How to Leverage Your Time Effectively

How to Leverage Your Time Effectively

Being an attorney means handling countless day-to-day tasks in the face of ever-changing case requirements and deadlines. You always have so much to do, and it can be difficult and possibly overwhelming to manage your time. Your time is a valuable, finite resource. It’s impossible to create more of it, and doing it all yourself can lead to overwhelm and burnout. But you can increase your productivity, achieve your goals more efficiently, and keep your clients happy.

This article shares tips and resources to help you leverage your time effectively so that you can deliver excellent legal services while also enjoying a high quality of life. Please note that we may earn a commission when you click on some of the links below and make a purchase. However, this does not impact our recommendations and we only promote products that we truly believe are relevant and useful to attorneys like you who want to improve the business side of a small or solo law firm.

Here are some ideas you can put into practice right now to help you work more efficiently, reduce your workload, and provide better service to your clients.

Use Legal Technology to Streamline Your Work

Technology has completely changed the practice of law, and there is software or an app for nearly everything you do. When you use legal technology tools to automate routine tasks it can help you save time, reduce errors, and free up your attention to focus on the more complex legal work that only you can handle.

Here are top examples of the types of legal tech that can help you organize the day-to-day management of your law firm and leverage your time effectively.

Clio

Clio is a software company that provides its law firm clients with cloud-based practice management software. Clio’s platform can help you:

• Manage cases
• Track time
• Generate invoices
• Communicate with clients
• Store documents securely in the cloud

The software Clio provides is designed to:

• Streamline workflows
• Increase efficiency
• Reduce administrative overhead for legal professionals

In addition to their core practice management software, Clio also offers integrations with a variety of other legal software tools and services, which includes:

• Document automation
• E-signature
• Payment processing platforms

Clio’s headquarters are in Canada, but the company serves law firms in over 100 countries around the world.

MyCase

MyCase is a cloud-based law practice management software that helps attorneys manage their:

• Cases
• Contacts
• Documents
• Billing
• Time tracking

MyCase provides many features, including:

• Client portal
• Document management
• Calendar and scheduling
• Task management
• A mobile app

MyCase can help you streamline your law firm operations as well as improve communication with your clients. When using MyCase, your firm can easily manage cases and documents anytime, from anywhere, and on any device that has an internet connection.

Their software is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, with a focus on helping legal professionals like you save time and increase efficiency. MyCase also provides a range of integrations with third-party applications like QuickBooks and Dropbox so you can automate and connect your workflows.

LawPay

LawPay is an online payment processing company that specializes in legal industry payment processing. LawPay offers an easy-to-use, secure payment solution that enables your law firm to accept credit card and eCheck payments from clients.

This platform is designed to help you manage your law firm billing and collections processes more efficiently while, at the same time, ensuring that payments are processed securely and in compliance with legal industry requirements.

They offer a range of features specifically tailored to the legal industry, such as trust account support which allows you to securely accept and manage client funds that are held in trust. They also offer integrations with popular legal software platforms, including Clio and MyCase, to help you streamline payment processing and improve workflow efficiency.

Rocket Matter

Rocket Matter is a cloud-based legal practice management software that helps law firms manage their:

• Clients
• Cases
• Documents
• Billing

Rocket Matter provides a range of features, including:

• Time and expense tracking
• Document management
• Calendaring and scheduling
• Task management
• Reporting

Rocket Matter is designed to assist law firms like yours with streamlining operations and improving productivity. Rocket Matter software provides a central location for all of your firm’s case-related information. This makes it easier for you to stay organized and collaborate with your team members. Rocket Matter also provides integrations with third-party applications, such as QuickBooks and Dropbox so you can connect and automate your workflows.

Rocket Matter also offers a mobile app so you can access your case information and manage your work on the go. Their app is available for both iOS and Android devices.

PracticePanther

PracticePanther is a cloud-based practice management software that provides a range of tools and feature to help your law firm manage:

• Clients
• Cases
• Time tracking
• Billing
• Invoicing

This software is designed to assist your firm with:

• Streamlining operations
• Improving communication
• Increasing efficiency

PracticePanther provides many features, including:

• Contact management
• Document management
• Calendar and scheduling
• Task management

PracticePanther also offers integrations with third-party applications, including QuickBooks and Zapier, so you can connect and automate your workflows. The software is accessible from any location, at any time, and on any device that has an internet connection.

In addition, PracticePanther provides a client portal that enables your legal clients to:

• Access their case information
• Communicate with you
• Make payments

TimeSolv

TimeSolv is a cloud-based legal billing and timekeeping software that provides a wide range of features to help your law firm streamline billing and time tracking processes, including:

• Time tracking
• Invoicing
• Trust accounting
• Reporting

TimeSolv provides a user-friendly interface that allows both attorneys and other legal professionals to easily track:

• Time
• Expenses
• Work on individual projects or cases

TimeSolv is designed to integrate with popular legal practice management software, such as Clio and Rocket Matter, to create a seamless workflow for your firm. This software also provides e-billing and trust accounting features, which allows you to easily manage client funds and comply with legal industry requirements.

