Small Law Firms, Technology

You Are Probably Asking Yourself The Wrong Legal Technology Questions

Here's the question you should be asking yourself, according to tech columnist Jeff Bennion.

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question marks questioning wonderingAre you missing the boat if you don’t have a technology-infused law practice? Is your practice going to dry up and disappear if you don’t have the latest cloud practice-management solution? Are you worried that you are still practicing law like it’s 2007 and saving files to a local server? Are you worried that you don’t have a law firm Instagram and Snapchat account?

As lawyers, we face a lot of legal technology questions. There is no doubt that the practice of law has changed in the last 10 years, but there is also no doubt that the fundamental core of the practice of law has stayed the same and will be the same for a long time. You will need to think on your feet and work hard and know the law and market and find clients and cross-examine witnesses. The only thing that has changed is how we do these things. So, the only question you should be asking yourself is, “Can I do this more efficiently?”

It Doesn’t Matter What You Do

It is impossible to give one piece of advice for all areas of law. I’ve written articles about trial presentation and jury focus-group tools and I get responses from people that say, “Totally pointless for my family law practice. Thanks.” Personal injury lawyers find clients in different ways from corporate formation lawyers. But, none of these things matter. Certainly, while tips on how to win over juries don’t help you if you don’t do jury trials, there are technology shortcuts that can help you, whether it’s using websites or social media to market, using technology to go paperless, or using software to manage and organize your client contact list.

There is something out there to make you work more efficiently. Here’s how you find out what it is: Figure out where you are lacking or where you are wasting your time. If you are wasting a lot of time and money on file storage solutions, for example, someone has probably built a better tool for that.

It Doesn’t Matter How Successful You Are

I talk to a lot of attorneys who say, “I don’t need to change anything. I’m already very successful.” Even if that’s true, again, it’s the wrong question. The question is not whether you are already doing a good job. The question is whether you can do better. Will it save you money to invest in an autoreceptionist? Will you get better clients if you run a Facebook ad campaign or use technology to present your case at trial?

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What Can You Do About It?

The problem is two-fold: Knowing what is out there and then learning how to adopt the technology that makes sense for your practice. This Thursday and Friday, we are going to be putting on our second annual Academy for Private Practice in Philadelphia to discuss the tools that are available for your practice and how to use them. On Thursday night, I will be speaking on a panel with Bob Ambrogi about separating the hype from reality in your law practice. On Friday, I will be sharing cybersecurity tips and hints and explaining how you can safely store your confidential client files in the cloud. Friday is going to be an all-day event with various sessions on how to leverage the best tools to grow your practice. If you are in Philadelphia or within a plane ride from Philadelphia, come check it out. The full agenda is here. The registration link is here.

Jeff Bennion is a solo practitioner at the Law Office of Jeff Bennion. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of San Diego’s plaintiffs’ trial lawyers association, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego. He is also the Education Chair and Executive Committee member of the State Bar of California’s Law Practice Management and Technology section. He is a member of the Advisory Council and instructor at UCSD’s Litigation Technology Management program. His opinions are his own. Follow him on Twitter here or on Facebook here, or contact him by email at jeff@trial.technology.

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