With cybersecurity threats on the rise, it is imperative that firms proactively improve internal and external security protocols. Keeping confidential information and sensitive client data secure means extending such protocols to each software vendor. It’s important to check the data security protocols of the software you’re evaluating before you make any decisions that can have a long-lasting impact on your firm.

Legal professionals use a wide variety of tools and methods for tracking time spent on billable matters. Some are sophisticated, while others are more problematic and error-prone; for example, lawyers who use giant spreadsheets that are updated at the end of each day or week or sticky notes to jot down each task by hand.…

Organizational change is the only way to be proactive, rather than reactive, in continuing to develop your firm from the ground up. Krystal Champlin, the CEO of RJH Consulting, discussed taking steps to grow your law firm in a Zola Suite-sponsored ALA Webcast on April 14th. The webcast explored the five stages law firms commonly…

When considering a lateral move to another firm, it is important for an attorney to make the appropriate inquiries into each potential firm. A thorough investigation into any potential new firm is necessary, now, more than ever as the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the practice of law. Remote work is very common and will continue to exist. A prudent potential lateral will examine the new firm’s financial documents and meet with firm leaders to gauge the firm’s overall health. A lateral candidate does not want to join a firm that is not financially sound or has not adapted to the current environment. By doing so, attorneys risk losing their clients, who are more likely to seek new counsel with a more stable firm, if they feel their current attorney has not performed proper due diligence when moving the practice.

When considering starting a boutique law firm, there are many issues that need to be addressed prior to the first day of business. For instance, if a lawyer is leaving another firm, it is critical that the lawyer read any documentation or current firm policies regarding clients and transferring data. The lawyer should make sure that the departure is as transparent and non-adversarial as possible. In some instances (especially with equity partners), it would make sense to engage a business attorney.

Measuring the productivity and profitability of your timekeepers is rarely straightforward. There is, of course, the hourly rate and total billable hours for any given matter, but that fails to look at all the different variables: differing rates by matter or client and time spent on the matter that can’t be billed to the client (or is eventually written off).

With so much technology at our fingertips, IT professionals always have some sort of new technological advancement to tackle. Any time you undertake a project that involves your computers, it is a good idea to have your IT team involved. Involving them early in the project can help to make the project proceed more smoothly.…

Electronic, or LEDES billing is a necessary, and often dreaded, process at many law firms. Between enforcing timekeeping with the appropriate LEDES codes, generating invoices that are in alignment with the client’s requirements and successfully submitting these invoices to various clearinghouses, e-billing can be time-consuming and downright frustrating for the back-office. With Zola’s advanced LEDES…

Communication with clients and prospective clients has always been very important. Due to the current climate, it is even now more important to ensure that clients and potential new clients are receiving the communications that they want, in the format that they want, and when they want them. Proper communication from everyone in a firm…