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Andrew Z. Adkins IIILegal Technology InstituteSeptember 2010

9/9/2010 1Copyright 2010 Legal Technology Institute

Andrew Z. Adkins III Legal Technology Institute (2010 – present)

Consultant, Author, Speaker University of Florida Levin College of Law (1997 – 2010)

Director, Legal Technology Institute (1997 - present) Adjunct Professor, Law Practice Management (2001 - 2009) Associate Director, Technology Services (2003-2007)

Legal Technology Consultant (1989) More than 325 consultations with Law Firms, Law Departments, Judiciary, Law

Schools, Legal Verticals Author

Three Years, Eleven Months, 29 Days (2010) The Lawyer’s Guide to Practice Management Systems Software (2009) You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This (2005) Computerized Case Management Systems (1999) WordPerfect Law Office Solutions (1995) The CMS Study, The KM Study, The ASP Study, The Internet Study 200+ articles published on legal technology

Chair ABA TECHSHOW 2000, 2001 Co-Chair, LegalTech Conferences 2001 – 2007 [email protected] | 352-538-5346


Today’s Mission

The Basic Costs of Technology

Technologies You Can’t Live Without

Technologies That Increase Your Bottom Line

Technologies Suckers Tips


Technology Costs

2010 ILTA: 2 – 4% of Your Gross Revenue Not including IT staff salaries Down this year from 4-8%

Hildebrandt: 4 – 6% of Your Gross Revenue Including IT staff salaries


Reducing Costs ‘101

How to be Profitable? Increase income Reduce expenses All of the above

Adkins’ Simple Management Philosophy You can always increase professional fees There comes a point where you can’t reduce

technology expenses any further


How Do You Bill Clients? Bill by the Hour Contingency Fee Flat Rate Value-added Other

Technology will help you become more efficient, but if you bill by the hour, will that increase your bottom line?


The Three-legged Stool

Technology

People Process


Technology Definitions

Mission Critical Technologies Core Software Applications Legal Specific Applications

Financial Management Software Document Management Software Case/Matter Management Software Litigation Support Software


Mission Critical Technologies Any technology which is essential to the core

function of an organization. In other, if you have a technology that fails and your law firm or law department can’t conduct business, that is a failure in a mission critical technology.

Examples: Network server(s) Communications

○ Telephone system(s)○ E-mail○ BlackBerry○ Remote Access


Core Software Applications

“Software used by everyone” Microsoft Office 2003, 2007, 2010

Word Processing E-mail Calendaring

Document Management System Timekeeping


Legal Specific Applications “Software used in specific practice areas” Litigation Software (e.g., Summation,

Concordance, CaseMap) Real Estate Closing Software (e.g.,

Doubletime, LandTech, SoftPro) Bankruptcy Software (e.g., Best Case, E-Z

Filing) Immigration Software (e.g., Immigration

Pro, INSZoom)


Case Management Systems

Generic Systems e.g., Time Matters, Amicus Attorney, Practice

Master, AbacusLaw, Legal Files Fully integrated, Front office/Back office

ProLaw, PerfectLaw, Perfect Practice, Client Profiles

Practice Specific Systems Bankruptcy, IP, Immigration, Real Property


How Do You Work Now?

Calendaring Document Creation,

Storage, Retrieval Case/Matter Tracking Timekeeping E-mail Management

Each of these functions is a “process”


The “Process” Part of the Stool

Process Example - Open a New File Who actually opens the new file or matter? Client/Matter number Conflict check Network directory creation Document creation

Processes Define How Technology Can Best Be Used


Law Firm Processes

15

• File opening• Conflict checking• Calendaring, docketing• Case/matter tracking• Doc. Production, delivery• Document management• File and records mgt. • Communications • Client relationship mgt. • Time tracking & entry• Billing

• Cost recovery• A/P, check writing• A/R, collections• Payroll• Trust accounting• GL, accounting• Practice management• Litigation support• Legal research• File closing• Budgeting• Reporting

9/9/2010 Copyright 2010 Legal Technology Institute

The “People” Part of the Stool

Computer Literacy Skill Sets Confidence

Training Initial Training Ongoing, Focused Training Lunch & Learn The “Certificate” Program


The “Technology” Part of the Stool Core Software Systems Legal Specific Software

Understand What You Have (The “Assessment”)

Keep Critical Systems Up-to-date Keep Core Systems Up-to-date

Better utilize your existing technology, your people, and your processes


Standardization The more you standardize your processes…

The shorter the learning curve Easier to use the technology The smoother the transition to new technology

The more you standardize your technology… The lower the cost The easier to maintain

The more you standardize your people… The smoother the process The lower the cost of support


An Example of Standardization


Matter Centricity

“Matter centricity takes all documents, emails, and other files and organizes them into client matter and makes them retrievable in one place.”

“All firm-related information is in the case file.”


Matter Centricity Example: Adkins v. Big Mean Company

Everything in one location (the “file”) Documents

○ Initial Complaint○ Discovery Documents○ Correspondence

Calendar Events○ Court dates○ Client appointments

Related/Interested Parties○ Contact information


Fully Integrated Systems “Back Office” – Time, Billing, Accounting “Front Office” – Case/Matter Management Document Management Integration with Core Technologies

Outlook Word

Examples: ProLaw, PerfectLaw, Perfect Practice, Client Profiles


Email &Attachments

Practice Management System

Scanner

Scanning

Fax

Faxing

CMS

FMS

DMS

MultifunctionDevice

LS

MS Word,Excel,

PowerPoint

Merge Docs

Case Docs

Client Matter #


Technologies You Can’t Live Without Mission Critical

Financial Management Communications Documents

Core Systems Can You Go Back

to a Typewriter?


Technology Time Suckers Social Websites NOT

used for Business Purposes e.g., Facebook, Flickr

iPhones, Droids – (this year) That is, smart phones that

don’t integrate well with your existing technology systems

Non business applications


A Word About Cloud Computing

Description of SaaS & Cloud Computing Several Examples Benefits Disadvantages


A Word About Outsourcing IT

Cost examples 60 user firm in KS - $50/month/user 60 user firm in GA - $4,700/month (3 offices)

Types of Services Offered Benefits Disadvantages


IT Staffing Ratios

Legal Technology Institute 1:30 – 35

ILTA 1:20 – 21

Hildebrandt 1:36


Return on Investment

Assume the software saves you 15 minutes per day (could be more) You can bill 15 minutes more per day @ $300/hour○ $75/day = $375/week = $1500/month○ Don’t forget to add impact from

billable staffers too

$18,000 per lawyer per year


Adkins’ Top 10 Tips1. Integration of Technology2. Keep Technology Up-to-date3. Partner in Charge of Technology4. Standardize Your Processes5. Standardize Your Technologies6. Focused Training Sessions (Staff & Attorneys)7. Reliable Remote Access8. Look at Case/Matter Management Systems9. Understand Matter Centricity10. Understand Workflow


Thank You!

Andrew Z. Adkins IIILegal Technology Institute

352.538-5346www.lticonsult.com

[email protected]


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