ATL APP: Panel & Workshop Lessons

Here are 10 key lessons for lawyers on technology, document storage, and billing.

As part of ATL’s 2015 Academy for Private Practice (APP) event on Friday, October 2, private practice attorneys ran panels and workshops offering advice for solo and small-firm practitioners in terms of technology, document storage, and billing. Here are 10 key lessons taken away from two of those panels and workshops.

Break The Bottleneck: Managing Workflow

Nicole Black, Moderator – Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase and Contributor to ATL

Carolyn Elefant – Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant and Contributor to ATL 

Jennifer Ellis – Injury Attorney at Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C.  

Jared Correia – Assistant Director and Senior Law Practice Advisor at LOMAP

1. Establish a reliable system from Day 1 of your solo practice when there is time to implement different technologies with a small caseload.

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2. Engage systematic planning techniques to avoid ethical discrepancies and potential disciplinary procedures.

3. Take advantage of cloud-based resources to create an efficient billing system that will appease clients and avoid work-flow disruptions.

4.  Implementing the right technology resources for your firm is critical for securing caseloads and encrypting client files.

5. The number one ethics complaint from clients is a lack of communication from their attorney. Consult the bar association for recommended ethical practices.

Running the Ethical Law Office: Workshop With Claude Ducloux

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Claude Ducloux is a Board certified, Austin-based attorney serving a wide variety of legal needs, including general counsel service, civil litigation, appeals, family law, contract, administrative work before State agencies, and services the legal community with a widely used mediation and arbitration practice.

1. Keep in contact with your client, make them feel valued, and avoid any feelings of neglect on their part.

2. Assess every potential client and whether taking on their case is prudent business for your firm.

3. Never underestimate fees — the client will always remember the lowest fee you quote. Document the fee agreement in writing!

4. Treat every client like you are going to live next door to them. Always be honest with them and never sue the client.

5.Remember the 4 duties of legal practice you are bound to uphold:

  • To the client;
  • To your opposing counsel;
  • To the administration of justice; and
  • To yourself.

The ATL APP 2016 National Conference will be held on September 15–16, 2016, in Philadelphia. Click here to register at the Super-Early Bird Rate of $49.

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