By Mark A. Schempp
I was hired by Slack & Davis, a Texas-based law firm with offices in Austin and Dallas, as their IT Manager, to prepare and move them from DeskSite and TrialWorks to Client Profiles. The Firm wanted to find legal practice management software that would be much more user-friendly and less troublesome. The Firm needed a program that would work flawlessly with Microsoft Office while not reinventing the wheel (the “wheel” being a simple folder system). Client Profiles software integrates with Office to become one smooth and user-friendly program, which is comforting for new users. It allows for a smooth transition into a more organized and cohesive environment.
A level playing field for law office staff
My complaint all along with having to utilize multiple programs to ultimately achieve one main goal was lack of efficiency. With Profiles, that issue is solved. You gain simplicity while allowing your entire Firm to be on the same page. While certain team members may not use all of the features or functions in Profiles, at least they will have a greater understanding of how that feature would work if they needed it in the future. With stand-alone applications, a person would have to be trained on separate programs. With Profiles, all of the separate features act in the same fashion, thus resulting in a Firm-wide knowledge base, which helps all support staff and keeps everyone on equal footing.
Having a program that offers similar functionality all around allows the staff to be on common ground. One staff member might be an expert in one area, but not so much in another area, which allows all involved to have an equal hand at learning Profiles. From past experience, attorneys generally want the simplest way of acquiring information, as well as the fastest. Granted, so do all staff members, and from a staff member’s perspective it’s nice to be able to provide that information to the attorney as fast as possible.
Simply stated, Profiles allows an equal playing field for everyone in the Firm. We no longer have situations where some staff members are experts in an application that others have never even opened. Profiles is consistent throughout and easily allows collaboration among the entire office.
Eliminating the need for multiple programs
Profiles accommodates a user friendly atmosphere, thus making any staff member adequately prepared to handle client-related service inquires, etc. Simply eliminating the need for multiple programs that may house separate client-related documents, billing, correspondence files, etc., immediately allows for a more efficient working relationship with your clients and clearly allows for improved service. The result is a streamlined and efficient program that allows users to focus on the client, instead of figuring out where everything is housed.
Making life easier for attorneys
Our Firm experienced one situation in particular where an attorney did not embrace our previous system and would ask his paralegal to find for him all documents, etc. that he needed. He simply didn’t want to take the time to figure it out. Once we decided to move to Profiles, he was upfront with the fact that he didn’t like the previous application, but would be open-minded once Profiles was installed and up and running. I also created his own personal depository within Profiles for his documents that he uses on a regular basis. By setting up his own area, he embraced Profiles with open arms and knows exactly how each case is set up. As an example, he loves the feature that allows him to make phone calls from within a case area and will chime in at Firm meetings with new features or new ways that he has found to use the system to his advantage.
The Big Picture
I applaud Profiles for looking at the big picture and creating a legal practice management software system that takes everything associated with the legal environment and implements it into one smooth system. I’ve been involved with law firm IT departments for over fifteen years and have been completely confused as to why some firms continually add and drop programs that can handle one aspect and not the other, and at the end of the day you have four or five separate programs running that would confuse the most seasoned expert.
Profiles takes all of those areas and enables users to focus on what is in front of them. Users no longer need to guess where certain documents may be housed. It’s a simple concept that has taken a long time for many Firms to understand. In the end, Profiles is a money and time saving software program that allows law firms to do what they are best at … practicing law.
Learn more about how Client Profiles Case and Financial Management solutions can provide real value to your practice. Schedule a demo at www.ClientProfiles.com/demo.asp.
