Dan Bowman

Just like any business, establishing clear and ethically compliant billing practices is crucial for law firms. Your billing practices directly affect not only your bottom line but also your firm’s commitment to transparency and the client experience. Clearly communicating your legal billing guidelines goes a long way in building client trust.

But creating your firm’s billing guidelines — and enforcing them — is a challenge of its own. Still, you don’t have to wear all these hats. Legal e-billing software can give you the tools to collect legal fees and manage your firm’s finances so you can skip the guesswork. 

The Importance of Clear Legal Billing Guidelines

Whether you’re setting up your guidelines for the first time or revising existing templates and systems, keep in mind why clear billing guidelines matter. They can:

• Set expectations for your client from the outset
• Improve — or lower — client satisfaction
• Determine whether your clients pay the bill
• Impact your revenue
• Reduce the risk of malpractice claims

When you have a clear legal billing policy, your law firm will run more efficiently — and you’ll see happier clients, too. 

Client Communication

When your client gets their bill, they’re not just looking at a document. They see this as part of your firm’s communication. So, if they get a bill with charges they don’t understand or fees that seem to counter your original attorney-client agreement, they might view your firm as disorganized or untrustworthy. They could even look at those fees and think, I’m not paying for that. 

Let your clients know what to expect from the start. They should know all the relevant details about your legal fees, the billing process, and who bears responsibility for each legal expense involved. When you’re transparent about fees, your clients are less likely to get frustrated by their bills — and more likely to appreciate your firm for delivering a smooth, efficient legal process.

Ethics of Legal Billing for Law Firms 

Attorneys know that billing practices can have legal implications for their firms. Establishing a clear billing policy also ensures that you’re ethically compliant with American Bar Association (ABA) codes, like reducing the likelihood of double billing. In some states, double billing is illegal.

And you can also reduce your risk of legal malpractice claims when you have billing guidelines in place. When your clients understand what services you’ll render and at what cost, there’s less confusion regarding whether you delivered on your agreement. 

What Should Be Included in My Firm’s Legal Billing Guidelines?

Your legal billing guidelines help ensure that the client and everyone in your firm is on the same page about all things related to payment. Include these items in your guidelines:

Explain the Purpose of the Document

Educate the client about what billing guidelines are for, delineating which financial responsibilities fall on the firm and the client. The client should also understand how your billing policy fulfills your attorney-client agreement. 

Responsible Parties

Be sure to determine who is responsible for payment. Clarify when and if the law firm will cover certain expenses and when the client bears that responsibility. 

Legal Billing and Invoicing Processes

If you charge at an hourly rate, explain what that means (e.g., by what increments, when hourly fees apply). If you work on contingency, tell them about your percentage rate and if other fees apply. The same goes for retainers and any other fees you charge. 

Make sure clients understand how they’ll receive their invoices. For instance, explain how to access an e-billing platform if you use one. 

Within your practice, be sure that your own firm has a process for billing and invoicing, such as when certain attorneys should review the invoice.

Timeline of Billing

Be sure to detail when your clients will be billed and how often. Ensure that clients have a consistent billing experience. 

Signature

Get a signature from your client to confirm their understanding of your fees and billing structure. Again, this can help protect your firm against claims of malpractice or other legal concerns. It will also help you enforce payment collection as detailed in the document. 

Legal Billing Guidelines Best Practices 

Lawyers may see billing as cumbersome and tedious, but it’s foundational to your business and your relationship with your clients. To make billing simpler, try implementing these few best practices to communicate and enforce your guidelines. 

Strategies to Communicate Effectively and Enforce Billing Guidelines

Your communication with your clients impacts the relationship — and their satisfaction with your legal services. When communicating about payments:

• Set expectations early. It bears repeating: Be clear about your legal billing guidelines as soon as you establish a working relationship with the client. 
• Send invoices on a consistent schedule. Stick to your terms in the billing timeline. 
• Clarify invoice questions — and don’t bill for it. You may need to take a few minutes to help clients understand their bills. Answer their questions without fees attached.
• Send courteous reminders. Remind clients when they have an invoice and a payment deadline on the horizon.

