Written by:
Grant Yuill
Head of Marketing & Customer Engagement
When billable hours go missing, records are difficult to find, and client intake moves at a snail’s pace, every midsize law firm is familiar with the feeling of having these things happen. For both your team and clients, these issues in the workflow are extremely annoying.
In addition to this, they are reducing the revenue of your firm. According to the findings of a most recent study, inefficient procedures can cost firms as much as £70,000 annually per lawyer in lost billable hours alone.
What is the good news? It is possible to eliminate these typical legal field issues. In this article, we will discuss the 7 most significant workflow issues that are encountered by midsize firms, as well as the solutions to these issues.
#1. Manual Data Entry and Repetitive Tasks
One of the most significant factors that reduces efficiency in law firms is the use of manual data entry. Whether it’s entering client information multiple times across different systems or copying the same documents from scratch. These repetitive tasks are costing your firm a significant amount of money.
Imagine, when highly experienced legal practitioners spend time on data entry rather than billable work, you are actually paying premium rates for administrative tasks.
How do you solve it? Modern practice management platforms, such as Denovo, can help legal firms save time and reduce errors by eliminating manual data entry and repetitive tasks. When you enter client or case information once, the system copies it across documents, forms, and emails, eliminating the need to repeatedly type the same information. It also automates common operations such as draughting letters, deadline setting, and follow-up assignments using custom workflows. This means less administrative work, fewer errors, and more time for lawyers to devote to essential legal issues. Overall, this makes regular legal tasks faster, easier, and more accurate.
#2. Slow client intake process
Your process of client intake sets the tone for the entirety of your communication with the client. However, many firms rely on lengthy paper forms, manual data entry, and email chains that go back and forth. These ways of working not only make a bad initial impression, but they also cause a delay in the start of billable work and increases the possibility of errors.
An automated client intake system is the solution. By expediting the process by which new clients and cases are added to the system, Denovo’s CaseLoad, which is a fully integrated legal case management software, makes the client intake process faster and more efficient. The client’s information is entered only once, and CaseLoad uses that information to populate documents automatically, set up case files, and initiate the next stage. This eliminates the need to fill out many forms manually. Other features include the generation of an intake checklist, the scheduling of appointments, and the assignment of duties to members of the team. Therefore, this results in fewer delays, ensures that nothing is overlooked, and provides clients with a smooth and professional first impression. CaseLoad, in general, assists legal practices in efficiently and accurately managing new clients while reducing the amount of effort needed.
#3. Ineffective Management of Documents
Have you ever tried retrieving a document only to spend the next half hour searching through several email threads, shared drives, and desktop folders? You are not alone. However, this could end up costing your firm a lot of money in the future.
In case that a lawyer spends an average of 15 minutes every day searching for the right document, this would amount to 60 hours per year, which could be better utilised for providing legal services for law firms. Over a year, this might cost your firm up to £18,000 in wasted time.
This is only for one lawyer, by the way. So any way of improving efficiency in this area could make a massive difference for your firm.
CaseLoad is an extremely useful tool for addressing the issue of inefficient document management since it maintains everything in an organised style, makes it accessible, and ensures that it is connected to each case. Instead of storing files in several folders or systems, CaseLoad stores all documents, including emails, letters, forms, and notes, within the case file that is relevant to the case. As a result of this, your lawyers will not have to waste time searching for what they need because it will be instantly accessible to them.
Moreover, it enables automatic document naming and version management, which helps to reduce confusion and errors. Documents may be written quickly and accurately using client data that is already stored in the system, thanks to the built-in templates that streamline legal technology processes. Also, the interface with Microsoft Word and Outlook enables you to save and manage documents straight from within those applications.
In general, CaseLoad enhances document organisation, lessens clutter, and ensures that everyone is working with the right documents at the right time.
#4. Delays with time tracking and billing
Your mid-sized legal firm is missing out on a large amount of revenue if it does not have a time-tracking system in place before it starts operations. Do you have the time for those quick client discussions, brief responses to emails, and minor document revisions? They are often left unrecorded and they accumulate over time, highlighting the need for effective accounting services for law firms. What’s more, when you include delayed billing and slow collections, you’re looking at significant damage to your bottom line.
Both time tracking and billing are made more efficient, less complicated, and more accurate with the help of CaseLoad, which helps to prevent delays in both processes. While they are working, lawyers have the option of using built-in timers or manually entering their time. All of the time entries are instantly linked to the relevant case after they are entered. Both the possibility of missing billable hours and the convenience with which bills may be generated without having to go back through notes or emails are reduced as a result of this.
CaseLoad also enables automated invoicing, during which invoices can be generated based on the amount of time that has been recorded and the rates that have been established. When everything is tracked in real time and saved in a single location, firms are able to charge clients in a timely and accurate manner, which improves cash flow and reduces the amount of profit that is missing.
#5. Poor Case and Matter Management
When your firm is dealing with dozens of cases at once, even minor inefficiencies add up quickly. Missing documents, late updates, and unclear case status affect your firm’s production and revenue. Every minute spent looking for information or clarifying case status is a minute spent not doing billable work.