TimeSolv also provides reporting and analytics features so you can track performance and identify areas for improvement.

Everlaw

Everlaw is a cloud-based litigation and eDiscovery platform designed for:

• Law firms
• Corporate legal departments
• Government agencies

Everlaw provides a wide range of features designed to help legal professionals manage the discovery process, including:

• Document review
• Data analysis
• Collaboration tools

This software allows you to upload and process large volumes of data quickly and efficiently. Everlaw also provides tools for document analysis and review, including:

• Advance search and filtering capabilities
• Predictive coding
• Machine-learning algorithms

Everlaw software also includes collaboration tools, such as shared annotations and notes, to help your legal team work together more efficiently. The software is customizable and includes data security and compliance features to ensure sensitive client information remains protected.

NetDocuments

NetDocuments is a cloud-based document management software that is designed for:

• Law firms
• Corporate legal departments
• Other professional services firms

NetDocuments provides a wide ranges for features designed to help legal professionals manage documents more efficiently, such as:

• Document storage
• Version control
• Collaboration tools

This software allows you to store, access, and share documents securely from any device that has an internet connection. Version control tools ensure the most current version of a document is always available. Collaboration tools, such as commenting and document sharing can help your legal team work together more efficiently.

NetDocuments software is designed to be highly secure and compliant with legal industry regulations, including HIPAA and GDPR. The software uses advanced security features, including data encryption and multi-factor authentication, to protect client’s information.

Delegate Work to Support Staff and Colleagues

In addition to implementing legal technology solutions, there are many ways you can delegate tasks and augment staff to increase efficiency, manage workload, and grow your small or solo law firm. You could hire staff under flexible working arrangements such as part-time, freelance, or remote work. These days there are lots of online solutions to help you fill in the gaps.

Whether you’re looking for resources that are legally-trained or more generalist in nature, here are some top providers to get you started.

Where to Find Legal Professionals

Partnering with other lawyers or firms to share resources and expertise can be especially useful in areas where you may not have a lot of experience or knowledge. Contract lawyers can provide temporary or project-based legal services, allowing you to handle a higher volume of work without adding permanent staff.

HireCounsel

Hire Counsel is a legal consulting and staffing firm that provides legal talent solutions to:

• Law firms
• Corporations
• Government agencies

HireCounsel offers a broad range of services which include:

• Contract staffing
• Direct-hire staffing
• Project staffing
• Document review services
• E-discover solutions

Contract staffing from HireCounsel provides law firms and corporate legal departments with temporary legal professionals, including:

• Lawyers
• Paralegals
• Legal support staff

HireCounsel’s direct-hire staffing services can help your law firm find and hire full-time legal professionals. Their project staffing services can also help you find experienced legal professionals for project-based work, such as compliance projects and litigation support.

HireCounsel’s e-discovery solutions offer end-to-end support for all phases of the electronic discovery process including data collection, data processing, and document review.

UpCounsel

UpCounsel is a legal staffing agency that can help you find and hire an experienced and vetted attorney on-demand to meet needs including:

• Managed review
• eDiscovery
• Talent acquisition
• Document conversion

You can view attorney profiles, ratings, and reviews, as well as request proposals from attorneys who may be a good fit for your firm’s needs. Their platform also provides tools that allow you to manage legal projects and communicate with contract lawyers in real-time.

Hire an Esquire

Hire an Esquire is a legal recruiting and staffing firm that specializes in connecting corporate legal departments, law firms, and other types of legal organizations with temporary and permanent legal professionals on a flexible basis. They provide legal staffing solutions for a wide range of positions, including:

• Lawyers
• Paralegals
• Legal assistants

Hire an Esquire’s platform allows you to post job openings and receive proposals from qualified legal professionals. Their database includes legal professionals who have expertise in a wide range of practice areas, including:

• Litigation
• Corporate law
• Intellectual property

The Hire an Esquire team of recruiters works with law firms like yours to identify staffing needs as well as match you with the legal professionals you need. The company also provides a range of services designed to help you manage your flexible workforce, including:

• Payroll and benefits administration
• Compliance and risk management
• Employee training and development

Lexitas

Lexitas provides legal staffing, document review, and commercial contracts outsourcing as well as on-demand and project-based legal research and writing services to help law firms like yours with:

• Court reporting
• Record retrieval
• Legal talent outsourcing
• Registered agent
• Process service
• eLaw case tracking
• Alternative dispute resolution

Where to Find Non-Legal Virtual Assistants

Outsourcing non-legal tasks such as accounting, bookkeeping, marketing, and IT support to third-party service providers can help you focus on your core legal work while ensuring these essential tasks are handled effectively.

