9 Questions to Consider Before Choosing a Legal Practice Management System

How many cases did you successfully process last year? Do you know how profitable your law firm is? Is your contact list current and accurate? What are your most successful referral sources? If you’re struggling to pin down answers to these questions, it’s time to consider a legal practice management system (or replace one that’s just not cutting it).

Whether you’re a solo lawyer without a law firm CRM in place or a BigLaw firm looking to make the switch to something new, here are the 9 questions to ask before choosing a legal practice management system:

1. What kind of features do you need? Which features can you live without?

Before you begin your search, take a moment to consider and write down all of the legal technology features that are most important for you and your firm. Do you need calendaring? Accounting? What about in-system messaging? Write it all down. With your list in-hand, you’ll be far more prepared to speak with potential vendors about their offering. Generally, you can find an overview of features online, but it’s best to speak directly with the vendor to see if they offer any specialized or customizable features per firm or law type. Be prepared to explain your business goals to potential vendors and to share any relevant information that will help them understand your legal technology needs.

It’s important to be aware of vendors who rely on endless integrations, especially when it comes to the core features of the system. Whatever vendor you choose should be able to provide a full suite of products that fit your firm’s needs without relying on plugins and integrations that require additional subscriptions. Additionally, though it’s important to know what your firm’s specific needs are, it’s also recognize that there will be some limitations that come with choosing a case management system. Some limitations aren’t necessarily bad, but it is important to be clear on what those limitations are before you make a final decision.

Remember, the sign of a good vendor is that they’ll truly take the time to get to know you and your business, discuss your pain points, and demonstrated how their product can provide a solution for your firm.

2. Is it easy to access?

In today’s day and age, accessibility from all devices is a must. Any legal practice management software that you’re considering should be easy to access from your desktop, mobile, and any other device you may have. Keep in mind, however, that a designated mobile App isn’t necessary, but mobile responsiveness is a priority. For example, here at MerusCase, we chose not to over-engineer and create a downloadable App. Instead, we took a mobile-first approach and designed our product to be cloud-based and mobile responsive, which provides you access to the full suite of MerusCase features from any device with internet access.

3. How is the software implemented?

Find out how the process of getting started with your new vendor works. How is all of your data transferred into their product? Is this something that needs to be done from your end, or does the vendor provide support during this process? How much does it cost and how long does the process take? These are all great question to ask as you start to narrow down different options.

Be on the lookout for white-glove onboarding options, meaning the vendor should provide full data migration services as well as in-person or online training options with an actual human. No one wants to be stuck figuring out how to use a new technology product and go through the hassle of transferring their data. Your vendor should understand this and know how to make your move as simple as possible.

4. Is support provided? Does it cost extra?

After the software has been implemented, your vendor should understand that the hard work isn’t over—in fact, it’s just begun! Once your firm is up and running, a great legal tech vendor won’t just leave you stranded: they’ll work with you to make sure your firm’s employees are brought up to speed as quickly as possible, minimizing lost productivity. That said, if a vendor doesn’t provide training our ongoing support, it’s time to say “thanks, but no thanks” and move on as quickly as possible. No training or bad training can cost your firm thousands of dollars in lost productivity and leave your business worse off than it was before the software was implemented.

Things to look for? In-person trainings, round-the-clock support via email and phone, product documentation, and other resources that will help your firm use the product in a way that’s truly beneficial.

Download our free cloud-based legal practice management system comparison chart

5. Is it secure?

Whether considering a cloud-based or server-based system, make sure you’re aware of the system’s security measures and compliance with HIPAA policies. Here at MerusCase, we are serious about security, and your legal practice management provider should be, too! We implement SSL security encryption as well as database encryption to ensure that your data is safe while keeping everything in regulation with HIPAA. MerusCase also provides an option for HIPAA-compliant secure messages to keep your clients’ protected information secure.

6. Exactly how much is this going to cost?

Even if you’re looking for a new way to manage your firm, you most likely don’t want to drain your budget to make it happen. Discuss pricing options with your vendor and don’t forget to consider how the length of subscription or size of your firm might affect these options. What happens if you need to add additional users? What if you need to delete users? Do they charge for data storage or for having a large number of contacts? Will premium features cost you extra? Are discounts offered for annual licensing?

Know exactly how the pricing structure of a product works before you lock yourself into a commitment and be prepared to quantify how the return on investment of legal technology will benefit your firm.

7. Is it scalable?

Does your firm plan on expanding in the future? Will your case management system grow with your firm, or will you eventually reach a bottleneck? Inquire about what kind of firms the vendor provides for; are they mostly solo or do they have the capacity to handle BigLaw as well? Will you need to pay for large amounts of data storage? Do they cap the number of contacts or documents you can track through the system? A great law firm CRM should provide unlimited data, unlimited contacts, and unlimited licensing to easily allow your firm to grow and expand without becoming cost prohibitive.

8. Is the company reputable?

Don’t hesitate to question potential vendors about their users: how many do they have? In which states? What practice areas do they serve? If you really want to go the extra mile, you can even ask the vendor to connect you with a client whose firm is similar to yours. This way, you can really get the inside scoop from someone who’s had the chance to dig their heels into the product.