Keep legal and finance aligned. Ensure that your attorneys and your accounting team are on the same page. This way, you can help reduce errors during the billing and invoicing process and ensure you get paid faster.

What Is Legal Billing Software for Law Firms? 

With everything that goes into establishing billing practices and enforcing payments, law firms have a lot to manage on the business side. One of the best ways to streamline your billing process is to automate it electronically with software tools. 

Overview of Legal Billing Software

Legal billing software simplifies how you invoice, bill, and organize documents for your payments. It can even help you increase your revenue by more efficiently tracking your time, making sure clients receive invoices promptly, and eliminating billing bottlenecks that prevent your firm from turning invoices into revenue.

This can be executed through cloud-based programs or software on your firm’s computers. You can even integrate outside accounting tools, such as Quickbooks so that you adopt the solution that fits best with your firm’s current systems.  

Best Legal Billing Software 

When you start to think about introducing legal e-billing software to your practice, think about what your firm needs from the tool. Identify your billing bottlenecks, and look for software that helps you address them. Then, make sure that the software offers the features and benefits you need. 

Features and Functionality Firms Should Look For

Every legal billing platform is different, but make sure that you search for solutions that offer a few essential features, like:

• Document management and invoicing. You can create all the documents you need with good legal billing software. Depending on the product’s features, you can make branded invoice templates and check the bill’s status. You can also track your receipts and expenses to better manage your firm’s spend.  
• Online payment processing (and custom links). When clients have an easier way to pay and the option to use a credit card, they may be more likely to pay promptly. The best legal billing software includes features like client portals, which give your clients a digital place to review invoices and ePay. 
• Reporting. With all your invoices and expenses organized in one platform, you can get readily-accessible insights into your firm’s financials. You can review your payment history, productivity, and expenses, among other reports.   
• Legal CRM. Some legal billing software also offers a customer management system to help you keep track of your client profiles, communications, and more. 

Benefits

With legal billing software, rest assured that your time gets tracked, your clients get their bills, and your firm is getting paid promptly. But the benefits go beyond pure financials. Consider other ways legal billing tools can help your firm:

• Improved productivity 
• Better in-house collaboration
• Optimized onboarding for new staff
• More satisfied clients

After all, the more streamlined your systems, the better for everyone who touches billing and invoicing in your firm. New staff will be better positioned to hit the ground running, and your customers will be happier to have the clarity and ease of digital payments. 

Does My Law Firm Need Legal Billing Software?

Bringing in new software tools for your practice is a big investment. Think about a couple of key factors to decide if your firm should invest. 

• Internally: How much of your staff’s time and resources are dedicated to billing? And do you have an ongoing issue with unpaid invoices? Run reports if you’re not sure. If you’re seeing rates of 15 or 20% unpaid invoices, you might want help with optimizing your process. 
• Externally: Do your clients express confusion about their bills? Do they often ask for credit card payment or digital payment capability?

If the answer to most of these questions is yes, you may want to consider bringing in the billing software. Whether you’re a small or large law firm, you may not even realize just how much revenue you stand to capture by automating your payment systems. 

How Software Can Support Your Firm’s Legal Billing Guidelines 

Ultimately, using legal e-billing tools can help you pair your billing guidelines with the enforcement side. With an easy-to-use system to send and track invoices, you can ensure that your clients uphold their end of your fee agreement. 

Because you can automate your billing and easily set payment deadlines, you can also help eliminate human error from the process. 

Implement Legal Billing Guidelines at Your Law Firm

Legal billing guidelines exist to help protect law firms and clients. They’re an essential tool that allows you to fulfill both sides of the attorney-client agreement. Plus, with billing policies in place, you can help your firm capture a significant number of payments that may have come too late or slipped through the cracks. And these guidelines also help your clients know what to expect—both from your firm and on their own end financially. More transparency for your clients means happier clients.

Bill4Time gives you the simple billing software your practice needs, complete with powerful features that allow you to track your hours, design branded invoices, collect ePayments, run reports on payment history, and more. You can schedule a demo to see how Bill4Time can optimize your legal billing process.

