Blog: Stop Making Mistakes that are Costing Your Firm Money

At Faster Law, we work with thousands of firms of all different shapes and sizes.  We see firms that run efficiently and we see firms that waste money by being inefficient.  Our hope is that this article helps your firm follow best practices in a number of different areas that can save you money.

If you bought a brand new, never been opened, hot off the press iPhone 3, do you really have a new iPhone?  It might be newly manufactured but everything in it is at least 12 years old.  Computers are the same way.  We've seen plenty of $500/hr attorneys who have bought their paralegal a $300 computer from Walmart and then wondered why the new computer was so slow - it is because it was a brand new, old computer.  If you're on the market for a new computer, we recommend that you get a business class machine.

Some firms have a cloud server that remotely connect to and work from.  In nearly all cases, when we see a firm using a terminal server, instead of having a garbage PC in their own office, they're essentially paying extra so they can have a garbage PC in someone else's office.  Don't make that mistake.  Use business class PCs in your own office.

Windows Defender provides great security and is a free part of Windows 10, but whether you choose Windows Defender, MacAfee, Norton, AVG, or some other antivirus vendor, everyone in the office should use the same one and updates should be enabled.

We recently met an attorney who had four different antivirus apps installed on his PC: 1 was disabled and 3 were running but had updates disabled.  All of this extra "security" was just slowing down his PC and actually resulted in even less security.

If you talk to any firm that has tried to use a VPN, they'll tell you two things: it was expensive and it didn't work when they needed it to.  Instead of using a VPN, use TeamViewer.  It is rock solid and free for most scenarios.

If you're not happy with your IT guy, or you're constantly having problems, get a new guy.  We've actually heard IT guys say "We try really hard not to fix anything because that takes money out of our pocket."  That is the wrong guy to work with!

Nobody pays for long distance anymore!  Even international calling is relatively cheap.  If you have a toll-free number, you're paying extra for no reason.  Even most giant international law firms have completely eliminated toll-free numbers.

Clients love the human touch but some firms incorrectly understand what the human touch is.  Before reading this next section, we want to help correct a common misunderstanding.

Clients do not want to talk to just any human - they want to talk to a human that can help them.  

Some firms have their main phone number ring directly to a receptionist who they are paying to answer the phone - constantly.  When the receptionist is busy, on the phone, or at lunch, then they have the phone calls roll over to an answering service who they have to pay even more to answer their calls.  This is inefficient because you're basically paying a lot of money for human voicemail.

The best run law firms have a call tree that looks something like this:
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Thank you for calling the Law Offices of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

If you are looking for a new lawyer, press 1.
If you would like to speak to our receptionist, press 2.

To leave a call-back message for John, press 701
For Jacob, press 702
For Jingleheimer, press 703
and for Schmidt, press 704
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As hinted at above, your employees should have direct extensions that clients can use to reach them.  This makes it easier on your customers and makes your firm run more efficiently.

Some firms have email and website addresses with names like @JohnJacobJingleheimerSchmidtPllcNevada.com .  This is a terrible name because it is:
1.  Very long
2.  Hard to spell
3.  Has the partner's names in it

Law firms dissolve and reform all the time.  It is best to use a short name like "NvDivorce.com" or "TheNevadaLawyers.com" - something that is short and easy to spell and has no reference to any partner.

Is your email address JohnScholowski@... or MaribethHorowitz@... ?  Imagine trying to spell one of those over the phone - plus - there may be multiple valid spells that someone can confuse (Mary Beth vs Maribeth).  Consider shortening them to JS@... or MH@...   If you have multiple people with the same initials, add a middle initial or a number.

When John Scholowski leaves your firm, don't delete his JS@ email address - instead redirect it to someone else in your office who serves a similar role.  If someone emails that old address, you'll be able properly respond and maybe even get a new client or two out of the mix.

There are many apps such as Wix, Calendly, and Clio Scheduler that make it possible for people to view your calendar and book a time to talk.  Scheduling software will save you a ton of time and give your customers (and other attorneys) a much better experience working with you.

A good email signature needs the following pieces of information:
1.  Your Name
2.  Your Direct Phone Number (including Extension)
3.  Your Scheduling Link

A good email signature would look something like this:
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John Scholowski - Client Intake Specialist
555-555-5555 x 701
Schedule an Appointment with Me
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It doesn't matter whether your firm uses Word or Word Perfect, everyone should use the same version of the same app.  It doesn't matter whether your firm uses Adobe PDF or Foxit PDF, again, everyone should use the same version of the same app!

This will cut down on maintenance costs and help ensure that everyone in your firm is running the same way.

Good companies want you to love using their software so they're going to put together great resources to help you have an awesome experience.  When someone doesn't go to their training, they're missing out on opportunities to do things faster and more efficient.

As an example, sometimes we talk to new firms who are just starting out on Clio and are having a really rough time with in.  In every case - every single case - the people who are having a hard time fit into one of these categories:
1.  They believed they were too busy to go to the training
2.  They believed they were smart enough they didn't need the training
3.  They scheduled training but then didn't actually attend

If you are too busy to attend the training, you shouldn't be using the software because you also don't have time to ask for help when you don't know how to use it.

Whether it is Document Templates, Faster Snippets, or something else, always be willing to make that up-front investment in automation so you can completely eliminate some type of work.