Additionally, be sure not to ignore the vendor’s online presence (or lack thereof). Do some online research to see if there are any reviews about the company, check out their social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog) to see if people have left any comments, concerns, or reviews in general, and how/if the company responds. Buy beware: if a tech company is lacking a healthy digital presence? Well, you might just want to reconsider.

9. Does the company offer a free trial or demo?

Test out the product before you use it! Be sure to ask for a free trial that will allow you to click around for yourself and decide if the practice management system is actually something you can make use of. Many vendors offer demos (MerusCase offers demos for free), so take advantage of that option and get the grand tour before making your final decision.

After considering these 9 key questions, you’ll be well on your way to finding the perfect legal practice management system for your firm. Do you have any other concerns or suggestions to take into account when considering a legal practice management system? Share them in the comments below!

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This post was written by Alisha Chakravarty, member of the MerusCase team.

4 Tips for Modernizing Your Law Firm

We have officially made it to the year 2016! In this era of innovation, technology is advancing as rapidly as ever, social trends are taking charge, and the overall way we conduct business is evolving, fast. With society shifting and changing at such a fast pace, it's important to take a moment to do a gut check and make sure your firm is keeping up!

Still using an AOL email address? Not exactly sure what a "Tweet" is? Haven't moved your firm to the cloud? All tell-tale signs that your firm may be stuck in the 90s. If your firm needs a swift kick in the pants when it comes to keeping up with the tech and social marketing trends, check out these tips on how to get modernized:

Upgrade Your Website

Is your law firm's website starting to feel a little...outdated? Has the content not changed at all in the last 12-18 months (or longer)? If this is the case, you may want to start thinking about a total revamp.

There are a plethora of resources, online tutorials, and content management platforms such as WordPress or SquareSpace that can help you build a more modern looking site with ease. Don't forget that, as of 2015, your firm’s website should also be optimized for mobile viewing! This is especially important because, today, over 50% of web browsing is done on mobile or tablet devices which means that it's time to go where your clients are.

Invest in Social Media

Social media has become the norm for companies across all industries. It's a great way to reach out to potential clients directly, see what your target market is talking about, quickly address any problems with your product or service, and easily connect with your current client base. Best of all, it's free!

Pro Tip: Keep your social media channels regularly updated with interesting content and incorporate social media buttons on your website in order to allow people to easily follow your firm. The important thing to remember is that, the less effort people have to put into engaging with your firm and content, the more likely they'll be to give you a follow!

Establish a Thought Leadership Blog

Keeping a blog will not only help your website with search result rankings (more content about your business = more opportunities for your content to show up in related search results), but it's also an opportune way to highlight your firm’s knowledge and expertise. Overall, blogging about niche topics is a great way to establish trustworthiness to potential clients and partners alike!

Not sure what to write about? Aim to publish articles and posts about your own success stories, achievements, and relevant topics in your industry to show the public that you are up-to-date and credible. Also, don’t forget to include social share buttons on your blog to allow your readers to easily share your content!

Go Paperless

Free your office of clutter and take the Eco-friendly paperless route for your firm. It may take a little getting used to at first, but it's more than worth it in the end. Remember: going paperless doesn't mean that absolutely no paper will be used in your office, it just means reducing your paper use in a intentional and reasonable way.

One simple way to get started (and really become a part of the 21st century) is to utilize a cloud-based legal practice management system, like MerusCase. With Merus, you can keep your existing data and will have access to tons of cool features that will make managing your firm far easier. Interested in trying MerusCase for your firm? Get 3 months of Merus free when you make the switch from your current legal practice management provider in February 2016!

And that's all we've got! Interested in learning more about law firm marketing or taking your law firm paperless? Check out our handy resources library where you can download these white papers and so much more!

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7 Ways to Have the Most Efficient Day Ever

Do you feel like constant interruptions and distractions are keeping you from having clear focus at work? If so, you're not alone! In fact, there's an entire field of work dedicated to the idea of figuring out how, when, and why humans are most productive. As much as we wish we could have more hours in our days, when it all boils down, we all have just 24 short hours to work with. With that in mind, it's essential that we use our time wisely and figure out how to best use those hours to maximize our efficiency.

If you're balancing a busy schedule and want to get more done in less time, here are 7 researched-backed ways to have a more efficient day (and no, it doesn't involve drinking copious amounts of caffeine):

Use time blocking to organize your day.

Instead of bouncing back and forth between half-finished tasks, take the time to schedule your day out in advance and in one-hour chunks. Using advanced time blocking enables you to (1) set your schedule according to the goals and tasks that you need to complete for the coming day and (2) keeps you from having to ask yourself the question, 'What should I do next?' Expert time blockers will even schedule in time to check and respond to emails every 2 or so hours, which will keep you from losing focus every time you inbox is pinged. ;-)

Make sure to schedule anything that you're prioritizing for the day.

This includes leisure time, workout time, lunch time, reading time, and anything else that you need to make sure happens during your day. If you want it to get done, don't leave it off of your schedule!

Nix the notifications.

