Legal Professional Content | 5 min

How Legal Matter Management benefits Law Firms

April 7, 2021

blog

Legal matter management involves all the activities essential to storing and organising client details, documents, email correspondence, and all other information pertinent to a legal matter.

Prior to recent advancements in technology, legal matter management has always been a highly manual process - administrative employees spending hours in dedicated on-site filing rooms organising documents for easy retrieval by staff. With manual processes like this, how do firms ensure that all the information is captured and stored correctly each time? For many reasons, this manual process is no longer a viable option for modern law firms.

Practice management software with an effective legal matter management system will help take your efficiency, security and client service to the next level by digitising your matter management processes. LEAP's in-built legal matter management system not only tracks, manages and stores documents, but also facilitates remote access to all client matters when your staff are on the go, meeting with a client, or in court for the day.

With much of the workforce still participating in split working arrangements - spending time between working from home and coming into the office, it has never been more important for your staff to have around-the-clock access to their matters.

So, what are the main benefits your firm will see as a result of adopting effective legal matter management software?

Standardisation and transparency

Standardisation and transparency

It has never been more important to ensure greater levels of transparency in your law firm now that a scattered workforce has become somewhat normalised due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Having a disparate workforce could mean that processes to ensure consistency and standardisation in workflow are less likely to be followed when your staff are working from afar.

With LEAP's legal matter management system, manila folders are replaced with one centralised electronic matter. All your correspondence, documents, emails, forms and scans are automatically saved in a single, secure and searchable location - easily accessible to all staff.

LEAP also allows you to track changes that have been made to documents, when such changes were made and which staff member made them so that you can maintain a high standard of transparency. Wherever you may be, you'll get to view the most up-to-date version of your documents.

Efficiency

EfficiencyParamount to your firm's efficiency is being able to find the matters and documents that you require in a timely fashion. Without an effective legal matter management solution, it may take an unnecessary amount of time and effort to find what you're looking for.

With modern legal matter management software like LEAP, you can find the documents you're looking for in seconds with the in-built search functionality - no more rummaging through paper files. Seamlessly integrated with the Microsoft Office suite, you can also save documents or email correspondence from Word and Outlook to the corresponding matter in LEAP to save time.

Your efficient workflow doesn't need to stop when you step out of the office. With the LEAP Mobile App, you can experience seamless synchronisation with matters on your desktop while you're on the go. The LEAP Mobile App allows you to do more than review your matters - you can also securely create them from wherever you may be.

Document security

Document securitySome might argue that the digital storage of confidential documents is less secure than physically storing documents on-site due to concerns around cyber-security. These concerns can easily be alleviated by opting for a legal matter management software like LEAP that provides its users with the best in online security.

Being a cloud solution, LEAP software and all client data is stored on LEAP Servers, which are built on the AWS (Amazon Web Services) platform. AWS is one of the world's largest and most secure data storage providers. You can rest assured knowing that all of your clients' valuable documents are protected for safe-keeping and are impenetrable by hackers.

A cloud-based document management system means that your staff can also securely access documents when out of the office, 24/7. Digital storage of all matters and important documents alleviates the risk of on-site files being stolen, misplaced or simply lost in a sea of paper.

LEAP also seamlessly integrates with LawConnect - giving users a way to securely share, view, comment and sign documents online from a LEAP matter. Providing your clients with a fast and secure way to view and sign documents is just one way you can give your firm a competitive edge.

Collaboration and client service

Collaboration and client serviceWe're living in a customer centric world where a business model can completely collapse if systems aren't in place to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the services they're provided.

Leveraging an effective legal matter management solution is highly beneficial to your firm's client service. Why? Because you can easily share matter information and documents with your clients so that they remain up to date with the progress of their matter and can contribute where necessary. This will reduce the amount of incoming calls you receive from clients looking for an update.

As soon as you are contacted by a client, you will have all of their matter information and documents on hand to discuss - no matter where you may be at the time. Being readily armed with this information allows you to provide excellent client service. This kind of collaboration can increase the likelihood that your clients will be satisfied with your services and will refer you to friends and family.

Keep track of your time

Keep track of your timeSuccessful and profitable law firms are able to effectively capture their time spent working on matters - whether it be time spent reading emails, working on documents, or taking a phone call. Keeping on top of your billable time is easy with an effective legal matter management system that is equipped with in-built time recording.

With LEAP, you can automatically record time in the background while you're working on a matter. Once you've created a matter you can record time or fees in real time or retrospectively.

Summary

So, what does your firm stand to benefit from investing in practice management software with an in-built legal matter management system?

Recent advancements in legal technology have meant that firms can securely capture and store client information and documents.

The legal matter management system in LEAP not only tracks, manages and stores all your firm's documents, but also facilitates remote access to all client matters when your staff are on the go, meeting with a client, or in court. Digitisation of all your firm's matters and documents will take your firm's efficiency, security and client service to the next level.

With the rise of remote working, it has never been more important to ensure that your staff have around-the-clock access to their matters - access which LEAP provides your firm.

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