wre stling with email is a significant time waster for most lawyers .   Lots of attorneys have thousands of emails in their inbox, which is impossible to manage .  And, it makes it seem like Inbox Zero is light years away .   But, even the gnarliest...