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Automated Intake for Law Firms

Intelligent Messaging

Data Security, Technology

Watch It Now: Data Security for the Modern Law Firm

Remember when George Jetson was tooling around in his mini-spacecraft with his boy Elroy?  That seemed pretty sweet, right?  Well, 21st century lawyers don’t have it nearly so easy.  It turns out that progress rides along with information security concerns.  Not only that, but regulators (federal, state, courts and ethics authorities) are catching up to the fact that lawyers, like any other small business owners, should effectively vet software providers for reasonable security applications, and also share responsibility in maintaining their law firm data (really, their clients’ data) in a reasonably secure manner.

Why, then, was ‘The Jetsons’ all one big lie?  Why has your childhood been destroyed?  And, what can you do about it?

I suppose that curling up into the fetal position and crying uncontrollably for several days is one option.  Another is to embrace your data security responsibilities, and determine to kick ass at managing your clients’ data better than your rival law firms, and to use that as a competitive advantage.  That latter choice seems like the better opportunity to me.

Let’s then discuss the practical responsibilities you should be crushing, so you can present yourself as a modern and secure law firm, in order to slake the thirst of a consumer public hungry for lawyers that understand and apply data security tactics.

Putting Software Providers to the Test

Some states, like my home commonwealth of Massachusetts, require small business owners, including law firms, to vet software providers for effectiveness of data security.  But, even if you’re not required to do so by state or federal law, you may be required to do so by your local ethics rules or ethics opinions related to the use of cloud-based software — or, at least, the implication that you must do so will arise.  And, even if it’s not a requirement, it’s still probably a good idea.  Choose the wrong software vendor, don’t do enough to secure your data, and your professional reputation is at stake.  And, the maintenance of your professional reputation is likely even more important than any short-term fines or penalties you may have to pay for a data breach, since that black mark on your effectiveness as a business owner is likely to last forever.

So, the necessary first step, before you look to additional measures for securing your data, is to find a software provider that already provides a highly secure environment for your law firm information.  To that end, here is a list of questions you should ask of your potential software vendors:

(1) Does the provider offer two-factor authentication for login?

(2) Does the provider restrict IP addresses?

(3) Does the provider include features related to the setting of user roles and permissions within the software?

(4) Does the provider ‘lock’ the login process after multiple failed attempts?

(5) Does the provider utilize 256 bit SSL encryption?

(6) Does the provider encrypt data both when it is in transit and when it is at rest?

(7) Is the software HIPAA-compliant?

(8) Does the provider utilize a geo-redundant server architecture with real-time data backup?

(9) Does the provider maintain ‘five 9s’ uptime?

Asking these questions of any potential vendor, and getting a ‘yes’ for all of them, is a beautiful start to your new life as a data security-aware lawyer.

Protecting Yourself . . . um, from Yourself 

Of course, that’s only a start because, even if your chosen software vendor provides you with all the tools possible to run a secure and stable law firm, user error is the most common entry point for a data breach.  Consider that, even if your software vendor is able to answer all of the above questions in the affirmative, that your secretary who chooses ‘password123’ for her password remains a security breach waiting to happen.  So, in order to effectively secure your law firm data, it’s not just about relying on your software partners, it’s also about training your staff, and maintaining security rules within your law office.

To that end, here are some tips for better securing your law office data, and preventing user error, also known as boneheadedness:

(1) Make sure you have a password for your computers that is complex, and preferably that requires capitalization, numbers and/or special characters.

(2) Make sure your password hint is not an obvious giveaway for your actual password.

(3) Make sure that your computer is set to ‘auto-lock’ after two minutes of inactivity.

(4) Make sure to manually lock your computer every time you leave your desk.  (For Windows machines, press the Windows button + L simultaneously.  And, for Macs, use Control + Shift + Power simultaneously.)

(5) Make sure you encrypt your hard drive.  (Here’s how to do it on Windows; and, here’s how to do it on a Mac.)

(6) Make sure to have two-factor authentication actually enabled on all software, including your law practice management software, productivity software, accounting software and CRM.

(7) Do not use the same password for every login.  (If your passwords are becoming overburdensome, consider a password management tool.)

(8) Beware of ‘phishing’ emails that ask you to download a file — even when those emails appear to come from clients or colleagues you have worked with before.  (Remember that email addresses can be masked.)

(9) Moreover, never download a file that comes from a questionable source. 

(10) Make sure to regularly run your system updates on all of your computers.

(11) Use reputable antivirus and malware software, with up-to-date virus definitions.

. . .

If you’re looking for a technology partner who’s as concerned about law firm data security as you are, consider Practice Panther for law practice management.  If you want to find out what they’re all about, schedule a product demo via this link.

Technology, Marketing

Automatic for the People: Marketing Systems are Essential for Modern Law Firms

Many of the things that law firms do surrounding processes resemble cottage industry.  Much of the work is done by hand.  Even at this late date, manual processes rule the law firm environment.  But, as many lawyers become concerned over the use of marketing automation technology, due to the loss of a ‘personal touch’, the fact of the matter is that lawyers and staff are often too busy with substantive work to provide that personal touch, and that modern consumers are far more accepting of technology-based communications than law firms realize.

