The journey out of the COVID-19 crisis has hit a new milestone of progress as governments across the world have begun easing lockdown restrictions placed upon citizens and businesses.
Locally within the ASEAN nations, Malaysia has announced its entry into the recovery phase of its MCO, Thailand has set its own date to lift restrictions as has Singapore as it enters its own post-CB period of recovery.
With many people heading back to the office and many businesses resuming operations, the question must be asked:
“Will legal firms retain the digital solutions that have helped them remain solvent during the lockdowns?”
Will legal firms simply rush back to the comfort of the “old normal” or will law firms learn to retain and utilize many of the digital solutions that were critical during the height of the first wave of COVID-19?
And while it goes without saying that LegalTech firms remain optimistic that the industry has indeed learned to overcome many of its tech-adverse qualities, it’s worth exploring the ways in which common digital solutions can still find utility in an industry returning back to a semblance of normal.
Remote Collaboration Tools
As people begin to head back to their office spaces, the critical tools used to connect each other to colleagues may begin to seem no longer necessary as face to face time replaces FaceTime.
And while it won’t be necessary to teleconference into work for many teams, the collaborations tools utilized will still very much remain important for firms moving forward into the changed landscape of the legal industry.
Team task management software, case management solutions and file sharing collaboration tools can continue to find use as they allow teams to remain up to speed with daily tasks while facilitating a level of cooperation that is untethered to a physical location.
In keeping important case files securely held in a digital space, firms empower their teams to work together while digital spaces conducive to communication allow for seamless collaboration.
The Verdict:
Keep utilizing team collaboration tools and continue transitioning physical case files into a digital space.
Digital Accounting Solutions
The inability to physically be in the office brought upon the need to manage not only the team collaboration aspect of firm operations in a digital space but also the financial aspect as well.
As invoicing, billings, spending reports and other necessary components of a firm’s accounting operations were no longer accessible, if reliant upon physical files, it became necessary to utilize digital solutions as a means of simply getting by.
Though, much like team collaboration tools, these digital accounting solutions can still find utility within law firms SOPs despite the return to the office.
Without mentioning the obvious security benefits and ease of collaboration, maintaining digital accounting solutions allows for something every firm should aim for; actionable data.
In keeping a thorough record of accounting within a digital space, records lend themselves to offering an overview of a law firm’s financial standing that can be used to make better informed decisions.
This overview can lead firms to plugging holes of waste or allow for a larger allocation of funds to aspects of the business that have proven to generate more income.
The Verdict:
Digital accounting solutions need to remain a core aspect of a firm’s bookkeeping as they allow for the utilization of data that can lead to better decision making within a firm’s finances.
So, as firms return back to their offices and a semblance of normality, it’s critical that they not rush back to the old way of doing business and abandon the potential for improvement that LegalTech, or tech in general, has allowed for during the lockdowns.
Questions? Comments?
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