There's nothing worse than being deeply engrossed in your work (finally), only to get pulled out of your productivity sweet spot by an intrusive notification. Whether it be an email, an iMessage, a Tweet, or an upcoming event, you need to shut 'em all down if you really want to get your work done without interruption. On that note, if you think you might be a little too addicted to social media, there are Chrome extensions (such as Nanny) that will allow you to block time-wasting websites during specific periods of time so that you can work uninterrupted.

Be realistic about your goals for the day.

The worst thing you can do for yourself is set yourself up for failure before the day has even begun. Any goals that you have for the day, though they should be specific, should also be realistic. If you've set aside an hour to plan the upcoming month's editorial calendar for your blog, it's particularly unrealistic to push yourself to have every single blog post completely planned out by the end of the hour. Instead, it'd be better to aim to have your topics, authors, and publishing dates selected before the hour is up. This way, not only did you actually achieve the task at hand, but you don't feel stressed out by the fact that you "failed" to complete your lofty goal before the self-imposed deadline.

Schedule deep work at your most efficient time of the day.

If you know when you tend to be most productive during the day, the best thing you can do for yourself is schedule your most important work during that time. For example, I'm a definite morning powerhouse, which means that I love to come into the office and start working on blog posts right away, giving me plenty of time to capitalize on my ease of focus from 8-11AM. Conversely, I tend to be the least focused and sluggish around 3-4PM, which means that's the perfect time for me to step out for the gym (time permitting) or a trip to the closest coffee shop.

Don't forget to take plenty of breaks!

According to a study done at Cornell, people who work in no more than 52-minute spurts, followed by a 17-minute break, are far more productive than those who try to work for both less and more than 52 minutes at a time:

"Telling people to focus for 52 consecutive minutes and then to immediately abandon their desks for exactly 1,020 seconds might strike you as goofy advice. But this isn't the first observational study to show that short breaks correlate with higher productivity. In 1999, Cornell University's Ergonomics Research Laboratory used a computer program to remind workers to take short breaks. The project concluded that "workers receiving the alerts [reminding them to stop working] were 13 percent more accurate on average in their work than coworkers who were not reminded."

Although we might not all be able to follow the exact timing listed in this study, the underlying findings are important: spend 30-60 minutes in head-down, intense work, but always take a break before you dive back in. Whether you do 30 minutes on and 2 minutes off, 90 minutes on and 10 minutes off, or a schedule of your own concoction, building in breaks is a great way to have a more productive work day.

It's not enough to just take a "break."

If you find yourself taking a "break" from work (AKA a break that doesn't actually involve giving your mind a chance to reset), it might be time to get serious about how you spend your downtime. Instead of browsing Facebook for 5 minutes or checking your email, commit to actually getting up and walking around. You might even considering going to the bathroom, grabbing some water, or chatting with a coworker -- all of which are activities that, if done during a break time, won't disrupt you while you're hard at work.

If you need a reminder to stand up every once in a while, invest in an App or device that will send you perfectly-timed "time to move" notifications. If you have a Fitbit, Jawbone Up or Apple Watch, you can easily set your device to vibrate every 20-30 minutes for a standing break. Otherwise, there are plenty of computer Apps, programs, and Chrome extensions available that work the exact same way. A few favorites are: StandApp and Stand Up!

Now that you've read through our favorite tips and tricks, do you have any of your own tips for having a super productive work day?

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Making Mobile-Friendly Websites That Will Get Your Law Practice Seen

By Kymeshia Morris, San Diego Esquire

Google recently announced a new change in its algorithm that ranks mobile-friendly websites higher in search results. What does this mean for your law practice? It means you need to optimize your website to be mobile-friendly and you need to do it now. It also means that new opportunities will open to communicate with potential clients by creating an interactive experience through a sleek, user-friendly mobile interface.

Granted, most websites today are already inherently mobile-friendly, especially if you’re already using web hosts such as Squarespace, Bigcommerce or Shopify. If your web host doesn’t have a mobile layout editor, or it’s tough to navigate, I suggest you hire our professional web design team to create a smartphone version of your legal website.

If you’re still not convinced or think it’s too much of a hassle, check out these figures:

• 52% of the U.S. population owns a smartphone, or about 165 million people, who are constantly tapping way on their screen, searching for products and services
• 60% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase if the website they’re visiting is mobile-friendly.
• Currently, almost 50% of Fortune 500 websites are not mobile-optimized, and 94% of small businesses don’t have a mobile-friendly site.

That last statistic is startling and should motivate you to optimize your website for mobile and tablet now to jump ahead of the competition. Another benefit of Google’s new algorithm update, though perhaps unintended, is that it relatively equalizes the playing field in terms of business competition—at least on the web.

The internet is one of the greatest forms of communication ever conceived. Sure, giant corporations like Google, Facebook and Yahoo dominate the web sphere, but it also means that your law practice can tune in to the global exchange of conversations, ideas and products, and in turn contribute.

Another way you can use this paradigm shift in search engine processes to your benefit is by strategizing with your marketing department on how to effectively implement your new website’s mobile-friendly design. For instance, you can design and distribute mobile apps that could feed more traffic into your website. In fact, your entire mobile website could even be an app itself. Think of Instagram, which became a global phenomenon despite being an exclusively-mobile app website (to use it).

