5 Ways To Simplify IT, Reduce Overhead, & Make More Money

Authored by: Ryan Groff, Esq.

Before my career at LEAP, I was a Firm Administrator and Paralegal at a Massachusetts law firm. I served clients and worked closely with the firm’s owners to improve operations and the technology infrastructure. The firm made the choice to switch from Time Matters® to LEAP. What follows is partly a reflection on my experience, and the reasons we decided to use LEAP, but also a discussion of some newer features that benefit PCLaw | Time Matters™ users when they switch.

Our decision to switch to LEAP was our acknowledgment of the evolution of legal software and the efficiency it could bring to our firm. LEAP gave our firm a better version of our current law practice management software and allowed us to meet client expectations with innovative tools made for workflow automation, team and client collaboration, and legal billing and invoicing.

LEAP simplified our IT infrastructure, reduced overhead expenses, and positioned us to make more money. Here are the 5 ways LEAP helped the firm where I worked:

1. A Single Database

LEAP is a single database accessible from anywhere, at any time, on multiple devices. This universal accessibility is possible because LEAP is true cloud-legal software. We no longer needed an in-house server to run our law practice management software. This meant we could avoid unnecessary expenses for system maintenance, data backups, and software updates. In this way, LEAP simplifies law firm IT and reduces overhead costs.

Our firm benefited from being able to serve clients from desktops, laptops, web browsers, iPads, and smartphones. With one login, we had access to client data no matter where we were. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this gave our law firm a big advantage. New innovations from LEAP were made available to us immediately on all these different devices without the time and hassle of hiring IT contractors to install software updates on the server.

2. LEAP Web Portal

Having all of your data available in LEAP starts with the LEAP Web Portal. The Web Portal helps firms grow because it makes managing prospects and clients easy.

Unlike other cloud legal software providers, a legal CRM solution is included with the price of LEAP and allows clients to:

• fill out online intake forms

• book appointments based on your availability

• collaborate with your attorneys on documents in real-time

• pay bills online

The Web Portal automates intake and prospecting work for law firms and gives clients the same functionality they have with other businesses in their lives. We exchanged sensitive documents with secure logins and gave our clients a quick and easy way to pay bills online. This allowed our clients to keep up with their cases when they were available in the evenings after work, on weekends, or traveling. It was a better situation for everyone.

3. Document Automation and Court Forms Library

LEAP’s document automation was simple and easy to use because it worked seamlessly with the tools we were already using, like Microsoft Word. In addition to being able to work on documents from anywhere, we produced documents with a click of a button and could easily collaborate with our clients online. The best part was unlimited access to LEAP’s free library of court forms specific to our jurisdiction.

LEAP legal document automation begins with data management and ends with automated templates. LEAP offers a single database for all your client and matter information, so LEAP templates automatically prefill your letters, pleadings, and other documents. We didn’t have to copy and paste, worry about duplicate spelling errors, or try to format all of our commonly-used provisions.

This allowed our law firm to save significant amounts of time, so we could work with new clients and focus on other areas of the business. The system did some tedious work for us.

4. Instant Time Recording

Before switching to LEAP, recording time was a manual chore. Legal time tracking is just another thing that attorneys and other timekeepers have to manage because it is vitally important to the success of a small law firm. Even if we used flat-fee agreements or subscription-based invoicing, recording time still measures productivity.

We were able to utilize the LEAP Timesheet, which was open on my screen all day, and other time recording tools that instantly track time spent on documents, emails, phone calls, and more. When we switched to LEAP, we also implemented contemporaneous time entry. This change meant we always had a live report of all recorded time. At the end of the month, we didn’t have to wait for time to be entered. We reviewed pre-bills and then sent out our invoices.

LEAP offered our firm the ability to track time on any device while in the office, at home, or traveling. With these new intuitive legal time-keeping tools that made time recording simple and instant, our time entries could be more accurate, our bills were ready to be sent much sooner, and clients could pay us quickly online.

5. Flexible Working Environments

As mentioned, LEAP has one single database where we put everything our attorneys need for their practice. LEAP lives online, which simplifies your IT infrastructure, makes your services accessible to clients and law firm staff, and helps you track your work more efficiently. Thus, your firm makes more money.

LEAP provides strong integrations with tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom for internal chat, document sharing, tracking phone messages, and scheduling and managing calls and video-conference meetings. LEAP Comments save to client matters so staff can track what’s important for each case. Saved LEAP Comments can also notify staff and instantly record time.

The COVID-19 pandemic turned flexible working options from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have.” It caused many law firms to rethink how their teams collaborate and how their clients access the legal services they are paying for. This is necessary because the way attorneys work is connected to the value of the services attorneys sell. LEAP keeps you connected even during unforeseen circumstances. With Time Matters, we simply did not have all the tools needed to keep serving clients in one program like LEAP.

LEAP provides a way for law firms to maintain steady cash flow. It also lets law firm staff maintain a sustainable, flexible work-life balance that won’t crumble under natural, or other, disasters.

PCLaw® and Time Matters users are in a unique position to switch to LEAP easily. LEAP has spent years developing LEAP Strato, which is a software program designed specifically to move PCLaw and Time Matters users’ data into LEAP. This is called a data transition at LEAP.

Book your LEAP demonstration and make the switch today.