Turning Chaos Into Clarity

When using the right legal tech…

Is anyone else walking around in a haze like “what the heck is going on”?

Everything is moving so fast these days, coming at us at a thousand miles an hour. It kind of feels like a new chaos has entered the scene afresh at the start of every new day. Like “surprise” something else for you to manage.

It’s chaos all around us.

Social media marketing, print marketing, budgets, document management, clients, client relationship management, case management, research, telephone calls, consultations, traffic, noise, noise, noise, papers everywhere, obligations.

Life is chaos pure and simple.

And it’s hard to catch a break, let alone catch your breath.

Where do you even begin when it feels like your tank is running on empty, your desk is the site of a nuclear fall-out, your diary is chock-a-block full of appointments, new clients to meet and shmooze, old clients to keep in touch with and put minds at ease. In between you need to get work done, but drafting pleadings from scratch is the last thing you feel like doing – so much paperwork (and you still need to file old summonses that have been served).

And before you can even think clearly your day starts and you need to take a deep breath. You see, our brains process our daily situations so very differently, and sometimes, too quickly because we are trained to keep moving, keep looking, keep driving, keep scheduling…keep keep keep up with the chaos.

There’s no time to waste when time is money.

But that was before legal tech entered the fray.

Turning Chaos into Clarity

The legal industry has been inundated with an exponential increase in document volumes. Contracts, agreements, court filings, patents, intellectual property documents, legal research, compliance paperwork, etc ad nauseum flood lawyers’ desks daily.

This surge in documents, combined with the complexity of ever-evolving regulatory requirements, creates a pressing need for streamlined processes that reduce manual effort, minimise errors, and ensure compliance.

And none of that even touches on the notion of data. Every organisation—big or small—is swimming in data. Law firms (especially) handle vast amounts of data on a daily basis and without a clear plan to manage it, this valuable asset can quickly turn into a chaotic liability.

But more chaos is something that the legal professional doesn’t need.

Legal tech and the support that it offers – like that of AJS – can take the tumultuous world of social media marketing, print marketing, budgets, document management, clients, client relationship management, case management, research, telephone calls, consultations, traffic, noise, noise, noise, papers everywhere, obligations, and data and turn them into clarity.

Into cool heads, clear desks, easy breezy meetups, catch-ups and check-ins, a simple click of a button here, a drag of a mouse there and a document is drafted. Simply put, legal tech can take all that humdrum and turn it into harmony, allowing legal professionals to –

1.   Locate documents at the click of a button – find the specific documents needed in seconds, eliminating the need for time-consuming and frustrating searches.

2.   Improve productivity – reduce the time spent on labour-intensive menial tasks, freeing up time for more strategic and high-value tasks.

3.   Prevent clerical errors – ensure that the correct documents are used for each case, minimising the risk of errors and oversights.

4.   Comply with legal requirements – maintain documents in accordance with record retention laws and regulations, protecting the firm from fines and penalties.

5.   Enhance collaboration – facilitate document sharing among colleagues and teams, promoting effective communication and teamwork.

6.   Improve data management – by using legal tech to manage data better, ensuring that data is securely stored and managed, proper data governance allows for the improvement of productivity; and obtaining clear answers in order to make faster decisions.

By investing in an effective legal accounting and practice management system you are making a strategic decision that benefits both yourself as a legal professional and your clients. By efficiently organising, classifying, storing, and automating your documents, reports, and billing, you can:

1.   Deliver high-quality legal services – with quick and accurate access to documents, professionals can offer their clients a more efficient and effective legal service.

2.   Reduce costs – efficient document management can reduce costs associated with lost documents, reworking, and improper filing.

3.   Increase client satisfaction – clients satisfied with fast and efficient legal services are more likely to return and recommend the firm to others.

How AJS can help streamline your workflow

AJS is perfectly positioned to assist you turning your chaotic mess into a serenade of working wonderous delight with the following helpful attributes –

1.   Dashboards – customisable dashboards with an assortment of info widgets and graphs to provide you with an overview of your data suited to any level – be it partner, bookkeeper or fee earner. Be in the know at every stage.

2.   Workflows – step-by-step process workflows to mimic your internal workflows, and then some. Generate documents, raise fees, diarise and more – all with a single click.

3.   Automated documents – have a set of templates for ad-hoc document generation. No more generating a contract or other document from scratch. Simple and easy.

4.   Workspace Lists – select accounts based on a specific set of selection criteria and perform bulk actions. Or systematically work through the list. Whatever suits you, whenever suits you.

5.   Quick view – groups all your account info (and related actions) together for easy access and instant overview. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

6.   Account enquiry – customisable views for the account enquiry, with an option to set it as a favourite. Know your account like the back of your hand.

7.   Reporting – with a comprehensive set of practice management and financial reports, that you can schedule to be emailed to multiple recipients. It’s so simple. It can actually be done while you’re sleeping.

8.   Jobs – workspace jobs to run multiple tasks at once – ad-hoc or can be scheduled. The choice is literally yours.

9.   Workspace tasks – that can be created for yourself, for others, or by others for you – don’t let anything slip through the cracks.

10.   Notifications – set up notification for when task statuses change. Never miss a thing!

This isn’t anything new.

You know you need legal tech. We have already proven time and time again the benefits that introducing the right legal tech into your practice can provide.

The results speak for themselves – in 2022, the global legal tech market was valued at 28 billion U.S. dollars.

According to Thomson Reuters Q1 2024 Analysis –

Interestingly, one thing that surfaced in the most recent LFFI report was that tech spending growth by law firms was almost 4 percentage points higher than overall overhead expense growth. And, after adjusting for inflation, tech spending exhibited the fastest expansion in our data’s history.

Join us over the next couple of weeks as we drill down into how AJS can turn your chaos into clarity – effortlessly.

In this regard, if you’re not on the legal tech train turning your chaos into clarity, but are keen to liberate yourself, get in touch with AJS  – we have the right combination of systems, resources and business partnerships to assist you with incorporating supportive legal technology into your practice.

AJS is always here to help you, wherever and whenever possible!

– Written by Alicia Koch on behalf of AJS

(Sources used and to whom we owe thanks:  LifeAt; Medium; LinkedIn here and here; Natif; AppsGeyser and Thomson Reuters)