For solo/small practitioners, innovative technology can be a great leveller when it comes to competing with major law firms, even those with international offices. When used strategically, IT tools such as Voice Over IP (VOIP) telephony, cloud-based storage, and credit card payment programs designed for law offices can allow solo/small practitioners to match big firm resources at a small firm price.
Here are five great levellers:
VOIP Telephony: Big business service at a budget price
Voice Over IP telephony (VOIP) simply refers to the carriage of telephone calls as data packets over the web, rather than over traditional phone lines. This approach is a natural cost-saver for law firms, since the web doesn’t charge extra for carrying calls around North America, the way that traditional telephone companies do. Add the fact that web-based telephone systems let users choose their North America area codes – meaning that a solo practitioner’s office in small-town Ontario can have VOIP numbers assigned to New York and Los Angeles area codes – and it is easy for a small law firm to create an international presence very cost-effectively.
A case in point: Using the Ooma Office VOIP telephone system, a solo practitioner can add extra phone lines with area codes anywhere in North America for just $9.99/month per line; unlimited North American calling and numerous call management services (including voice mail and a virtual receptionist) included. And you won’t have to do extra wiring to support an Ooma VOIP system: Just plug in Wifi-Enabled Linx extension boxes into power outlets anywhere you want phones, and you’re set.
RingCentral is another VOIP telecom system: For $24.99/month/line (for 2-19 users; less for larger groups), you get voice, fax, a virtual PBX to manage incoming calls, unlimited North American calling, intercom, business SMS, paging, and a range of other features. “We use RingCentral to interconnect our group of solo practitioners into a big virtual entity,” said Omar Ha-Redeye of Fleet Street Law, a Toronto-based “legal incubator” that provides extensive professional support to solo and small practitioners throughout the GTA. “It gives us and our clients big-law-firm service and presence, at a fraction of the price.”
All hail the cloud
Whether for sending or receiving data for clients, or ensuring that important documentation is always available at the click of an internet-enabled mouse button, the “cloud” is incredibly useful for solo/small practitioners. (Caveat: Some legal documents cannot be stored off-premises for regulatory reasons; check with your relevant law society for details.)
Free cloud services such as Dropbox.com are fine for publicly-available documents that don’t require stringent security. For those legal documents that do, a paid subscription service such as that offered by Clio is a smart option for lawyers of all corporate sizes.
“I no longer worry about hauling packed suitcases of documents when I’m in motion,” said Ha-Redeye. “With Clio, I can download whatever I need, wherever I may be.”
Suddenly, cash flow is a cinch!
As any lawyer will tell you, getting clients to pay is one of their biggest hassles. Many take months to pay their bills; up to 15 per cent never pay at all (based on U.S. payment realization numbers).
This doesn’t happen to businesses that require payment by credit card, which is why solo/small practitioners should consider added credit cards to their payment options. LawPay is a U.S.-based “legal payment by credit card” platform that has just become available in Canada. Using LawPay – and a plug-in Square Credit card reader for iPhone for $9.95, an enterprising lawyer can receive payment for services when rendered.
Worth noting: LawPay can separate earned and unearned fees in compliance with Canada’s Law Society Act, ByLaw 9, and the Lawyer’s Professional Code of Conduct. The service only deducts processing fees from a lawyer’s operating account, leaving trust or IOLTA accounts untouched.
“Aside from specific regulatory requirements, the traditional trust account-into-operating account payment structure is not the only way to run a law firm,” said Jeremy Hessing-Lewis, Technical Director at the Skunkworks Creative Group, a Vancouver firm that helps law firms with multimedia marketing. “Small firms are better equipped to experiment with these new fee models that can be combined with new payment technologies,” Hessing-Lewis said. “Examples include fixed-fee services, ongoing monthly retainers, and the insourcing of corporate counsel.”
Who needs a fax machine?
The decision to allow lawyers to submit documents by fax was a great innovation. But it came about before the Internet had really taken hold. Today, compelling lawyers to fax documents when emails with attachments are just as verifiable is a nuisance, but an ongoing legal requirement.
Fortunately, there’s eFax: an online virtual fax machine that allows lawyers to fax documents from and to their computers (or smartphones) via the web. Virtually faxing documents is akin to attaching documents to an email. The eFax service takes the emailed content and faxes it directly to the recipient’s fax machine, while the company’s bank of actual fax numbers allows it to receive faxes on its clients’ behalf – and then send them on as email attachments. The service costs $12.49 month with a free 30-day trial – and you need never buy a real fax machine (nor pay for a fax machine phone number) again.
Skype: Truly affordable videoconferencing
For years, videoconferencing was too expensive to be used by any but the biggest law firms, due to the cost of equipment and telephone. But today? Using Skype and a smartphone/tablet/laptop’s built-in video camera and microphone, anyone can hold videoconferences very, very cheaply. In fact, video calls between Skype subscribers are free. Audio and video connections outside of Skype are available at affordable rates.
Need to class things up? Just take a digital photo of a wall of leather-bound legal reference books, have a poster made at Staples and hang it behind your chair when doing videoconference calls. You’ll strike the right Big Law Firm tone!
James Careless is a freelance journalist.