Archives For Technology

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Demonstrating Value with Client Portals (a la @FancyHands)

May 26, 2013 — Leave a comment

Check this out:

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This is my account dashboard for Fancy Hands. After several months of using the service, I can see just what they have done on my behalf — or, put another way, how they help me achieve my goals.

You buy a car that should take you from Point A to Point B. You know it served its purpose, or didn’t.

This can be tricky in the legal services arena — especially with litigation. Cases can drag on regardless of a lawyer’s attempt to streamline the process. Sure, emails, meetings and telephone calls occur regarding strategy and expectations. But, much like the rest of our societal intake of information (i.e., 24-hour news cycles or social media updates that are history in a few hours), the big picture can be lost in various pieces.

Enter legal online client portals. Such portals provide clients with access to relevant information regarding their representation. This can include documents, communications, deadlines, and payment status, among other information.

Several cloud-based platforms include all or some of these features. Each one has a different flavor. We can expect these portals to develop more and more. The eLawyering Task Force has been analyzing the data and options on these portals.

This is important. It is about access to information. It is about removing the mystery surrounding legal services.

If the option exists, why wouldn’t a law firm provide their clients with this sort of access?

In Legal Profession, Technology ,
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In Productivity, Technology
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Going Rogue (I mean, Going Mobile)

May 17, 2013 — Leave a comment

Every so often I go mobile with my workflow. For example, with the exception of one situation, I have not used my iMac for over a week. I otherwise have worked exclusively off my iPad and iPhone.

I do this exercise for three reasons:

1. It promotes creativity in figuring out how to get work done.
2. It helps me explore new and existing apps that can be used for “heavy lifting” work (i.e., not the low-hanging fruit, such as checking emails or social media).
3. It helps me focus on what I should be doing and what should be delegated/outsourced to others.

[Side bar: The one exception referenced above? I needed to do some substantial edits on a pleading and then electronically file it. Could I have done that on the iPad? Yes, but it would've taken too long.]

When going mobile, it is fascinating how simple tweaks to apps can increase productivity.

Since using Box as our firm’s document-management platform, I rarely send actual attachments to emails. Instead, I send a Box link to a document so the receiving party can download it to their computer. Sending the link has many purposes, including: reducing the actual size of an email when a large document is involved, sensitive information can be password-protected, the link can be disabled at any time, and access stats are available.

Gone are the days of emailing an attachment and not really knowing where it is going.

Box recently updated their iOS apps to allow you to directly copy the Box link to a document.

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This, previously, was a convenient functionality through the web browser. There were mobile work arounds, but they involved too many steps. Now, the link to the document can be copied in the Box app and then simply pasted in an email or other messaging system. To me, this is a big update.

Nerdy, technical mobile workflow improvement? Absolutely.

In Productivity, Technology , , , ,
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