This exemplifies where web technology and in turn, society as a whole, is headed. It’s the same reason why Google decided to be more mobile-centric. Mobile phones are a part of our life whether we like it or not. So if you’re still on an old HTML desktop format, you should seriously consider optimizing it for the web and then effectively using it to its full potential—from launching apps, or creating an official company Instagram page, to simply giving your customers a more user-friendly experience.

What are you doing to improve user experience for your firm's website? Let us know in the comments below!

Kymeshia Morris, Esq. is the founder of BizCopywriters & San Diego Esquire. She loves copywriting and online marketing. Follow @kymeshiamorris for the latest updates on content marketing for online businesses. This post originally appeared on the San Diego Esquire blog and has been reposted with permission.

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6 Benefits of a Paperless Office [White Paper]

Are you interested in saving time? What about money? Increasing security and accessibility? If so, it's probably time to take your law firm paperless. Today we're sharing a small part of our How to Go Paperless Digital White Paper and talking through the six major benefits of a paperless law firm:

Save money.

The biggest payoff for going paperless is the exorbitant amount of money you save on fees that are related to running a paperless office. One example of this can be seen in physical document storage. Having too much paper may not be so obvious for newer law firms, but our older law firm friends know exactly how this scenario plays out!

Years upon years of mail, contracts, pleadings, and more add up to endless boxes full of paper. These boxes translate to thousands of dollars spent on external storage fees, hiring file clerks, transportation in and out of the office, shredding costs, time spent decluttering, as well as basic ink and toner costs. Even if your files never leave the office, they still take up tons of valuable office space that could be used for more revenue-generating and morale-boosting purposes, such as more space to work, the ability to have a client waiting room or a conference room, and so much more.

(If you’re still not convinced of the costs your paper-filled office is accruing, check out our blog post called, 4 Common Misconceptions About Going Paperless, in which we itemize the costs in order to show you exactly how much of your hard-earned revenue is being funneled straight into document storage.)

Save time.

The second major benefit of a paperless office is the sheer amount of time you save by not having to physically handle mass amounts of paper. Digital document management affords you the opportunity to be more organized and more efficient by cutting down on the time you spend searching for the documents you need.

Furthermore, digital documents provide a level of searchability that physical paper simply cannot measure up to. For example, PDFs and related file typos offer Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which allows you to easily search and find data with lighting speed. In tandem with OCR, tools like batch scanning, which are a major component of cloud-based case management systems, make it easy for you to transform piles of paper into an organized digital filing system in minutes. As they say, time is money, which means that your time savings translate to even more monetary savings!

Increase accessibility.

We all know the horror of being out of the office and realizing that we need an important document, ASAP. Gone are the days in which you have to rely on calling a coworker to send a copy of the file over to you. Instead, digital document management systems (DMS) provide a superior level of portability, including remote access and seamless information retrieval.

Have more than one office for your firm? Have employees who work from home? Going paperless means that anyone in your office can update or access your digital files from anywhere at any time. This means no more waiting in line at the Post Office, no more hoping that the FedEx overnight actually arrives on time, and no more wasted days waiting for an urgent file to arrive.

Improve security.

It’s easy for us to be intimidated by something we don’t fully understand. The cloud? Data encryption? Data integrity? Sometimes, it’s just more than we can truly wrap our heads around. With new technology comes a slew of new concepts to understand and security to consider. Luckily, many legal case management system companies understand these needs and have made them a priority.

Today’s digital document storage solutions provide features such as data encryption, HIPAA-compliance, tons of storage, and even daily backups. For this reason, you’ll never have to experience lost or damaged files: digital copies remain in the systems where they are safely and indefinitely saved and can be viewed or reprinted at any time.

Transparency.

Specifically in the case of using a legal case management system, going paperless increases your office’s ability to collaborate across various projects. When paper is immediately filed into an online system, it affords firms the opportunity to check in on the progress of cases and increases the overall accountability and allow for the monitoring of workflows so that everyone can collaborate easily and meet deadlines far more quickly.

Sustainability.

The sustainable benefits of digital document storage are essentially limitless, but we’re going to touch on the two largest direct benefits for law firms. First of all, digital document storage is economically efficient in the sense that you can add more storage space whenever you need it, without having to overhaul your entire infrastructure. In some cases, there is a cost attached to this expansion, but for many legal case management services, you pay a fixed price for unlimited storage costs (as is the case with MerusCase). It’s also far more simple to purge or reorganize your system when it’s digital, considering that you can easily drag-and-drop or mass delete documents with the click of a button. This digital reorganization process is much faster than digging through thousands of hardcopy files and trying to figure out where they go on the fly.

Additionally, you don’t have to worry about retraining a new employee on the intricacies of your physical filing system. With the searchable features afforded by digital storage, even newcomers can jump right in and find what they need in a few keystrokes. Finally, going paperless is just a lot better for the environment. By digitizing your documents, your firm can rest easy knowing that you’ve done your part in paving the way for a sustainable future.

Interested in moving your law firm towards a paperless workflow? Fill out the form below to download our How to Go Paperless Digital White Paper!

