One of the most recurring processes you go through as an attorney is billing, particularly hourly billing. It’s the standard practice, but it can also lead to miscommunication or conflict with clients. Legal work takes time and hours accumulate, which can sometimes leave your client feeling like the bill is increasing beyond their expectations. You might want to consider offering a billing structure that is more straightforward and transparent in this case. There are alternatives that can remain beneficial to you and be more attractive to clients. Alternative billing structures exist to offer a more convenient and clear billing process and workflow for you, while also helping manage your clients expectations/avoid confusion. Alternative structures provide a more results-based approach by which lawyers can set clear expectations for their clients through their estimate of any particular type of work (and potentially receive more legal retainers).   

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But how do you do that? How does a lawyer set or estimate rates? Well there’s legal software built specifically for that, actually. Some legal software can help you keep a more precise record of your team's workflow to ensure you can properly estimate work based on your own/firm’s precedents. There are a number of ways you can restructure your legalops to incorporate software that can be quite beneficial to your practice. If you’re considering incorporating software into your practice, (now known as the colloquial term “legal-tech”) and don’t know where to start, here are some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve compiled for you!

1. What is LegalTech? 

LegalTech is a broad category used in the legal profession encompassing software built to be used within a law firm to advance, address and/or alleviate daily undertakings, or by legal consumers to directly find solutions to their legal issues. At Lumose we focus only on the former - this can be anything from case management software, to software for legal documents like document automation tools, to accounting software, however we also talk about service providers like IT firms who won’t offer software products but still help to operate a digital practice securely.  We take a holistic approach to legal tech and offer reviews for a wide range of service providers that fall under the LegalTech umbrella. 

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Restructuring your LegalOps team to account for legal technology can be advantageous in more ways than one. You can save on time and run your practice more efficiently. You can enhance client intake. Not to mention, you can also expand your firm’s marketability since the consumer base is increasingly seeking out technological competence and speed in lawyers, as well as convenient services. 

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2. If I only have 3 hours to dedicate to researching tools to streamline my firm, what should I spend those 3 hours on? 

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Hour 1: 

General Google search to determine what kind of service you’re looking for (case management, contract review, notarization, legal accounting, IT, etc.)  

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Hour 2: 

Once you’ve figured out what service you’re looking for, visit lumosemarketplace.com to look through your options and read through the service features, prices and reviews for free, to gain a better idea of which ones are a better fit for you.  

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Hour 3:

Get in touch with your preferred service provider(s) to raise any other questions or concerns that may not have been addressed through your research. They may be able to give you direct answers specific to your legal practice about cost, onboarding, timing, additional services offered, logistics, etc. 

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3. As legal-tech experts.. What are your critiques of legal-tech? 

The problem with legal-tech is there is a community of educators or legal-tech vendors who talk a lot about legal-tech this, legal-tech that, legal-tech EVERYTHING, but not everyone is a legal-tech expert. Some lawyers just want to be lawyers, not the world’s most modern lawyer, and that’s fair. In fact, that’s a good question. What are everyone’s aspirations within their firm? Is your goal this year to take on only cases you truly enjoy? To increase profit? To do something that’s still related to the legal industry but maybe not practice? Increase the sense of having served clients well? Narrow down your practice niche? Just like some people want to be healthy without being a health nut, lawyers want to run their business efficiently without being a tech bro.

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4. Are tech service providers/legal software going to solve all of my problems? 

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LegalTech doesn’t have to be the end-all-be-all solution. Sometimes your pain points or problems can be addressed with non-tech solutions. LegalTech can be very useful and very valuable in many respects but when you’re a small business, sometimes it’s a matter of weighing out the costs and benefits of each solution. By providing this comparison platform, Lumose helps you determine which solution is right for you - whether that be a tech one or not. 

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5. Onboarding: How long does it take to implement legal software? 

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Just like every other legal answer ever… it DEPENDS. For example, it can depend on a number of different aspects, such as:   

• Is your staff already accustomed to using software to complete tasks and you’re just switching to a competitor, or are you introducing software to a previously manual process?
• More importantly, is your staff capable of switching to a new system if required to do so?
• Have you ever had software that addresses the specific problem you’re looking to solve? This can determine how rigorous the onboarding process will look like 
• Is the software known by other lawyers (reviews) for being user-friendly or easily adaptable? 
• Is the software/service addressing several problems, thus requiring more training/onboarding?

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I know what you’re thinking, I don’t have time for this… I don’t have time for the hours that are required of researching, contacting different service providers, or onboarding my team, etc. There’s never a convenient time to implement tech, but you should also consider the time it will save you in the long run. By offering a quick and convenient comparison platform, we help you avoid wasting your time. Restructuring your LegalOps doesn’t have to be complicated; you just have to know how to look for the tools you need more efficiently and effectively.  

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6. How can I choose the right tech solution for my firm? 

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Finding the right tech solution can be difficult, the legaltech space is growing which means that there are new service providers on the market constantly - it’s hard to keep up! That’s what Lumose is here for, we cut down your research time by offering a comparison platform with unbiased reviews of different legal software in categories such as: 

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• Category: Drafting & Review 

• Subcategory: Document Automation Software, Contract Review Software, Notarization Software;

• Category: Firm Growth & Client Intake

• Subcategory: Lawyer marketplaces, Social media freelancers, Client intake software, Marketing software, Marketing assistants or agencies, Referral networks, Website developers, Law firm consultants, Paralegal recruiting agencies, Digital presence;  

• Category: Accounting & CRM 

• Subcategory: Contracted legal accountants, Accounting software, Case management software, Audit resources; 

• Category: Administrative & IT

• Subcategory: Insurance, Court runners, Web to mail, Transcription services, Court transcribers, IT services, Deposition, Contracted paralegal services  

• Category: Litigation and Professional Development 

• Subcategory: Legal research software, Record retrieval software, Litigation analytics, Translation services, Document annotation, Citations, Strategic planning; 

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The easiest way to find a provider is to search the category of service you’re looking for, for example, “case management” into the search bar, which you can then also sort by price. 

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7. Is LegalTech “the future”?

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It’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed and intimidated by LegalTech because a lot of people speak about it being “the future” but it doesn’t have to be that dramatic. I mean, yes, it kind of is the future because, have you seen the shift to remote work since the pandemic?! But as we mentioned earlier, LegalTech does not have to be overhyped, it’s simply a matter of staying informed on what tools and services are available to help address some of the most recurring issues that legal practitioners face. If you think about it, the legal industry has been steadily adopting tech for years now. There is little reason to be alarmed. Our mission at Lumose is to ensure that small law firms, lawyers and paralegals are empowered by and equipped with the right tools to help them remain competitive and keep up with the profession’s growing trends/needs. 

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8. Is LegalTech software expensive?

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It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s why Lumose offers a centralized platform, to make it easier for you to be able to discover/compare service providers and look at how much their services cost. Our go-to platform will help inform your research, make the process more transparent, and ultimately help you decide whether the investment of implementing technology is worth it or not based on your budget before making the commitment of hiring a service.  

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