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Being an attorney is more difficult than ever.
Clients are more demanding. Advancements in technology require your immediate attention and feedback.
It may be difficult to effectively manage your workday without something slipping through the cracks, making practice management software an essential component of an effective law firm.
Many attorneys are not familiar with document automation and may use inefficient approaches to drafting documents.
The ISBA’s “Document Assembly Checklist” helps attorneys efficiently draft documents by educating them on using “gold-standard templates,” which are single, word processor documents containing all of the provisions, required and optional, that should be included for a given document.
There are many things to consider when hiring or changing managed services providers for your firm.
It’s essential to ensure that a potential provider is on the same page as you and can manage your firm’s expectations.
The ISBA’s “Essential Questions for Your Managed Services Provider” document serves as a cheat sheet with the top 10 questions to ask before hiring a provider, so you’ll know what you’re getting into and what to truly expect.
Succession planning is a necessary consideration for attorneys, regardless of whether they’re actively planning to close or merge a firm.
It’s important for lawyers to designate a representative who can take limited fiduciary action if the designating attorney loses the capacity to run his or her firm, abandons the practice, or dies.
The ISBA’s “Succession Planning Checklist” provides guidance when considering the various scenarios that may necessitate an attorney handing over the reins.
There are many reasons why firms close, some planned and some unplanned.
Regardless of the reason, the ethical duties of the attorneys in these situations are similar—to protect the clients’ interests. While there are no specific rules covering what lawyers need to do when closing a practice, there are basic ethical obligations.
The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission’s “Basic Steps to Ethically Closing a Law Practice,” which can be found on Practice HQ, provides forms and suggested procedures to assist attorneys in closing a firm while meeting their ethical obligations.
Every firm needs a technology budget to function effectively.
But when you’re budgeting for equipment that is critical to the day-to-day operation of your firm, it’s important to consider where you need to spend a little bit more money and where you can cut back.
The ISBA’s “Building a Technology Budget” document provides best practice tips on technology purchases, from how much you should spend on computers to whether you should use open source software or purchase it.
Most law firms could do more to protect their data.
Whether the firm lacks the awareness of security policies or merely does not have enough security restrictions, the firm is unknowingly putting business information at risk.
A tornado is one of the most violent and destructive types of storms, often developing with little to no advance warning.
Parts of Illinois are particularly susceptible to tornadoes, so it’s important for law firms to be prepared for such an occurrence.
Starting a new law firm can be an incredibly exciting endeavor, but it can also be daunting to navigate the process and face the unknown.
After all, attorneys must consider everything from software to practice management to client services.
Law firms often make easy targets for ransomware attacks.
The primary reason is that firms are late to the security game. Criminals target firms with ransomware because they have low security, very sensitive data, and will pay to keep it.