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How to Create a High Performance Law Firm Culture

Office culture can truly make or break the success of a business - especially in an industry like law, where work can be high in both pressure and intensity. The tricky thing about culture is that it's not something that can simply be talked about; it's something that needs to be created. Oftentimes, this enigmatic idea of culture can feel hard to pin down but, in reality, it just exists.

Culture — your firm's culture — is what happens at your firm every single day. It's not a mission statement or a value proposition or a fancy manifesto, culture just is what it is, even when it's not what you'd like it to be. To help illustrate this idea, Jordan Furlon, Attorney and legal blogger, offers his own definition of law firm culture:

"Culture is what people at the firm actually do every day. In harsher terms, it’s what people get away with. Culture is what actually happens. A law firm’s culture is the daily manifestation of its performance expectations and behavioural norms — what is encouraged and what is tolerated. So it’s not a matter of law firms “ignoring” culture — every firm has a culture, and most firms’ cultures are remarkably and depressingly similar. It’s a matter of recognizing that the culture that a law firm develops and sustains has an impact on productivity, retention and morale — in many cases, a catastrophic one."

It's glaringly obvious the ways in which negative culture can adversely affect business performance across multiple departments, such as turnover rates and client retention; the results of which can be devastating for a firm that aims to be profitable. So how do you go about transforming your law firm's culture in order to foster a high performance environment? That's where we've got you covered.

Emphasize results, not action.

In the same way that it's not enough to just get things done (they need to be done right), it's not enough for employees to solely focus on being busy. For example, it's easy to write a blog post and then check it off of your to-do list, but it doesn't do much for business if that blog post doesn't produce any tangible results. Did your team members go the extra mile to share the post on social media? How may engagements did it receive? Fostering a results-oriented environment in which your employees think of their work in terms of achievements and outcomes is a great way to create a culture that's all about high performance.

Reward ideal behavior with positive reinforcement.

It's no secret that using incentives in an office environment works (it's been proven time and time again),  but implementation can be a bit tricky if you're new to the concept. The overarching ideal is that incentivizing work doesn't have to be about providing rewards for certain behaviors; instead, it's all about encouraging your employees when they've done great work and giving them due credit for helping the company grow.

Inspire collaboration, not competition.

If an employee likes the people they work with, it typically means that they also like coming to work which, in turn, means they'll be extra motivated to work hard. That said, if you dream of a culture of hard-working, inspired employees, it's time to create a culture of collaboration! To start, figure out how to get your employees to break out of their regular 9-5 routines and encourage team bonding. From open office plans to off-site excursions, there are endless ways to facilitate relationship-building and open communication amongst your firm's employees.

Establish core values and continuously act on them.

Yes, we did say that culture was so much more than a manifesto (and it is!), but it doesn't hurt to have some kind of established and commonly-held idea of what you're working towards. Being able to summarize your firm's values in under thirty seconds means that you've got it figured out: you know your company, you know where you'd like it to be, and you know what kind of people you need on board in order to get there. These values should be digestible and relatable and they should empower your staff to work towards a "bigger picture," adding meaning to their work day and constantly propelling them forward.

Give feedback early and often to improve employee efficacy.

If you don't like the way something is being handled or the direction in which a project is headed, the worst thing you can do is sit back and watch negative outcomes unfold. (Actually, the worst thing you can do is gossip about it to coworkers, but we're all above that, right?) The art of feedback is such that it exists on a continuum: it shouldn't have a clear beginning or end point. It's not that you should manage in a way that feels eerily similar to hand-holding, but you should always be checking in on the work of your team members, providing positive or course-correcting feedback before an implosion.

Encourage risk.

Having employees who want to try new things and who want to take risk (within reason) is good for a company! Encourage innovation, empower your team members to develop creative solutions, and champion a workplace where new ideas are both respected and enthusiastically supported.

Establish internal branding and make it part of your hiring process.

When you envision your ideal team, what adjectives come to mind? Maybe you dream of an office full of brilliant and motivated professionals who are passionate about the legal industry. If that's the case, then that's exactly who you need to hire. (Kind of obvious, huh?) It can be hard to find and hire the right fit, but if you're being honest about how important culture is to your firm, it's important to hold out for the best person for the job. Don't settle on a B player when an A player is on the horizon.

The most important thing to remember is that your firm's culture doesn't have to be right for everyone, it just has to be right for the people that you want working at your firm. So what are you waiting for? It's time to walk the walk and start living your culture.

Do you have any tips for creating an A+ law firm culture? We'd love to hear all about them in the comments below!

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How Legal Technology Protects Against Human Error

As a lawyer, it can sometimes seem like there are a million little things that need to be done, bases that need to be covered, and conflicts that need to be checked in order to complete a single task. With a legal practice management system, like MerusCase, you can rest assured: a majority of law firm processes are built right into the system, giving you one less thing to worry about. Here's how MerusCase focuses on eliminating human error in order to protect your firm and save you valuable time.

Check for conflicts with blink-speed.

