Managing Small Law Firms
A small law firm can be a great place to start your career. You get to work with other people and learn from them, but you also have the opportunity to make a big impact in the community. However, there are some challenges that come with this type of firm. We’ve gathered advice from experts on how to manage a small law firm so that it’s not just sustainable but also successful over time.
Manage your time
Time is a finite and valuable resource, and it’s important to manage it as efficiently as possible. The first step in this process is setting priorities and scheduling time to work on each priority. Nowadays there are some cloud-based CRMs (like RunSensible) that offer project management to help you prioritize your tasks. The idea behind this is that if you don’t have a good handle on what needs doing, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds and spend all day running from one task to another without ever making any progress. With a project management system, however, you can create a list of tasks that need doing, then assign each one an appropriate amount of time based on its importance or difficulty level (for example 10 minutes per day).
Then set aside those blocks of time during which you’ll focus exclusively on that task or project with no interruptions. Once you’ve finished your block(s), move on to something else (for example answering emails). You can also track the time spent on each task or matter to bill your client and see how long it takes you to get things done. This is very important if you’re billing your clients by the hour. It also helps you manage your time better and work more efficiently.
Keep up with technology
Technology is an important part of running a law firm. If you’re not using technology, it can be difficult to stay up to date with the latest legal news and trends. For example, if you were going through an employee dispute at your firm, would you rather have access to all the relevant case law and statutes on hand or have to go searching for them?
The same goes for client communication; email has become one of the most common ways people communicate these days. it’s easy for clients who are used to emailing friends and family members about personal/professional matters will expect that kind of quick response from their lawyer as well. Legal automation can be a big help in improving how you manage your law firm.
Solicit feedback
You must solicit feedback from your peers and colleagues, as well as from clients, staff, and other people in your life.
- Ask for feedback from your peers. The best way to do this is by inviting them out for lunch or dinner periodically so that you can pick their brains about how they run their firms and what they wish they had done differently early on. You may also consider joining industry groups where you can meet other lawyers who share similar interests and goals as yours; these groups often hold events where members can get together outside of work hours to discuss matters related to running a small law firm like yours.
- Ask for feedback from clients who have worked with you before. Ask them whether they were happy with the outcome of their case or not! This will give you an idea of what you could do better next time around with each client’s situation.”
Stay Organized
Organization is one of the most important things you can do as a small law firm owner, and it will make your life easier in every way. Organization helps you save time by ensuring that everything has its place, which means that when someone asks for something or needs something done, they don’t have to hunt around for it! It also gives you something productive to focus on during your day-to-day activities instead of wasting time looking for things that have been misplaced or lost. When you’re organized, you can make better decisions because you know exactly where everything is at all times; this includes knowing what clients need from you next so you aren’t scrambling at the last minute because someone forgot about an upcoming court date or deposition date.
If you’re looking for a way to keep your schedule organized, try using an online calendar with multiple features. It can help you manage tasks, appointments, and even emails all in one place and with the ability to sync across devices automatically without having to enter anything manually twice (or more often than not three times if there are changes made after initial inputting takes place because no one has ever heard of “backing up” data before sending it somewhere else).
As an example RunSensible calendar allows you to share your free time with your clients so they can schedule their appointments with you. It will also send automatic reminders to the client and yourself. It also has a notes section so that you can keep track of important things about each appointment such as what type of massage you are doing, what the client’s preferences are, and anything else that might be useful to have at your fingertips. It also has a calendar view where you can see all your appointments for the day or week at once (as well as their notes). The feature-rich software is flexible enough to allow businesses of all sizes and types to customize their calendars, making it one of the most useful online tools (cloud-based software) for running an efficient business today.
Hire and train your staff well
Hiring and training your staff well is the most important thing you can do to ensure that your firm runs smoothly. Here are some tips:
- Make sure you hire people who are a good fit for your firm. You’ll want to make sure that they have the skills and experience required, but also make sure they’re someone who will mesh well with the rest of your team. If there are any personality conflicts, it will be very difficult for everyone involved if one person doesn’t get along with another or if two people don’t see eye-to-eye on things like how cases should be handled or how much time should be spent on each client’s needs.
- Set clear expectations for all new hires. It may seem obvious, but many small law firms fail at this step because they assume their expectations will simply become clear through osmosis over time without actually communicating them clearly from day one. This is especially important when it comes down to using technology; many new lawyers don’t know how certain programs work or even what programs exist within their firms’ offices. These things must get addressed immediately so there’s no ambiguity.
Communicate with clients and peers effectively
In addition to being responsive to clients, you should also be clear about your expectations. Communicating clearly and effectively is an essential part of managing a small law firm.
Here are some tips for communicating with clients:
- Use email, phone, and in-person communication methods whenever possible. The best way to communicate with a client is by using all three methods at once! You can’t rely on one mode alone. You need all three as backup plans if one method fails for any reason.
- Make sure you are clear about what kind of response time is acceptable before sending out essential emails or making calls on behalf of your firm’s clients; otherwise they may get frustrated when they don’t hear back from you right away.
Managing a small firm is easier than you think!
Managing a small law firm can be challenging, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. You just need to follow some simple rules and make sure that you’re staying organized, up-to-date with technology, and getting feedback from clients and peers. Here are some tips:
- Time management is key. You’ll want to make sure that you’re keeping track of all of your cases so that they don’t fall through the cracks or get forgotten about altogether!
- Lawyers in small firms need to stay organized because there isn’t always someone else around who can help out when things get busy; so it helps if everyone knows what their responsibilities are at all times. And speaking of responsibilities
Use Online Tools
If you work in a small firm and there isn’t anyone else around who can help out when things get busy, then it’s important to stay organized. You’ll want to make sure that all of your cases are kept up-to-date so that they don’t fall through the cracks or get forgotten about altogether. Online CRM tools can help with this, as they allow lawyers in small firms to easily manage their workloads while staying organized. Since RunSensible is specifically designed for lawyers you can count on it to handle all your case management needs. It has many features that will help you stay organized, including:
- Automated client intake forms
- Case tracking and reporting
- Customizable templates
- Easy collaboration with the RunSensible team.
The Best part is that it offers a Free Trial to all users, so you can see for yourself just how much easier it makes your workload.
Conclusion
We hope you found this article helpful and informative. Managing a small law firm is a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be as difficult as it seems. With these tips and tricks from experts in the field, we hope that you can take some of the pressure off yourself by learning how other successful law firms manage their time and resources effectively. You can read more articles on our blog if you’re interested.
FAQ
Do I need management education to run my own law firm?
Eventhough running a law firm can have its difficulties, managing your staff and clients will be a breeze when using the right CRM tool.
What can Runsensible offer as an online CRM tool?
Runsensible is the all-in-one Legal practice CRM tool that covers from time management to client communication options. Here’s a detailed article about the benefits of using Runsensible.
What about billing?
There is no need to worry about billing clients when you’re using Runsensible; since it’s integrated with an automated billing software.
