Six Law Firm Challenges and How Tech Can Change the Game

When exploring current law firm challenges and considering new technology for firms, the number one question lawyers have is, “What can this really do for us?” Modernizing just for the sake of adopting current technology can actually put your firm back in terms of productivity and efficiency. That’s why you need to understand the specific applications of law firm tech and where it stands to improve your business the most. 

From bookkeeping to client onboarding, communication, and legal research, legal software has come a long way over the last 10 years. Now, it’s an invaluable tool that can transform the way you do business and how you serve your clients.

Even more importantly, tech is helping law firms double or even triple client satisfaction rates by improving turnarounds, communication, and offering guidance whenever it’s needed. 

Let’s take a closer look at six major law firm challenges that legal software can help you solve. 

1. Client Portals

A lot of law firms took on client portals thinking they would improve efficiency, but they wind up causing a lot of headaches instead. Rather than handing off communication, your firm is still left to deal with a constant stream of phone calls, messages, and emails outside of the portal.

Rather than rely on a browser-based portal, which has an adoption rate under 30%, you can turn to a mobile-first solution. 

Case Status offers law firms and their clients on-demand access to tools, resources, and information. People prefer apps over websites; in fact, the average person spends five hours a day using their favorite apps.

Our mobile client portal has helped improve satisfaction rates and increase engagement without increasing phone calls and emails. Over 80% of clients invited to Case Status use the app to communicate with their legal team! 

2. Time 

Ask any lawyer what they need more of they’ll probably say time. Whether you’re running your own practice or working as part of a team, there simply never seems enough time to answer all your clients’ questions and do your due diligence as an attorney. While focusing on your job, you’ll likely get complaints that you aren’t being responsive enough. Little do clients know that you’re only silent because you’re working hard on their case!

Once you put yourself in their shoes, it’s easy to understand why they want more communication. However, you simply can’t spend hours a day messaging, emailing, calling, and texting clients. You still have consultations, meetings, research to do, and documents to prepare.

Legal software can help you streamline research, communication, and onboarding while also automating many administrative tasks.

Case Status helps law firms save hundreds of hours a year for every staff member. Rather than being bogged down by endless client demands and monotonous tasks, they can focus on doing higher level services that help bring cases to close. 

Adopting legal software that automates essential processes means less time in the office, less overworked staff, and better work-life balance. It also means greater client satisfaction, faster turnarounds, and even better results in many cases.

With Case Status, you can get excited when the phone rings again. Rather than feel constantly bombarded with even the smallest requests, you’ll get calls that count. One of our clients estimates they saved approximately 366 hours by turning to our automated client portal; by allowing clients to self-serve important information, they no longer felt the need to call the office for basic questions or update requests. 

3. Communication

Phone calls, emails, text messages, the list goes on. A busy law firm never seems to have a moment of quiet to focus on the important work that actually delivers outcomes. You could probably spend six hours a day just communicating with your clients. This is why so many attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants find themselves working off the clock just to get work done.

Most law firms spend 48-72 hours responding to a message. Unfortunately, this usually leads to more messages from the same clients requesting updates. When you get in touch, people may be frustrated at the wait time and ultimately be less satisfied with your service. 

We know it’s not your intention to make anyone feel ignored. And you shouldn’t have to worry about getting to hundreds of messages in just a few hours. Legal software can streamline your communication by centralizing it to one portal. With our in-app text messaging, you can stay connected to clients without feeling overwhelmed.

Moreover, a good client portal also provides ample information for clients to help themselves. Yes, they’ll still need to talk to you, but they won’t feel the need to contact your office or send an email over the smallest things. All the essential information they need is housed in the platform, available on-demand 24/7.

Firms that adopt Case Status also respond faster with an average reply time of 6.5 hours. With faster responses, client satisfaction skyrockets. Less time is spent managing other channels, so you can actually communicate more with your clients and spend less time sorting through messages, returning calls, and answering emails. 

4. Language Barriers

With 8-9% of the U.S. population not speaking English, modern law firms can’t afford to go without translation tools. In some parts of the country, as much as 40% of the population either doesn’t speak English or does not speak it as a first language. 