If you're stuck determining conflicts of interest before taking on a new case, legal practice management software makes it easy to search through your digital archive of cases, emails, and contacts, fast. With Merus, you're able to run a search for both individuals and companies through your firm-wide Rolodex simultaneously. Think a contact may have been associated with a case but they're not currently listed? No problem: Merus keeps a log of all party activity for your cases. This means that any time you add, delete, or change anything about parties on a case, you'll be able to view all these changes through that case's party history. In addition, the Global Document Search serves as a great resource to look up conflicts as it combs through every single document in the system and even finds matches within documents and cases.

Eliminate redundancies, redundancies, redundancies...

With a legal practice management system, contact information only needs to be entered once for the entire firm. This means that, any time you add a party to a case in Merus, you'll be prompted search through your Rolodex before adding a new contact. Not only will this eliminate double entry, but you won't have to dig through a dirty Rolodex filled with duplicate contacts, either. Additionally, Merus' Forms & Templates creation features allows you to auto-fill case and client information into custom templates and forms for your law type. This means that you'll never have to manually type a social security number or copy and paste a client's address into a court form again.

Guided case entry per law type ensures that you won't miss a thing.

Typically, setting up a client file can feel like a lengthy and cumbersome process. And what happens if that client chooses to go with a different lawyer? Now you've taken down all of their information, only to find that you've wasted your time. With a system such as MerusCase, you can quickly run through the intake process by creating a new case and selecting "Intake" as the Case Status. From here, the only information you absolutely need to collect in order to create the case is a First and Last Name (or Company name). This way, unless a client fully commits, you don't have to fill out any unnecessary or irrelevant information during the intake process.

Outside of the realm of client intake, Merus' case creation process is intuitive and functions as a guided tour. The system will prompt you to fill out each piece of information and will efficiently guide you through the process as you go along, which enables you to zoom through your administrative tasks so that you can spend more time actually speaking with your clients.

Keep track of all your email communication with in-system messaging and case tagging. 

Many legal practice management systems offer some sort of email integration; however, MerusCase offers fully-functional inbound and outbound email synchronization. This means that all of your emails, both sent and received, can be accessed, composed, deleted, forwarded, and so much more, right from your MerusCase dashboard. The best part? All emails can be tagged to their respective cases, logging all client communication firmwide, all the while enabling you to keep your inbox clean. Keeping track of your emails with a system like Merus allows you to easily log email-related billable time, keep client communication transparent, and automatically catalog all of your correspondence, should you need to access it at a later time.

Complete month-end accounting in a snap.

It's easy to become so focused on your cases that you forget that your law firm is also a business, but with legal practice management systems like MerusCase, it's easier than ever to manage your firm's accounting needs. In Merus, the accounting section is set up so that you can move through the process intuitively, with tabs leading you through the system from left to right. Merus clearly separates out various bookkeeping sections, such as open charges, reviewed charges, open invoices, as well as unreconciled payments, and allows you to sort your charges by user, case, office, date range, and so much more. Best of all, you can quickly and easily "Select All" to invoice for all open charges with lightning speed!

Closing a matter has never been easier.

Finally, with MerusCase, closing a matter takes just seconds. Simply log into MerusCase, switch the Case Status to 'Closed," and that's it! You can continue working on any reminaing balances in your books and you don't have to worry about retaining original documents, since you have them all stored online through Merus. If you do have any paper documents remaining, this is the perfect time to upload, archive, and shred them! (Looking to take your law firm paperless? Check out our handy How to Go Paperless White Paper.)

We'd love to know: how has your legal practice management system saved you time and headache?

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How to Keep Your Clients (and Their Data) Secure

Are you doing everything possible in order to keep your client protected?

As lawyers, you're constantly entrusted with clients' sensitive information, such as their addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers. As such, it's important that we take extra care in safeguarding client information and, in turn, trust. Although the age of technology might make security seem a bit overwhelming, here area a few quick and easy steps we can take in order to keep data out of reach from ominous forces:

1. Make sure everyone in your firm knows what your PHI is.

It's really hard to protect data that people in your firm aren't fully aware of. For example, if your paralegals don't know what specific measures they need to take in order to keep, say, social security numbers secure, how can you ensure that they're being safe when they access work files from their home computers? If Brian in billing is leaving active case files open on his desktop during lunch, how can you ensure that this information isn't being accessed by outsiders?

In order to protect all of the sensitive data that your firm maintains, it's important for everyone to know (1) what this data is, (2) where it resides, (3) who has access to it, and (4) how it moves around your firm. When you're armed with this knowledge, it's a lot easier to see where the holes might exist in your processes, such as when and how clients and their data are left unnecessarily vulnerable.

2. Audit your HIPAA-compliance and processes regularly.

A simple place to begin is to make sure your firm's is up to date with HIPAA's regulations. When you've been working in the legal industry for several years, concepts such as setting up passwords and securing computers might become second nature, but this isn't the case for everyone. In order to make sure that there are no gaps in your security plan, take the time to perform internal audits often (especially whenever there's a big change at your firm, such as new recruits or a new location).

Keeping up with HIPAA is, of course, a legal requirement, but it's also really important for ensuring that you can rest easy knowing that your firm and client data is safe from potentially ominous forces. :-)

3. Don't use email to send sensitive information. Period.

We all understand that sometimes it is easier to email or text a client, but it's not always the best idea to trust email servers with your sensitive data, as it leaves this information susceptible to a breach in security that you really have no control over. (Besides, it's so easy for someone to lose their laptop or cell phone and then to have personal information floating around cyberspace, accessible by whomever finds the lost device).

