A process-oriented law firm or legal department is one that emphasizes or focuses on processes, systems or procedures rather than results or underlying causes. A process-oriented law firm has predetermined policies and procedures for each task that is repeated, such as processing incoming/outgoing mail, sending email correspondence, filing court documents, calendaring, filing structures, how files are prepared for court or other appearances, how a prospective client is handled or how a client’s file is closed. The infographic below contains five ways your law firm will improve with a process-oriented model.
What This Means for You
When you eliminate redundancies, your team always knows what next steps they need to take. They will not stop the workflow to obtain the next step. Spending less time on routine tasks will allow you to work more on billable matters or business development, without reducing the quality of either. By identifying inefficiencies in your law firm, you can easily modify your workflows or know what needs to be upgraded next.
Improve accuracy by collecting relevant data at the correct time and reusing that data throughout the workflow. Your clients will be more satisfied, which will generate returning business as well as referrals to new leads you would have otherwise not discovered.
A process-oriented model can increase your law firm’s profitability by providing immediate tangible value, as well as operational efficiency value long term. Not only will your team always know the next steps to take, but accuracy will also be improved, workflows streamlined, and less time will be spent on administrative or organizational tasks. This will increase the quality of the services you provide, creating momentum for your marketing when your satisfied clients bring you returning business and new leads. It also lays the groundwork for effective marketing strategies, successfully implanting new technology solutions and overall growth. Best of all, establishing processes for your law firm does not require any investments, all the benefits received directly affect your cash flow.
The Ultimate Law Firm Efficiency & Profitability Resource
