12 Ways to Set Your Law Firm Up for Success

Just like every other business, a law firm should critically review its performance every so often. The end of the year is the perfect time to do so. It may take some time, but imagine how great it will feel to start the new year off knowing your law firm will run better than ever. Use these tips as a blueprint to help you take inventory of your law firm’s strengths and weaknesses.

Studies show that employees are more productive, and even healthier, when their workplace is clean. Give yourself and your employees some time to clean and organize workspaces.

2. Get Task Management on Track

Task management is one of the most important functions of any law firm. Take a look at your firm’s current methods. How do you know what is being done and what needs to be done? Are tasks falling through the cracks? If you don’t have a streamlined task management system, take the time to set one up.

3. Listen to Feedback From Your Staff

Take a few minutes to ask your employees if they feel they are working at their full potential. Look for patterns in their feedback. Do your employees seem to have similar concerns? Evaluate reasonable changes you can make to help your staff work better. You may be surprised by the positive results.

4. Set Goals

You can’t reach your goals if you don’t set them first. For maximum effectiveness, set S.M.A.R.T. goals: specific, measurable, attainable, results-focused, and time-bound.

5. Draft a Marketing Plan

As you know, marketing is critical for personal injury law firms. A strong marketing plan can help your firm garner more business. Start by evaluating your marketing efforts from this past year. What worked and what didn’t? With insight into your past marketing strategies, you can create a better marketing plan for 2018.

6. Evaluate Your Law Firm’s Website

Today, 38% of people find an attorney online. If your website does not reflect your law firm’s excellence, you risk losing clients to your competitors. At minimum, ensure your website looks modern and makes it easy for clients to contact you.

7. Review Your Intake and Follow-Up Procedures

Obtaining leads is difficult, but so is keeping track of them. Do you have a process in place to ensure no lead slips through the cracks? If not, speak with your intake staff and see what can be done better. It could be as simple as ensuring they collect every lead’s phone number, or you might consider investing in a CRM for your law firm.

8. Respond to Your Reviews

Most people trust online reviews. Because they do, you should pay attention to what people are saying about you online, good or bad. Responding to those reviews gives you the opportunity to publically thank your happiest clients and apologize to ones who feel like they have been wronged. Use this guide to help you respond appropriately to negative reviews.

9. Harness the Power of Referrals

Client referrals generate your most inexpensive, and often highest quality leads. Does your law firm make it easy for happy clients to refer family and friends? Do you market to your past clients so they remember who you are?

10. Secure Your Law Firm

Law firm data breaches are becoming increasingly common, and the effects can be devastating. Cybersecurity experts agree that your employees are your biggest cybersecurity threat. Because of this, one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your law firm’s security is to educate your employees on how to avoid threats. Set aside a few hours to hold a firm-wide meeting and teach your employees about cybersecurity topics. When it comes to security, prevention is much easier to deal with than the consequences of a breach.

11. Back Up Your Data

How comfortable are you with losing a day of your law firm’s data? How about a week, or a month? In case of an emergency, your law firm could be left with the last backed up version of its data. Find out how often your data is backed up. If you don’t like the answer, make a change.

12. Invest in Legal Practice Management Software

Investing in a powerful legal practice management solution can help you reach many of these goals in one fell swoop. Although technology on its own won’t solve all of your problems, the right software can make your practice more efficient, secure, and proactive. Use this guide to help you identify which solution may be best for your firm.

Tackle these challenges one at a time. If need be, delegate each section to the person best equipped to answer the question. Some may take more time than others, so start as soon as you can. You and your staff are busy, but implementing these tips will save you lots of time and headache in the long run. Wishing you and your law firm a busy and prosperous 2018!