Small Law Firms, Solo Practitioners, Technology

Today's Tech: Tips On Going Paperless, Outsourcing, And Law Firm Succession

Here's some food for thought and practical advice from industry experts on the usefulness of technology for solos and small law firms.

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Digital TechnologyTwo weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking at the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Solo and Small Firm conference in New Orleans. It’s a great conference and if you’re a Louisiana attorney and have never been, you’ll have to make sure to attend next year.

While there, I took the opportunity to catch up with a few of the speakers and we discussed a variety of issues that lawyers encounter when running their solo and small law firms. From outsourcing and paperless law offices to law firm succession and retirement, these experts provided lots of food for thought and practical advice.

First, I spoke with Ernie Svenson, aka “Ernie the Attorney.”  Ernie is a New Orleans attorney who provides legal technology consulting for lawyers, with an emphasis on helping lawyers embrace a paperless law office. During the interview, Ernie explained what it means to be a “paperless law firm,” offered his opinion on which is the best scanner for solo and small law firms, and shared tips to help law firms embark on a paperless practice.

Next, I interviewed Catherine Sanders Reach, the Director of Law Practice Management and Technology for the Chicago Bar Association and former Director at the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Resource Center.  Catherine shared that as Baby Boomer lawyers age and look toward retirement, they are increasingly asking her more questions about preparing their law firms for the future. She offered advice on taking steps to implement a succession plan, emphasized the importance of making technology choices that will stand the test of time, and recommended creating easy-to-use workflow processes that can be shared and handed down to other lawyers in the firm.

And last, but not least, I caught up with Andrew Legrand, a New Orleans attorney who provides legal services to small businesses and whom I featured in a prior column here. Andrew talked to me about how he uses outsourcing in his solo law practice to allow him to better serve his clients. According to Andrew, by utilizing outsourcing services selectively, he’s able to focus on practicing law, not running his law practice. Andrew offered lots of useful examples as to how he uses outsourcing in his practice and also shared tips on which tasks to considering outsourcing and where to find the right people for the job.

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Niki BlackNicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter at@nikiblack and she can be reached at niki.black@mycase.com.

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