Legal consumers are contacting a lawyer because they’re worried about something, usually very worried.  And, when people are worried, they need to be reassured.  The way potential customers of legal services are reassured is by consistent contact.  They want to know that the business they intend to choose will be looking out for them, and will be keeping them appraised of what is happening in their case.

Of course, this flies in the face of how most law firms do things.  Lawyers onboard clients, but their usual MO is to let clients know when something ‘important’ happens on their case —the only problem with that strategy is that, in many cases, not very much happens on a legal claim, on a regular basis.  What happens if you don’t have a substantive case update on a client’s case for six months?  Not contacting them at all is a common, but poor solution, because that’s a surefire way to raise your client’s anxiety level.  One thing a thoughtful law firm might do is to automate a regular check-in process.

And, this starts by conditioning clients to regular, automated communication, starting at the outset of representation.  Get your clients used to communicating with chatbots and receiving email and text pings when they’re leads and new clients.  This will also advantage you at intake, because the majority of potential law firm clients are more likely to become the clients of the law firm that offers a first point of engagement.  That’s not a form to fill out, or a link to click.  It’s a virtual receptionist, or a chatbot.  Communicate with the potential law firm client in a fashion that does not require a lawyer or staffperson’s time, but that does equate to actual engagement, and your chances of winning that client skyrocket.  Plus, you’ll prep them for the methods by which you will communicate with them later.  Extend that proposition by using a client journey.  Further entrench the procedure by automating regular check-in and checkup options.

Marketing automation is not the end of ‘personalized’ communications, it’s merely the preferred method of personalized communications in the digital age.  And, this is what lawyers have always struggled with: keeping up with the times.  But, if your law firm becomes a first mover on marketing automation, you’ll end up creating a massive competitive advantage for yourself.

Marketing, Messaging

Singularity: The Importance of Selling One Thing

One of the reasons that general law practices, while satisfying the intellectual curiosity of attorneys, are nonetheless difficult to market is because it’s difficult to sell everything . . . unless you’re literally selling Swiss Army Knives.

I mean, think about it: If you need to hire a plumber (and, that’s a need, not a want), are you going to go find somebody who’s a jack of all trades, who can fix your clogged toilet right after he molds a scented candle?  Hell, no.  You want an expert.  The best businesses do one thing really well; and, that’s true of law firms, also.

Put yourself into the shoes of a legal consumer for a second.  Suppose you wanted a recommendation for or were looking for a divorce attorney.  Don’t you want somebody to tell you, or don’t you want to view marketing materials tending to the conclusion that, the person you would hire is an expert in that particular field, and does only that kind of work.  If someone tells you, ‘You should go see my friend, Jane. She practices all kinds of different types of law; but, I’m sure she would do a great job with your divorce!’, that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, does it?  It would be like telling someone, ‘Oh, your toilet’s overflowing?  My Uncle Ray is an HVAC technician, but he unclogged the toilet in his house the other day, so you should really give him a call!’  You ain’t never gonna call Uncle Ray. 

Clearly, it’s important for modern law firms to decide on a practice niche, stick with it, and consistently market it.  You need to be able to sell one concept, one major idea, to be able to succeed widely.  It’s partly a viable business strategy, and partly a recognition that people have neither long patience nor lengthy attention spans in a world that is saturated with information.

This notion of selling a single idea should also extend to any kind of marketing you will do within your law firm.  Don’t try to throw multiple concepts out at one time.  If you’re an outside counsel firm, and you’re productizing your law firm offerings by selling a business management audit, just sell that — don’t also try to offer employment law services and contract drafting services in the same advertisement, or pitch.  Less is more.  And, if you can get in at one level, you know you’ve gained your clients’ trust, and you can then upsell, or sell more services, down the line.  Remember that the attorney-client engagement is often a long road; and, understand that you win broadly in the long run, by winning small victories along the way.

This notion of single concept marketing is not new; but, it’s not often actualized effectively by lawyers.  So, every time your law firm runs a new marketing campaign, ask yourself how many different things you’re selling, or trying to sell.  And, if you find that it’s multiple things, try to whittle it down to one, and get focused, because your potential clients won’t have then ability, or the interest, to multitask on a sales proposition that is not unique.

Everything you do for your law firm marketing should have a singular focus.  If it doesn’t, it’s your job to create a true marketing funnel by narrowing down your approach.

Your clients do want a piece of you . . . you just have to decide which piece.

Analytics, Marketing

Stitches: Time Management Tools for Social Media

Everybody wants to do social media marketing.  Many small business owners view it as a panacea for their marketing woes:  It’s free, and it’s easy.  Of course, that’s not entirely true.  It’s not free — because anything that you spend your time on involves at least an opportunity cost.  And, it ain’t easy: I mean, nothing worth doing ever is.  That all being said, social media marketing is effective, if you make the time, and take the effort, to do it right.