If you must use email, be sure to use a platform like MerusCase, which offers HIPAA-compliant messaging and encrypted emails that protect confidential emails. When you use Merus messaging, your data will never leave our servers, ensuring that your client's information is always kept secure.

4. Set expectations with your clients before they leave your office.

At the very beginning of any lawyer-client relationship, it's important to make sure everyone is on the same page. Your client has tons of expectations for how and when they'd like their case handled, so why shouldn't you have security expectations?

With technology today, it's not uncommon for clients to communicate via email, social networks, and, yep, even text messaging. Setting guidelines with your clients from the get-go will set your partnership up for stability, security, and success as you handle their case. Stuck on where to start? Walk them through who will be doing their billing, how to contact you if they notice an error, let them know how you prefer to communicate with them, and even walk them through setting up a MerusCase portal.

5. Verify, verify, verify.

Having a "safety first" mentality goes a long way when it comes to training your staff to value security. One of the best ways to help your firm prioritize security is to verify everything. It might seem intuitive to trust when your clients update billing addresses, change passwords, or alter their payment methods, but you've got to stop being so trusting!

From now on, whenever you receive potentially conflicting information online, be sure to verify these conflicts or changes with your clients. Yes, this means taking an extra minute to give your client a call, but thirty seconds now can prevent thousands of dollars in issues down the road.

6. Get your head in the clouds and take your firm digital.

Ditch that antiquated filing system because it's time to switch over to a cloud-based platform! After investing so much time in securing your firm's data, the last thing you need is to have physical copies lost, stolen, and in the wrong hands. Have no fear, making the switch to digital is easy: check out our How to Go Paperless white paper and take your firm paperless in 10 simple steps.

And that's really all there is to it! How does your firm go above and beyond to keep client data safe? Let us know in the comments below!

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Note: This post features MerusCase Version 3.9 or earlier. As such, this post may no longer be accurate. For the most current and up-to-date information about the latest version of MerusCase, please visit our documentation at docs.meruscase.com.

This blog post was written by Michelle Zhang, member of the marketing team at MerusCase.

How to Choose the Right Legal Practice Management System [Comparison Chart]

Have you ever wondered where to start when considering legal tech for your law firm?

Our handy Slideshare explores everything from, why your firm even needs a legal practice management system, to the details you should work through when actually making a decision.

via Slideshare

If you find this presentation helpful, you're going to love our cloud-based practice management system comparison chart! In our chart, we walk through the top 6 major systems (MerusCase, Clio, MyCase, Rocket Matter, Amicus Cloud, Houdini ESQ) and breakdown the features of each system across 5 important categories: accessibility, messaging and scheduling, billing and timekeeping, document management, as well as support and security.

Interested in more content like this? Be sure to subscribe to our blog and get our posts straight to your inbox!

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4 Ways Millennials are Changing the Legal Industry

Now that millennials are entering the workforce in droves, law firms are feeling the full effects of working alongside their '80s and '90s-born counterparts. The generation, despite it's negative reputation, is an interesting and often-debated group. Truth be told, if you're over the age of 30, you've probably witnessed (or participated in) your fair share of complaint-filled conversations with coworkers.

More often than not, the millennial name surfaces alongside feelings of entitlement and the need for hand-holding, but the reality is that the millennials, in tandem with new media and technology, are changing the game for countless industries. After much research and debate, the MerusCase team has come up with the 4 biggest ways that millennials are changing the legal industry (for the better, we think):

1. They embrace technology.

Millennials come from a world where technology is second nature, where social media is a way of life, and where having a smart phone, tablet, eReader, laptop, and desktop computer open at the same time is the norm. That said, it's no surprise that they expect technology to be a staple in their place of work. Millennials see the intrinsic value of things like cloud-based practice management systems and they thrive in a place where these technologies enable them to access more information than ever before, providing them with increased ownership over their work.

Perhaps the best part of this natural inclination towards technology is the fact that it makes millennials far more efficient than their technology-resistant peers, especially when you consider that most firms are operating with higher attorney to legal assistant ratios than ever before. [1] Firms should welcome legal technology with open arms if they wish to be perceived as tech savvy and desirable workplaces by the millennials that will surely join their ranks in the years to come.

2. They demand mobility and work-life balance.

Younger workers see that technology frees them to work productively from anywhere, yet their bosses don't seem to trust their ability to work as hard and get as much done remotely. [2] This poses a problem when over 70% of full-time workers aged 18-29 state that they would be more satisfied if they could work remotely using cloud software. [3]

According to a study done at PwC, employees across all generations say they would be willing to forego some pay and delay promotions in exchange for reducing their hours. [4] Millennials may not have a significant other or kids to go home to, but that doesn't mean that they don't want time to pursue their personal interests and grow their skill set outside of work. In order to appeal to this millennial need for balance, employers should be prepared to consider the possibility of allowing employees to work from home or telecommute when necessary (such as when the cost of big city life, combined with crushing student loans, forces millennials to relocate).