Law firms are provided with an easy and well-organised method to manage all of their legal work through the use of CaseLoad, which is excellent for solving poor case and matter administration while adhering to best practice. Every single case is managed within its digital workspace, which serves as a centralised storage location for all of the documents, emails, tasks, deadlines, and time entries connected to the case. The legal procedure is broken down into a series of steps, and users are guided through each one by workflows that can be customised. It is simple for members of the team to monitor the progress of the case, delegate responsibilities, and work together without any confusion.
CaseLoad helps firms in meeting deadlines, managing workloads, and providing clients with consistent, high-quality service by centralising all of the information and making it easy to retrieve it.
#6. Challenges in terms of risk management and compliance
Law firms are required to comply with all regulations without exception. On the other hand, this does not imply that your team should waste valuable time manually tracking compliance and managing risk management processes.
With the help of CaseLoad, law firms are able to better manage risk and maintain compliance by ensuring that essential stages, deadlines, and legal requirements are never overlooked. With workflows already built in, firms are able to develop standardised procedures that lead staff through each case in a consistent manner, hence lowering the probability of human error and reducing the need of supervision. All activities are monitored by the system, which generates an audit trail for every document, task, and communication. This makes it much easier to verify that the system complies with the legally mandated and regulatory standards, ensuring compliant legal best practice in accounting services for law firms. Missed deadlines can be avoided with the use of automatic reminders and notifications, and the protection of important client data can be ensured through the use of secure document storage. In general, CaseLoad enhances visibility, accountability, and consistency, all of which are essential components of effective risk management and legal compliance responsibilities.
#7. Lack of Insights and Reports
It takes more than just following your instincts to run a successful law firm in the competitive legal sector. You are basically flying blind if you do not have clear visibility into performance metrics, invoicing efficiency, and your resource utilisation. When it comes to making informed choices, however, numerous firms fail to generate the reports they need.
Providing built-in reporting features that provide law firms with a clear view of their performance is one of the many ways in which CaseLoad is effective in addressing the lack of insights and reports. With this feature, you are able to monitor important indicators in real time, such as billable hours, case progress, team workload, and financials. To assist with decision-making, resource planning, and the identification of areas that need improvement, reports that can be customised will be provided in a short amount of time. CaseLoad provides firms with accurate and up-to-date insights into how their business is operating, allowing them to work smarter rather than harder. This is in contrast to alternative methods, such as depending on guessing or dispersed data.
How Denovo Simplifies Practice Management, Legal Accounting Compliance, and Promotes Client Trust
Midsize law firms in Scotland are under constant pressure to provide best-practice legal services in today’s fast-moving legal market. This pressure comes in the form of maintaining team morale, complying with complex rules, and keeping expenses minimal. From the cashiering of legal services to client intake, inefficient processes not only result in a waste of time but also in the accumulation of additional expenses and the loss of billable hours.
According to new research, as a result of workflow inefficiencies, smaller firms can suffer annual losses of up to £60,000 for every single lawyer. However, firms that use modern practice management software, like as Denovo’s CaseLoad, are not only avoiding these losses, but they are also thriving under these situations.
Legal and Financial Operations are Streamlined
Denovo’s CaseLoad is more than just a practice management system; it is a comprehensive solution for law firms that includes case and matter management, legal cashiering, document automation, time tracking, billing, and legal bookkeeping. It provides real-time access to financial and client data while complying with the SRA Accounts Rules, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) principles, and the best practice set by the Law Society of Scotland.
CaseLoad assists firms in navigating complicated legal and financial landscapes by streamlining workflows and improving collaboration between legal teams and the legal cashiering team. This helps ensure that client money is handled securely, with full audit trails and reconciliation systems in place, allowing enterprises to remain fully compliant with all rules.
Expert Assistance from Professionals
Because of Denovo’s more than 40 years of experience in the legal industry, the firm is familiar with the day-to-day challenges that are experienced by legal cashiers, fee earners, and partners alike. The software was developed using first hand experience, and it provides features that are intended to reduce the number of operations that are repetitive operations, protect sensitive information, and improve the delivery of legal services.
Promote Healthier Work Practices
Denovo’s technology supports a healthier work-life balance, mental health awareness, and overall business productivity by eliminating issues in everything from document management to legal time recording. CaseLoad supports modern legal operations by providing visibility and control to team members while also assisting you in building a profitable legal firm.
Approved by hundreds of Scottish law firms
Clients trust Denovo to manage their legal finances, financial data, casework, and legal cashiering with precision and compliance. Hundreds of law firms have placed their trust in Denovo. It is widely acknowledged that CaseLoad has improved the level of client satisfaction, enhanced the accuracy of billing, and created space for the delivery of higher-value legal advice.
Contact Us Today!
Do you wish to improve efficiency and security to streamline the way you handle legal matters? Give us a call at 0141 331 5290 or book a demo today to learn more about how Denovo can help your firm in reducing workloads, maintaining compliance, and saving time.
