The earliest days of any legal practice are always the most cash-poor. This is why lawyers in new practices need to know which software and hardware they really need to buy first, to get their businesses launched and billable hours logged.
Must-have software
Law offices are specialized businesses that follow specific operating and accounting rules. The key to meeting these regulatory conditions, while keeping manpower costs to a minimum, is to buy the right software.
“If you want an all-in-one legal accounting software that covers all the bases, then choose PCLaw,” says Garry J. Wise. He is founder of Toronto’s Wise Law Office, and writes the Wise Law Blog (wiselaw.blogspot.ca). “PCLaw is clearly the industry standard with everything needed to handle matter, billing and account management,” he says.
Although expensive, the software does come with a free 30-day trial. “As well, if you use PCLaw, you can be sure that the Law Society will be absolutely satisfied with the way you’re keeping records,” says Wise.
For those who prefer to do their law firm management “in the cloud,” there’s Clio (www.goclio.com). Clio is a cloud-based practice management, time and billing and client collaboration platform. It is accessible on web-connected computers, tablets and smartphones.
“With PCLaw, you have to purchase a licence for each lawyer,” says Sara R. Cohen. Specializing in fertility law, Cohen is a partner at D2Law LLP, a Toronto law firm she runs with husband/legal partner Anatoly Dvorkin. “The problem is that you have to download the program to the lawyer's computer, and can't access it from anywhere,” Cohen explains. "With Clio, you just access your files on whatever device you happen to be using without paying extra licence fees.”
The next thing a start-up law office needs is a legal reference library. Thankfully, the days of buying actual books has passed, thanks to online references such as the Canadian Law Information Institute (CanLII; www.canlii.org).
“CanLII is an excellent site for legal searches, and spares you the huge cost of investing in actual books,” says Wise. “Besides, you can access CanLII while you’re on the road or in court. It’s so useful that my firm has developed and published a free iPhone app called WiseLII that lets you search CanLII on your iPhone.”
Omar Ha-Redeye knows all about launching a legal practice. He opened his family law office in June 2011. Today, Ha-Redeye has both a head office in downtown Toronto, and satellite offices around the GTA.
Ha-Redeye singles out automation as “the most effective tool for start-ups, for producing commonly-needed documents cost-effectively,” he says. This is why Ha-Redeye recommends using software such as DivorceMate (for working out separation/custody arrangements) and a site he himself runs, MySupportCalculator.ca.
MySupportCalculator allows users to calculate legally-accurate child/spousal support arrangements calculations online. Ha-Redeye also recommends Michael Carabash’s Will-O-Matic, which is “a very affordable product for the average consumers to keep expenses down,” he says.
As for word processing software? “You can use Microsoft Office, but Apache OpenOffice is really comparable, and it’s free,” says Wise. Meanwhile, to make and host a free website, Cohen recommends you try www.Weebly.com.
The right devices
Any start-up law office can expect to invest in some form of desktop/laptop computers, printers, and a fax machine. But there’s one other essential that all the lawyers interviewed for this article recommend: a portable scanner, specifically the Fujitsu ScanSnap.
The smallest ScanSnap available, the S1100, is about the size of a few 12" rulers stacked. But when connected to a laptop computer, the ScanSnap can scan full-sized legal documents into the computer’s hard drive.
“The ScanSnap is essential to our business,” Cohen says. “We don’t have to have assistants and clerks to handle paper documents for us. We just scan everything and keep it in our computers.”
A second must-have is a web-connected (Wi-Fi capable) tablet computer, be it an iPad, Android tablet, or BlackBerry PlayBook. “Tablets allow you to lookup references on CanLII while you’re in court,” says Garry Wise. “As well, judges don’t get offended by lawyers looking at tablets, and often welcome the information that can be found through these quick searches.”
Finally, Anatoly Dvorkin cites the Livescribe “smartpen” as another must-have. Small wonder: The Livescribe records both the pen strokes of the writer and the audio taking place during writing, which is done on special Anoto digital paper.
“Afterwards, the writer can tap on a specific word in the written text, and link automatically to the audio of what was said,” Dvorkin says. “I find this to be really helpful, since I am not that good at taking notes.”
Smart start-up cheat sheet
Software
Apache OpenOffice
DivorceMate
PCLaw
Will-O-Matic
Websites/Apps
CanLII: www.CanLII.org
Clio: www.goclio.com
MySupportCalculator.ca.
www.Weebly.com
WiseLII: www.wiselaw.net/wiselii.html
Useful hardware
Fujitsu ScanSnap portable scanner
Livescribe smartpen
Tablet (iPad, Android or BlackBerry PlayBook)