3. They're disrupting archaic hierarchies of power.

As children, millennials were taught that "anything is possible." [5] This intense can-do-will-do attitude permeates all aspects of their lives and pushes them to constantly innovate professionally and otherwise. In fact, according to a recent survey published by Deloitte, 62% of millennials describe themselves as innovative and 78% believe that innovation is essential for business growth. [6] This self-assigned innovation leads younger workers to thrive in a work environment where the best ideas and creativity are valued and rewarded as opposed to age and tenure.

In the legal field, where seniority can play a monumental role in the way that power is distributed across a firm, it's easy to see how the millennial innovative spirit may not mesh well with current processes. In order to create a firm where younger workers feel valued and empowered, firm leadership should embrace a relatively flat organizational structure where an open flow of communication is encouraged and feedback is offered regularly.

4. It's not all about the money.

Unlike many previous generations, millennials are far more concerned in choosing a company that aligns with their personal values versus using salary as a sole deciding factor on their place of employment. For many, loving their job can be far more important than raking in an impressive salary and, in that sense, jobs and careers are carefully chosen stepping stones that allow them to execute on their life purpose. [7] In fact, 64% of young people say that it's a priority for them to make the world a better place! [8]

In order to attract the best and the brightest young legal professionals, firms should offer a culture that young people want. [9] So what's the solution to creating a desirable firm culture? It's not weekly company happy hours, catered lunches, and free MacBook Airs (although that wouldn't be something to complain about); instead, millennials are looking for value-based careers, mentorship opportunities, room for growth, work-life balance, and the ability to contribute to meaningful work that truly makes an impact.

That's all we have to add to the conversation, but now it's your turn to weigh in: do you have any millennials working at your firm? Have they changed your firm culture at all? Let us know in the comments below!

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This post was written by Marissa Vessels, Marketing Operations Coordinator at MerusCase.

How to Use Dual Monitors to Increase Productivity by 50%

So much of what we do at MerusCase involves consulting with our new clients on their current processes in order to make sure their firms are as effective as possible. Something that we constantly see during our in-person trainings? Brilliant legal professionals are not-so-brilliantly limiting themselves to one, teeny-tiny, square screen with which to complete their work. Why is this not a great idea, you ask? It's simple: two screens are better than one.

Having dual monitors increases productivity.

Countless studies have shown that utilizing two monitors is proven to increase productivity by up to 50% for some tasks. [1] Think about it: if you're copying and pasting data or quickly moving between tabs and windows, wouldn't it be nice to be able to see everything you need to work on at exactly the same time? Adding a second monitor to your workstation is hands-down the fastest, easiest, and least expensive way to make your workday measurably less painful.

With a single monitor, every time a new window is brought up on the screen, your eyes and brain need to reorient themselves. [2] Have you ever looked at something in one window, with the intention of retyping it it in another, only to forget what you were trying to type? Happens to me all the time -- that's your mental processing being disrupted by the change of view on your screen. With two monitors, you don't have to worry about that problem, eliminating those precious seconds of wasted time.

The one-time expense of new monitors will save you thousands in productivity.

A pretty standard monitor will run you $150 or less as a one-time investment. Of course, if we're talking about adding a monitor for everyone in your firm, these costs add up. But what if these dual monitors really do increase your firm's productivity by 30-50%? This means that your office will be completing, across the board, 30-50% more work each and every day at the same exact paygrade. For the one-time cost of $150 per person, this seems like a no-brainer.

Having dual monitors facilitates a paperless office workflow.

If your firm is using a cloud-based system like MerusCase (or is trying to go paperless), adding a second monitor is the best way to increase productivity while simultaneously cutting down on the amount of paper that needs to be printed in order to perform daily tasks. With a second monitor, there's no need to print out your calendar, as you can have it open on your second screen while you work through scheduling on your first. If you're performing client intake, you can easily take memos on one screen and fill out your client intake case type at the same time. No need to handwrite notes and copy them into Merus later -- having 2 screens makes it easy to complete both tasks at once.

It's a good idea to implement a firm-wide standard for monitors.

In our office, we've standardized the process of buying monitors, which enables us to cut back on the types of connectors and such that we need to have on-hand when we add monitors to our workstations. We always look for IPS LED monitors with HDMI input and a frameless design (which is lighter), somewhere between 21" and 23" in size. Why? This ensures that, as we add new monitors to our office, we don't have to worry too much about picking up the right cables or trying to match up sizes and designs. (It's also easier to remember how to set them up if you use the same method each time!)

What if buying 2 monitors is out of the question?

So your boss won't budge? Or maybe your firm just doesn't have the money to buy everyone 2 new monitors? There's an easy compromise for this: upgrade everyone to a 24" monitor. With 24" of screen space, you should be able to reach nearly the same productivity as you can with 2 separate monitors. The reason being, 24" provides enough spaces to look at 2 windows or Word documents side-by-side, allowing for most of the same productivity-boosting results of a dual monitor setup. [3] (But seriously, imagine how much you could get done with two 24" monitors!?)

Are dual monitors a staple at your law firm? If so, how have they impacted your productivity?

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This post was written by Marissa Vessels, Marketing Operations Coordinator at MerusCase.