Throughout its history, many law firms have shied away from traditional marketing to maintain a sincere and pragmatic image. With the rise of digital marketing and increasing competition, law firms are pivoting their focus on full-scope marketing strategies to stand out. Continue reading to learn the need for law firm marketing, how to create a budget, and track your law firm’s budget with legal billing software.

The Importance of Law Firm Marketing

Law firms are, first and foremost, a business. All businesses rely on a steady flow of new clients and businesses to stay afloat, and growth is an important part of the strategy.

With this in mind, many law firms are focusing on marketing to gain a competitive edge in the market. Unlike some of the flashy, over-the-top campaigns we see in other industries, however, law firm marketing is intended to showcase how trustworthy, professional, and reliable a firm is.

It’s common for law firms to use all available avenues for digital marketing, including search engine optimization, email marketing, social media, content marketing, and search ads.

How Much Do Law Firms Usually Spend on Marketing?

The marketing budget for a law firm can differ according to its goals. But interestingly, many law firms have no budget at all, leaving marketing efforts on the back burner.

If you’re intent on setting a marketing budget, know that large law firms spend anywhere from 2% to 5% of gross revenue, while small firms spend between 5% or 10% of gross revenue, according to the American Lawyer.

The budget can vary according to many factors, however, such as location, existing branding and reputation, and practice area.

What Should My Law Firm Marketing Budget Be?

In determining your law firm budget, you should consider:

• Law firm age: Younger firms typically have higher budgets to capture market share
• Area of practice: Different practice areas have different goals and sales funnels
• Location: Highly competitive areas will require higher spend
• Current marketing efforts: Starting from scratch will require more initial marketing spending to gain traction
• Marketing strategy: The level and types of marketing campaigns may call for different investments
• Competitor budgets: Large law firms in the area can drive up the cost of marketing for all firms

You should also consider retention vs. acquisition marketing.

Retention marketing is designed to remind your former clients of your services. Generally, it costs seven times more to attract and sign a new client than retain an existing client, so retention marketing has a better ROI overall.

Acquisition marketing is designed to attract new clients. The budget should be divided between traditional and digital marketing efforts, including social media, SEO, PPC, content, and print or television ads.

Instead of working with an arbitrary budget figure, develop a customized figure based on your needs and goals.

Best Practices for Creating Law Firm Marketing Goals and Tactics

It’s important to take the time to create a detailed marketing strategy and roadmap to save time and maximize your marketing budget. With a defined plan, you can evaluate your marketing efforts to see if you’re on track to reach your goals, adjusting as needed.

Establish Marketing Goals

Your marketing goal is what you hope to achieve with your marketing efforts. Without a set goal, it’s impossible to track and measure success.

Marketing goals should always be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). This ensures that you can track and measure your efforts effectively.

For example, setting a goal to “bring in new clients” doesn’t fit the SMART goals framework. You should have specific numbers and time frames.

Some examples include:

• Gaining X clients in Q3
• Increasing firm revenue by a certain dollar amount within six months
• Increasing web traffic by the number of visitors in a month’s time

Cultivate a Brand

Branding isn’t just for retail products. Law firms have brands, too, and the right brand can attract the ideal client. Cultivating a brand is a long and involved process, but establishing consistent and powerful brand assets like the mission and vision of the firm, the firm’s brand values, and its unique value proposition are a good starting point.

Leverage Content Marketing

Content marketing is key for law firms from both a general marketing perspective and an SEO perspective. Having valuable content not only establishes a firm as a thought leader in the industry, but it helps prospective clients discover firms as they search for solutions to their legal problems online.

It’s not enough to just churn out content for the sake of it, however. You should create original, in-depth, and valuable content that addresses common questions or concerns of the target client. This may include legal blogs and articles, podcasts, video series, and infographics.

Include Video Content

Video is quickly becoming a huge trend in all of the marketing, not just for law firms. Audiences prefer video over text because it’s more engaging. Video also helps to distill complex topics into more digestible content for better retention.

