I know, I know...my blogging rights should be revoked. I have truly neglected my blog and you - and all three of you - my loyal readers. The past three months have been super, super busy but THANKFULLY there is downtime in my future. I suppose it's the holiday effect and maybe you'll feel it too. I'm kicking off the holidays with a trip to South America to visit family. I'm going to Uruguay - not a place you might peg as a technology metropolis. Of course, I have all the hope in the world that there will be a wireless cloud spread above the ENTIRE country (it's a pretty small place really).
Anyway, let's talk tech - practice/case management programs is today's topic. How do you find the perfect tech soul mate for your practice?
A few weeks back I participated in the Pacific Legal Tech Conference (some of the session papers can be found here) where I sat in on a session that really brought to light how many attorneys don't even know where to start when it comes to courting case management programs. Not unlike finding Ms. or Mr. Right, it can certainly seem like a daunting task. And just like that one, this is one decision you want to make once. A tech-divorce from your CMS can be insanely painful and certainly something you want to avoid. So you must go about choosing a CMS with the utmost care and diligence. Generally, here are the things that CMS's allege to help with:
- managing client contact/info
- keeping track of time/work
- keeping track of files/document management, searching and storing document
- conflict checking
- document creation/assembly
- integrated accounting and financial management
- remembering The Wife's birthday and their anniversary (hey - a CMS can even help with that!)
All sounds good, right? But where do by you start? Here: expectations. I remember the days of daydreaming about Perfect Man - I just KNEW he was out there. He would find me and forever be romantic and thoughtful and he would never leave socks on the floor or cabinet doors open, he would feed my dogs and tolerate my OCD, he would take out the trash without being asked, he would bring me flowers just because... HAHAHAHAHAHA -who was I kidding??? Now that's not to say there aren't great men out there (you know who you are) but I realized that I was totally dreaming and unless I became a lesbian would forever be disappointed in a partner. SO what I needed to do was not lower my expectations but rather adjust them for reality. Same goes for technology in general and in our case today, CMS's - THERE IS NO PERFECT CMS. You will have to give a little here and there and what you must give the most of is time and effort up front. Just like dating. You'll need to find time for those things that you normally don't have time for: research (dating), implementation (committing) and of course TRAINING (couples counseling). If you think some CMS is going to waltz into your office and whisk you away to a luxurious life of just practicing law. HAHAHAHAHAHA - who are YOU kidding? Yes, you can certainly hire a consultant (technology therapist) to help you but in the end you and your people have to be committed to learning and using the thing.
Last week, I had the pleasure of a face-to-face meeting with one of several attorneys from the Vancouver area that contacted me after the conference. Harry was vacationing here in Florida and made some time to meet with me to talk about his move from a big firm to a solo practice. He's hired me to help him "shepherd" (hehehe, I like how he says that) his search for and decisions in legal technology. For the CMS side of his needs I hooked him up with Debbie Foster of InTouch Legal. Debbie's a good friend, a certified expert on several case management systems and also happens to live in Florida. He visited her office and she showed him around PCLaw, Amicus and Time Matters. There are many other popular CMS's out there - and there are new one's all the time. Here are some great resources that you should check into to learn more about selecting a solution:
- ABA Legal Technology Resource Center
- Andy Adkins of the Legal Technology Institute at UF has some GREAT resources (as is he a GREAT resource and consultant)
