In many firms, “succession planning” is important, but not urgent. It is human nature to deal with tactical issues and delay any strategic initiatives, but many professionals do not have an end-goal in mind. Many believe that they will “die at their desks.” However, no one can remain in a leadership role forever. Succession planning is a critical component to maintaining and growing the business by maintaining current talent and developing future leaders. It is a continuing process and has to become part of the culture.

Goodbye 2020 and hello to 2021! As we kick off a new year, we asked some of our partners to make some predictions on what we can expect to see across the legal industry in 2021.

Personal injury cases are complex and so, too, are the workflows involved in managing them. Zola’s Suite’s end-to-end practice management platform is loaded with specialized tools that help personal injury firms streamline processes, increase productivity and maximize profitability. Zola’s Settlement Management tools enable firms to efficiently manage settlement allocations and seamlessly generate settlement memos for all parties, even referring attorneys.

Each year, the Zola Suite development team releases hundreds of updates and dozens of new features to help law firms be more efficient and profitable. While it can be difficult to narrow down our list of favorites, Zola Suite users have spoken, and based on their feedback, we’re pleased to share our top 10 releases of 2020.

As the business of law continues to change, Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSP) are becoming a more integral part of the legal industry. Law firm clients continue to investigate the best solutions to suit their needs. In today’s competitive environment, it is important that all businesses use the most competent and cost-effective provider to service them. Many businesses are now providing services that lawyers traditionally provided. They include: Litigation Support, Litigation/Legal Research, Document Review, E-Discovery, Regulatory Risk, and Compliance.

It’s safe to say that 2020 threw us all a curveball. Despite the hardships this year brought, the legal industry rose to the challenge, adapting operations and offering new services to help clients through these unprecedented times. We asked Zola partners to share some of the trends they witnessed in 2020 and how they may affect the transition to cloud-based solutions. In part two of this series, these legal technology experts also share their predictions for what’s to come in 2021.

Has your firm’s growth stalled? Are you struggling to scale your operations or your team? It’s often hard to pinpoint one reason why a firm seems to be stuck in neutral, cruising along but not accelerating. The cause is often a combination of things ranging from ineffective teams and poor processes to inadequate systems and subpar reporting. While restructuring your teams and bringing in fresh talent may not be an easy fix, correcting the processes and systems that are holding your practice back can be an easier feat to tackle; one that will yield immediate results and ultimately help you hit the gas on growth.

It may not feel like it, but the end of the year is fast approaching! Between running reports for shareholders, generating 1099s for every vendor, and figuring out employee bonuses, there can be a lot to deal with and you don’t want to be scrambling to do it all at the last minute.

The average person spends 28% of the workweek reading and responding to email. With so much of one’s day spent on this task, it should come as no surprise that numerous studies have shown that email can lead to anxiety. One of the major causes of this stress: it feels like it’s never done.