There are virtually limitless options for video content for your law firm. Consider options like client testimonials, industry interviews, or Q&A series that address common questions for your practice area. Videos can be used on social media, the firm’s website, and email blasts.

Tips for Tracking Law Firm Marketing Budget and Expenses

Marketing is an investment, so your marketing budget is not a “rainy day” fund. Whatever you allocate for marketing, make sure you spend it.

Consider time and money. Spending your entire marketing budget won’t do much if you’re not putting time into your marketing strategy. You should devote at least four hours per week to marketing activities, which you can track with task management tools.

Evaluate your ROI. If you’re putting hard-earned money into marketing, you should track your progress with timekeeping and expense reporting tools to ensure the spending is worthwhile. Different marketing channels have different time frames for tracking progress, but all of your marketing efforts should be evaluated on a regular basis.

Analyzing your efforts against your set goals will determine if you’re on track to meet them or whether you should make adjustments. It will also reveal the most successful channels, so you can allocate your spending appropriately in the future.

Key Takeaways

A flow of new clients is key to growth and profitability for a law firm. Marketing gets your firm’s name out there and attracts new clients, but you need a solid strategy and a marketing budget to direct your efforts and ensure you’re getting the most out of your spending.

In any business, keeping an eye on the bottom line is essential. For law firms, this can be a challenge, as there are many ways that money can be lost throughout a case. From inefficient time-tracking to inaccurate billing, there are many potential pitfalls. However, there is one solution that can help to increase law firm revenue: legal billing software. Choosing the right legal billing software is essential for maximizing its benefits. Consider time-tracking, billing accuracy, and customer service when evaluating different packages. Take a look at solutions built specifically for the legal industry to get the most out of your investment. 

3 Common Ways Law Firms Lose Money 

Time Tracking Issues

Many lawyers still rely on manual methods of tracking time by using spreadsheets or notepads. This antiquated approach to timekeeping is fraught with problems, including the potential for lost billable time and revenue, vulnerability to billing disputes, and high administrative costs.

With spreadsheet or notepad timekeeping, it is easy for lawyers to forget to record their time or lose track of their records, leading to lost billable hours and ultimately lost revenue for the firm. Manual timekeeping doubles the work since someone must manually enter all data into the system.

Manually keeping track of time leaves attorneys vulnerable to billing disputes. If a client questions a lawyer’s billing records, it can be difficult for the attorney to prove that the charges are accurate without detailed and meticulous records.

Invoicing Frequency

When it comes to law firm revenue, timely billing is everything. The longer you wait to send a bill, the longer you wait to get paid. Clients can’t pay a bill they haven’t received.

Not billing promptly sends the message to your client that prompt payment is not that important to you. Sending your invoices at the end of each month helps to avoid confusion or miscommunication and ensures that you and your clients are on the same page. 

Billing Bottlenecks 

Getting paid by clients is a significant problem for 61% of small law firms, according to 2019 research conducted by Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute. Law firms that don’t provide clients with various payment options, like online payments and accepting credit card payments, are more vulnerable to decreased law firm revenue due to not getting paid on time. 

What is Legal Billing Software? 

Legal billing software is downloadable or cloud-based that helps lawyers accurately track their time and invoice their clients. A robust software, like Bill4Time, will have the capability to track time, LEDES billing format, create custom invoices, accept online payments, and meet state bar regulations for billing. Law firms use dedicated legal billing software to improve their bottom line by improving invoicing processes and reducing inaccurate time management and billing bottlenecks. 

What Billing Software do Law Firms Use? 

Lawyers are always looking for ways to be more efficient and maximize their billable hours, so they prioritize cloud-based software solutions that have integrated time tracking, easy invoice options, and a client portal for online payments. 

Law firms need industry-specific features like trust & IOLTA accounting which allows lawyers to reconcile trust accounts without a secondary application. They also look for software that provides LEDES billing, the most widely used e-billing standard for law firms invoicing corporate clients.

Why Does My Law Firm Need Legal Billing Software? 

As a law firm, you know that time is money. Every minute spent on administrative tasks is a minute that could be spent on billable hours. 