The biggest problem with social media marketing is time management.  The point of using social media to build out your law practice is to reach new audiences, at the streams they care about.  Maybe someone prefers Facebook, as a method to search for professional services; or, maybe they like LinkedIn.  The more places you can cover, the more likely you are to convert clients, because the expansion of your market is essentially limitless.  So, social media Increases your opportunities to be where they are.

Now, that all sounds good in the abstract.  But, when you consider that being present in all those places involves the management of a number of different platforms and passwords, your head may start to spin.  And, if social media marketing involves creating and managing personal and professional Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and other social media accounts, most lawyers would probably elect not to start at all — either because they don’t want to do it themselves, or because they feel that their staff should be doing higher leverage work, and they don’t want to hire consultants or vendors to manage it for them.

Of course, it’s difficult to argue with the thesis.  Social media marketing is a pain in the ass.  But, if you could eliminate managing each portal separately, it would be a lot easier, right?  Well, the good news is that you can do exactly that.  There are a number of tools available that will allow you to manage various social media platforms across one dashboard, with a single sign-in.  These software, some of which have free versions, like Hootsuite and Buffer, integrate with social media providers, to allow you to manage your accounts at their interface.  You simply add the accounts you want, and create content streams.  This helps you to view content and to post content easily.  The ability to create and view multiple streams across social media platforms means that you can easily repost content that you like, thereby interspersing your own content with others’, which is a way to establish your expertise without coming off as entirely self-promotional.  Perhaps the best feature of these systems is the ability to schedule posts for later release.  Because one of the biggest issues with social media is that it’s so easy to fall down a rabbit hole and lose hours at a time, scheduling posts allows you to get in and get out more quickly, and with a purpose.  If you’re clever, you can even schedule a post for a week or more at a time, and make it your practice to engage with your connections on your time.  The ability to parachute in and parachute out makes you a much more efficient marketing tactician on social media.  And, if you’re not continually frustrated about what would otherwise appear to be a waste of time, then you’re more likely to keep at it, and that’s a recipe for winning the long game of law firm social media marketing.

Besides, it’s kind of cool to have someone you’re in conversation with ask you whether you just sent out a post on LinkedIn.  Then, it’s up to you whether you want to reveal your secret, or not.  

I’ll never tell.

Marketing, Messaging

Sometimes a Tree is Just a Tree: On Content Marketing

After Picasso had gotten tired of people asking him for the deeper meaning behind his paintings, he supposedly responded to one inquirer: ‘Sometimes, a tree is just a tree’.  Bob Ross might quarrel with such an assertion, but only to the extent that his trees might require a specific disposition.  But, Picasso is probably the exception; and, writers like James Joyce and William Faulkner seemed to delight in confusing their readers.

Of course, it’s not only artists who try to pack multiple meanings into every little thing.  And, I suppose that, if you’re going to be an abstract painter, you might as well be the most abstract painter you can be.  Lawyers, too, are completists, and perfectionists on top of that.  Those qualities, though, can often hold attorneys back as effective marketing people.

In a world where the attention span of the average consumer continues to shrink, lawyers’ capacity to bloviate continues to expand.  Lawyers love arcane issues of law; legal consumers do not.  Lawyers write more; legal consumers want to read less, and prefer to watch.  Because attorneys’ content preferences, and content production techniques, don’t often match what legal consumers are looking for, it is difficult for lawyers to succeed in content marketing, without reconfiguring how they like to develop marketing content.

Content marketing (which is exactly what it sounds like it is) is worth the effort for most law firms.  It is a free method for advertising, through which sweat equity is rewarded.  Since most lawyers are averse to spending lots of money on marketing if they can help it, content marketing is a great in-between proposition for law firms that want to make a dent in their market, and who can be patient enough to see the tactic through to results, where the time frame for return on investment usually involves a longer payoff than paid advertising.

That all being said, even if content marketing remains a good idea in the abstract for law firms, executing on its promise is a more difficult thing to do for the would-be Tolstoys and Holmeses among my legal brethren.  So, here are some tips for creating content that will resonate with legal consumers:

-Keep it short.  The shorter the better, like this.

-Emphasize problem-solving.  Your potential clients really could care less how many times you’ve been a Super Lawyer; they want to know if you can solve a problem they have.  So, focus on one, specific problem that your client base has, and present yourself as the problem-solver.

-Write and speak for your audience.  Remember that, in most cases, you’re speaking directly to consumers, not to other lawyers for the purpose of acquiring referrals.  Speak and write plainly.  Use simple words.  Create content for the level of a grade school student.

-Create an obvious call to action.  You’re creating marketing materials because you want your potential clients to hire you.  But, how do you want them to start that process?  Identify the method.  If you want a call, say so.  If you want an email, ask for one.  If you want a text, make it clear.

-Remember to edit.  You’re busy.  I get it.  But, take the time to edit your content so that it looks good.  No typos.  No weird videos where you’re recording 30 seconds of yourself trying to figure out how to shut your camera off.  You want to be professional?  This is another time to do it.  Most lawyers treat substantive work as the sole area in which they need to be professional; but, you must extend your acumen to your marketing production.

‘Be yourself’ is usually good advice; but, in this case, you’ll want to think about becoming the self that your potential clients want to see.

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