Virtual assistants can provide administrative support remotely and can be hired on an as-needed basis. This can help you manage your workload and increase efficiency without the added expense of a full-time employee.

Here are a few of the many virtual assistant services you can work with:

Zirtual

Zirtual offers a variety of plans and pricing options to suit your needs. You can choose from hourly packages or a monthly plan, as well as select the level of support you need based on the number of hours per week you require assistance. The company provides a dedicated account manager to serve as your point of contact and help ensure your needs are met.

Virtual Assistant USA

Virtual Assistant provides administrative, professional, and personal support services including, but are not limited to:

• Scheduling appointments
• Managing email and social media accounts
• Conducting research
• Data entry
• Bookkeeping
• Customer support

The virtual assistants who work for Virtual Assistant USA are highly experienced and skilled professionals who can handle a broad range of projects and tasks. The company offers a variety of plans and pricing options to suit the needs of different types of clients.

Virtual Assistant USA’s clients may choose from hourly packages or monthly plans and, from there, may also select the level of support they require based on the number of hours per week they need help. Additionally, Virtual Assistant USA provides an account manager for each client, who is a point of contact and helps to ensure that the needs of the client are met.

MyOutDesk

The virtual assistants who work at MyOutDesk are based in the Philippines. The company emphasizes that the assistants are highly trained, English-speaking professionals who are dedicated to helping their clients succeed. They provide remote marketing and administrative assistance including:

• Appointment scheduling
• Email management
• Data entry
• Social media management
• Other administrative and marketing tasks

MyOutDesk also offers a range of tools and resources to help businesses manage their virtual assistance effectively, including:

• Productivity tools
• Training resources
• Support from a team of experienced managers

BELAY

Belay Solutions provides remote administrative and business support services including:

• Executive assistance
• Bookkeeping
• Social media management
• Project management
• Website and design development

Belay Solutions uses a rigorous screening process to ensure their virtual assistants have the necessary skills to provide you with high-quality support. The company prides itself on providing personalized service to every one of its clients.

How to Make Your Time Worth Even More

No matter which of the steps suggested above you decide to take to help leverage your time more effectively, it will have a positive effect on your efficiency, your work, and your clients’ satisfaction. One of the most important things to consider when approaching this issue is which tasks are the most profitable for you and your firm and whether or not you have the capacity to give those tasks top priority.

If you’re spending your high-dollar-value time on low-level tasks, you are wasting real money. Get honest about the value of your time as an attorney, and start reserving it for closing clients, working on your cases, and handling upper management issues. Because your valuable time is not well spent handling paralegal work, settling a dispute in the office, or keeping supplies stocked. While coffee is extremely valuable, making sure the office supply doesn’t run out is something that can be handled by a member of your support staff. To bring in the greatest return on the investment of your time, use any of the tips or providers listed above.

And of course we recommend you give LegalMatch a try!

Get LegalMatch Working for You

One of the most effective ways to leverage your time is to rely on LegalMatch. LegalMatch makes finding new clients easy. Nearly a million individuals visit the website every month seeking legal assistance and our platform saves you time and money by helping you connect with them and leverage your time effectively. As a LegalMatch member, you get:

More Exposure

By joining the LegalMatch attorney network, you can be seen by many more potential clients. Your membership includes a professional profile on our high-traffic platform, where you can let potential clients know why you would be a good fit for their legal issue. This can save you time and resources that would otherwise be spent on marketing efforts to reach new clients.

Targeted Client Matching

Our advanced algorithm matches you with clients who are seeking legal services in your practice area and geographic location. This allows you to spend less time sifting through leads and more time focusing on your legal work. We screen all the cases clients submit so that you only receive the kind of cases relevant you want to consider.

Greater Efficiency and Streamlined Communication

The LegalMatch platform includes tools and resources that can help you streamline your workflow, increase efficiency, and keep all communication in one centralized location.
When a potential client matches with your profile, you receive email notifications and can review potential clients’ case details to decide whether or not you want to accept the case. You can even do this straight from your mobile device on the LegalMatch app.

If you decide to accept the case, you can send a message to the client through our messaging platform. If the potential client determines that you are the right lawyer for them, they can contact you directly at the email or office phone number you provide. From there, you can set up the initial phone, online, or in-person consultation with your new client. LegalMatch also offers a document management system that allows attorneys to securely store and share documents with clients.

Be Our Guest

To learn more about how LegalMatch can help you leverage your time effectively, request your attorney membership guest pass and view the case opportunities that are available now in your location and practice area.