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Law Firm Productivity: How Rocket Matter Simplifies Your Practice
Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” While this saying may ring true for many endeavors, running a busy law firm is generally not one of them.
And by that, we mean this: running a law firm is pretty darn complicated.
From tending to the needs of a wide variety of clients to managing projects with ever-shifting timelines, wrangling ongoing tasks like billing and invoicing, and (lest we forget) maintaining compliance with legal industry standards, keeping your firm on the path to success is anything but simple.
Many legal professionals struggle to keep up with the moving parts of their law firm's day-to-day operations, but it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, the right tools can go a long way toward making your life a lot easier.
In this article, we’ll explore some common challenges that most law firms face and show you how Rocket Matter can take these processes from disordered to da Vincian with just a few clicks.
Challenge 1: Disjointed document storage
While many law firms have embraced digital tools with open arms, a fair few still rely on antiquated tools like folders and filing cabinets or, worse, non-industry-specific document management software.
Using outdated methods like these can cause organizational headaches like improperly categorized documents or compliance issues that come from not securely storing confidential client information.
The solution: Document management software that keeps your files on one secure platform
Instead of spending your time searching through manila folders, you can use legal-specific document management tools to keep all of your data on one convenient (and secure) platform.
With Rocket Matter’s document management software, you can:
- Quickly and easily digitize all your paper documents and immediately access them
- Create folders, sub-folders, and tags for documents that reflect your practice areas, client groups, and more
- Access your files at anytime from anywhere with cloud-based access
- Create digital legal documents instantly with customizable document templates
Challenge 2: Muddled hours with manually tracked time
For plenty of attorneys, the end of the week is usually the time that’s designated to sit down and input their billable hours so they can get paid.
This process might involve sifting through sticky notes, leafing through notebooks, and trying to recall anything that might not have been jotted down during the working week.
The issue here is that your billable hours and income can be directly affected by faulty memory and user error. This means that you might end up underbilling your clients, which costs you money, or overbilling clients, which can cost you your reputation. (Not to mention, adding things up at the end of the week adds an extra task to your to-do list.)
12 Legal Payment Processing Features to Look For
Want to see a healthier cash flow and happier clients? Start accepting payments online! On your quest for the right payment processor, look for features that streamline and support the way law firms operate.
The solution: Use time-tracking software to automatically track every billable minute
When you use Rocket Matter’s time-tracking software, every second of your billable time gets accounted for because you don’t have to leave anything up to guesswork or memory. With our software, you can:
- Use timers to record your tasks in real-time with the click of a button
- Set multiple timers that start and stop when you switch what you’re working on so you can transition seamlessly from one task to the next
- Track time even if you’re on the go with mobile access
- Add LEDES billing codes when entering time and expenses
- Easily generate time and expense reports for client transparency
All of this can be done in real time. Congratulations, and you have your Friday afternoon back!
Challenge 3: Project management pitfalls
If you’re handling legal projects that require collaboration between team members, but you take a manual approach to project management, you’ve likely experienced some project management snafus here and there.
These snafus might look like:
- Missed deadlines
- Bottlenecks
- Redundant communication
- Lack of project transparency
- Miscommunication
- Client frustration
In short, there is no shortage of issues that can come up when you’re trying to manage projects without a modern project management system.
The solution: Software with built-in project management tools to increase visibility
When everyone is on the same page, it’s easier to make progress. With Rocket Matter’s project management software, you can eliminate the frustration of not knowing who is doing what and when they’re doing it. Instead of sending annoyed emails asking for status updates (or receiving them!), Rocket Matter helps law firms collaborate and deliver the results on time from one shared platform.
Here’s what our project management solution can do for you:
- Easily create automated, custom workflows that contain their own calendars, data, and tasks so you can keep your team on the ball
- Keep communication breezy with an internal messaging tool that will alert your team if the status of a case has changed or work has been completed
- Use Kanban boards to visualize all your matters and easily prioritize the work that needs to be done with drag-and-drop case statuses
Challenge 4: Billing and invoicing brouhahas
Like manually tracking your time, going through the billing and invoicing process by hand is time-consuming and can cause serious issues for your firm if you don’t get it right.
If you’re underbilling, you’re not getting paid what you’re owed, but if you’re overbilling, you can end up dealing with costly client disputes that can eat away at your billable hours, negatively impact your firm's financial health, and damage your reputation in the community.
The solution: Billing and invoicing automation that saves time, reduces user errors, and promotes client transparency
By switching to invoicing and billing software like Rocket Matter, you can make billing issues and client disputes a thing of the past.
We provide you with robust tools that include:
- Batch invoicing for clients with similar matter types and line items
- Customizable invoice templates that reduce the heavy lifting for your billing department
- Generate detailed invoices that clearly outline services provided and minimize the chance of client disputes
- Recurring billing for clients with ongoing matters
- Paperless pre-bills that reduce the time (and paper) it takes to get invoices approved and out the door
Keep your practice management simple with Rocket Matter
If you’re dealing with the intricacies of running a law firm with a lot of moving parts, you need tools that are going to help you work smarter, not harder.
Rocket Matter was designed to provide legal professionals with everything they need to get the job done right.
From billing and invoicing solutions that get you paid on time and put your clients at ease to document and project management solutions to ensure your team always has what it needs, we’ve got you covered.
Ready to see what Rocket Matter can do for you? Sign up for your free trial today.
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