You want to help as many people as possible, but that simply isn’t feasible when you’re only able to service clients in one language. Why should people be limited to legal counsel just because of their native tongue? Thanks to modern legal software, lawyers can support and help clients from all backgrounds with automatic translation software. 

Clients get to ask questions and receive answers from you in their native language. Meanwhile, your practice can continue communicating in English. For firms that already have bilingual staff, both individual and bulk messages can be drafted for easy review.

Lawyers that work in these areas are especially in need of software that can help them connect with their communities. Spanish is the most common second language in America, but French, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese are also popular.

No matter what language someone speaks, they deserve quality legal care. With Case Status, you can instantly connect with clients in 138 different languages. Our integrated translation features instantly transform messages for both parties, so they can speak in their preferred language. 

Rather than struggle to serve clients from non-English-speaking backgrounds, you can broaden your firm’s horizons and open the doorway to more inclusive, supportive legal services. 

5. Client Satisfaction

You know that feeling when you get an unhappy email, or even read one of those dreaded one-star reviews online? It’s a common occurrence that can affect even dedicated lawyers. Issues like the ones we’ve mentioned can cause clients to feel unseen or uncared for. Even if the outcome of their case is good, they may still feel like your firm’s customer service was unsatisfactory. 

You can only manage what you can measure. Rather than leaving client satisfaction to chance, you can use surveys to understand where clients feel supported the most and identify areas for improvement. 

Legal software that integrates client feedback tracking helps firms prosper. Case Status uses a common marketing metric called the net promoter score (NPS) to help your firm determine its current client satisfaction rate.

Your NPS reflects both clients’ current satisfaction levels and loyalty on a scale of 1-10. When it’s accurately measured, you can determine where your firm could improve its communication.

With our software, you can create individual client playbooks that tell you when to take action with each client. This will help you make a lasting impression that boosts loyalty, positive reviews, and word-of-mouth referrals. 

Pond Lehocky, a Pennsylvania law firm that has been in business for over 80 years, found that Case Status increased their number of Google reviews by 800% in just a few months. They also mention the benefit of our automated NPS feature, which sends reminders to call and connect with certain clients whose scores are below a certain level. 

Beyond simply gauging client satisfaction, the NPS score through Case Status tells you when people are unhappy, so you can swoop in and save the relationship.

6. Scalable Growth

Try as you might, the reviews aren’t showing up, and you’re not getting the referrals you need to keep your cash flows steady. Small law firms rely heavily on word-of-mouth and positive reviews to build their clientele, but acquiring them can be hard if you’re affected by any of the challenges we’ve just covered.

Scaling sustainably requires consistent customer satisfaction and versatile services that are in demand in your area. When it comes to finding a lawyer, here’s how clients search:

• 59% rely on referrals from people they know
• 57% read online reviews
• 16% do both 

Legal marketing isn’t a guarantee. No matter how good your social media pages are or how much you optimize your website for search engines, only one thing really matters: how many people really like your services. Those who are truly satisfied will go the extra mile and leave you a positive review.

Really happy clients will gladly pass along your information to friends, family, and colleagues. With Case Status’s Feedback Tracker, you can nurture your clients with the highest NPS and help encourage them to spread the word about your firm without being pushy.

We help firms identify their happy clients, boost satisfaction with ones who aren’t, and stay front of mind. Through anniversary messages, birthday wishes, and even holiday greetings, we allow you to mass-message your entire client base and automate communications that leave a positive impression. 

Sending occasional, well-timed messages to clients ultimately drives more engagement and positive reviews. This helps your firm grow and continually benefit from its clients after their case is closed. 

Schedule a Demo to Learn More 

At Case Status, we’re in the business of making legal clients happy. Our software has a double-ended user interface that offers vital information to clients and on-demand feedback for legal staff. 

With Case Status backing your firm, you can expect greater communication, improved satisfaction, and easier relationships with your clients thanks to the power of automation. 

We’d love to show you how our law firm software can help you grow. Get in touch with us today!

Download the savable pdf here!