Law firms cannot escape uncollectible fees and unrecoverable costs. Fees and disbursements that are not paid by a client have a direct effect on the firm’s profitability. Most service industries report income based on the cash method of accounting. As a result, income is recorded only when received. The only bad debt expenses will be the result of client costs that cannot be recovered. Any fees that are billed but not paid by the client represent lost income.

You’ve just heard from a client that they want you to start billing them electronically — and they don’t mean by email. They mention LEDES. What is LEDES? What do you do next? “LEDES” stands for Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard. LEDES billing is simply submitting your bill in a special format. The electronic bill is uploaded to a service, or clearinghouse, that reviews the bill to make sure it complies with certain rules and that all the calculations are correct. If the bill is approved, you will get paid. Let’s take a step-by-step look at the LEDES billing process.

Disasters can take many forms for an organization. They might include a compromised computer, a power outage, severe weather, an active shooter situation, a bombing, or a virus. Some of these situations are not as severe as others, but all need a plan to protect employees, clients, business partners, data, and files.

This week, our team is heading to Chicago for ABA TECHSHOW. Every year, we look forward to this event: tech-loving legal professionals, interesting sessions, and countless product announcements, all make for a wonderful three days. This year is even more special, it’s Zola Suite’s fifth anniversary! That’s right, we officially unveiled Zola Suite at TECHSHOW 2015 in a slightly warmer Chicago (the event took place in April that year).

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.

During our recent ALA webcast, The Flexible Law Firm: Is your practice ready to embrace a work from home program?, there were dozens of questions around technology solutions required for successful implementation of a work-from-home program. You need the right devices, the right processes and the right software that enforce accountability, keep your team connected and make your data accessible (while keeping it secure).

A work-from-home policy presents many benefits and drawbacks for a modern law firm. With a virtual law office, your firm will save on monthly rent costs and is likely to experience less employee turnover. However, remotely participating in meetings with clients and employees can be challenging when employees must rely on technology alone for critical communication. Luckily, there are affordable technologies available that will alleviate some of these challenges.

Inspired by the latest Netflix binge craze, “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” millions of Americans are decluttering. In the series, organizing expert Kondo travels to homes of stressed-out Americans to help them discard items that no longer spark joy and organize their living spaces in a meaningful way. Kondo contends that having little time or energy to organize can lead to anxiety and tension. As she explains in her best-selling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing: “In essence, tidying ought to be the act of restoring balance among people, their possessions, and the house they live in.”

The practice of law is complicated. A single case can involve multiple attorneys, dozens of files and hundreds of interactions among a law firm, clients, opposing counsel and courts. Given the vast scope of moving parts and operations of a legal matter, it is ripe for business process optimization.