Why law firms get fired

I read with interest a recent article on the Law Marketing Portal dated December 28, 2004 written by Charles Maddock which cited reasons such as lack of responsiveness and cost management as some key reasons clients seek other law firms to represent them.



Why was this of interest to me?



Think about how putting up client portals can help a law firm avoid these "reasons for getting fired". Portals can communicate more effectively with clients, providing them with information "anytime, anywhere", helping avoid the perception of "lack of responsiveness". They also can help disseminate information and data to clients without incurring mailing/distribution costs, helping contribute to cost containment. And, they can help improve the quality of legal work by allowing more and more attorneys to contribute to work product by improving the ability to review prior work, or to communicate about current issues of note.



For all of these reasons, it would seem to me to be helpful to consider putting up client portals for any client a law firm wishes to retain on a long-term basis.

2005 Strategies

Law firm portals provide firms with the opportunity to bring better visibility to their existing set of published works, websites, achievements, victories and the like. How many of you out there are considering using such systems to help better leverage your materials to your current and prospective clients? It would be interested in hear your thoughts -- thanks in advance.



Ken

Technolaywer Article

Today we had an article on law firm client portals and their purpose/usefulness in helping law firms extend and expand relationships with their clients published in the Technolaywer publication. We hope you found this article, which was entitled "A DIFFERENT APPROACH FOR A LAW FIRM WEB SITE", to be of interest. If you did not receive the article and would like to discuss this topic with us, kindly send us a note at info@xerdict.com, and we would be happy to speak with your about client portals.

LawNet Meeting

The recent November LawNet meeting hosted at the Sedgwick downtown New York City offices seemed to be a big success. The meeting presentation topics, discussing how collaboration technologies and other technologies like blogs can help improve and enhance the operations and marketing capabilities of a law firm, seemed to be of great interest. A number of questions was asked and answered, and there were a number of discussions regarding "build vs. buy" decisions, how to measure ROI, how to educate potential clients about these technologies and the value they can deliver to a law firm, and other topics were discussed by the members of the LawNet group.

NY LawNet Meeting on Collaboration Technologies

The NY Chapter of LawNet will be conducting their November meeting at the offices of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP (Note: this is the parent company of the Xerdict Group).



The meeting will discuss how collaboration technologies can be helpful to law firms in the areas of litigation support, law firm marketing and how blogs can be used to facilitate law firm business objectives.



For more information on this meeting, please click here.

IMPROVE INITIAL CLIENT EDUCATION

A recent article in Technolawyer by Dustin Cole spoke about the importance of educating new clients on law firm customs, rates, procedures all in an effort to set appropriate and reasonable expectations for both the law firm and the client.

The well written and thought out article recommends that a law firm at the outset of a case discuss rates, introduce the team, explain how information will be distributed, review how calls will be handled, provide an overview of the case timeline and process, and many other things. It also recommends that this information, in addition to being verbally reviewed with a client, be given to them in a folder for them to refer to in the future.

This entire process also lends itself well to a client specific law firm portal. Law firms can use portals to post, on a secure internet site, all types of material of this nature for the clients use and review. This is an excellent way to continually keep all of the client's contacts (not only those who visited the law firm, assuming the materials they reviewed by may be provided to all who might need to see them) updated on the appropriate processes, timelines and procedures associated with their case(s).

Events at conferences

Recently, on the Legal Marketing Association LISTSERV (LMA), there was a dialogue about what type of special events a law firm might run at conventions or other special events to generate interest in the firm.



Here's an idea on how a law firm portal might be used -- why not ask the clients directly? Perhaps one of your clients has a particular interest and you can pursue it with them (a sporting event, local site, cultural event, etc...). If this is the case, what better way to get their attention and discuss possible opportunities with the client.



And, you never know, this client might drag another colleagues from other companies or associates from other companies with whom your law firm might be interested in representing.



Why guess when you can solicit actual feedback -- using an on-line portal!!!