My “Big Idea” for the Big Ideas issue of Law Practice Magazine was a column titled The Law Firm Portal: A Must-Have Client Service Tool. I hope you can take the time to read it.
In all honesty perhaps the biggest idea today for solo and small firm lawyers (who have not already done so) is to work from digital client files, powered by practice management software which allows lawyers to securely communicate with clients via secure client portals and reduces the use of insecure email with clients.
Darla Jackson, Oklahoma Bar Association Practice Management Advisor, and I did a webcast for the American Bar Association called “Client Portals: Why Attorneys are Flocking to Them” earlier this year early this year. It is still available on demand.
Now the world has watched as hurricanes have destroyed and damaged many buildings in Texas and Florida. There really cannot be a better argument for preserving client information in a manner where it can be easily accessed to be used for the client’s benefit. In the even of a natural disaster, as soon as both the lawyer and the client locate electricity and an internet connection giving access to a cloud-based practice management system or portal provider, the law firm is operating and there are secure communications with the client, no matter who might be excluded from office or home.