Automate the billing process

You, and your team, enter matter information as time-tracked once, and the software will take care of the rest, generating invoices and sending them out to clients on your behalf. 

Manage your cash flow 

You will always have a clear record of what has been billed and remains outstanding. You can responsibly allocate your resources to maximize your profits. 

Track payments and expenses

Having this information organized and readily available can save you a great deal of time and hassle when it comes time to file taxes or apply for loans or lines of credit.

Billing automation will save you and your team considerable time each month, which can be spent growing your business. 

How to Identify the Best Legal Billing Software

When choosing legal billing software, there are a few key factors to keep in mind.

Choosing a program compatible with your firm’s existing tech stack, including your law practice management software, is critical to success. Consider the cost, ease of use, and customer support options. Mobile access is also crucial for lawyers who can access their files on any device — iPhone, iPad, or Android.

And finally, security is always a top priority when it comes to sensitive legal information. Look for software that has industry-standard security protocols in place to protect your data. 

By keeping these factors in mind, you’ll choose the best legal billing software for your needs.

Best Practices for Implementing a Legal Billing Software

There are many different types of legal billing software on the market, and it can be challenging to decide which one is right for your law firm.

When choosing new software for your law firm, there are a few important factors to remember:

• You must ensure that the software is compatible with your existing legal practice management software.
• Be sure to clearly understand your law firm’s billing policies before setting up the software to ensure everything is billed correctly.
• The software should be easy to use, but you still need to take time to train your staff on how to use the new software.
• You want a responsive and helpful company when you run into problems. If you run into issues, you can contact the support team.

A little upfront investment will pay off in the long run by preventing billing mistakes and increasing efficiency. Following these simple tips, you can set your law firm up for success with legal billing software.

Increase Law Firm Revenue with Legal Billing Software

Ultimately, you can improve your firm’s bottom line and the client experience by investing in legal billing software. Here are five ways a legal billing software can help you achieve success: 

1 ) Accurate Time Tracking

Time entry and expense tracking are crucial for any organization looking to boost productivity and improve profitability. Yet many organizations struggle with manually tracking time and expenses, leading to inaccuracies and lost data. The software makes tracking time and expenses by the user, client, or project easy.

Move beyond the notepad, and start tracking your time with a cloud-based software solution. Bill4Time allows you to enable multiple timers so you can easily jump between cases without worrying about where you left off. 

Whether on the go or at the office, easy time entry makes it simple to run timers simultaneously, record multiple time entries on one screen, and automatically convert appointments into time entries. You’ll always know your organization’s productivity and financial status with daily and weekly time summaries. 

2 ) Automated Billing

Automated billing and online payments can make it easier for clients to pay their invoices, resulting in quicker payment turnaround times. Clients tend to delay payment if they don’t understand the invoice. Prevent this from happening by providing detailed and informative invoices.

With legal billing software, like Bill4Time, you can set up invoice templates with custom settings such as your billing policy and payment links to pay online —  you can even perform batch invoice creation to save administrative time. 

You can even extend your brand while increasing workflow efficiencies by personalizing and creating branded invoices with your logo.

3 ) Online Payments

Online payments are becoming increasingly popular, and customers expect businesses to offer this option. You may even miss out on potential customers if you don’t offer online payments. 

Online payments allow firms to quickly and easily receive payments from clients. This can be done via credit card, debit card, or even PayPal. In addition, online payments are more secure than traditional methods, such as mailing a check. 

With Bill4Time, your law firm can process online payments right within the platform with Bill4Time Payments. The native payment solution allows you to create custom payment links with Link2Pay that can be added to emails or invoices. 

4 ) Custom Reporting

Real-time data is essential for any growing business and managing cash flow. You’ll want a solution with comprehensive reporting to manage your firm’s financial performance better and identify trends to ensure success—review payment history, balance due, collections, expenses, productivity, and summary reports. 

Legal billing software should be able to run user activity reports, so you can get detailed insights into how your team works, including efficiency, expense, schedule, and internal tracked time. Bill4Time offers custom reporting that allows you to track all expenses and other billing-related data. Including payment tracking so you can get a full view of your firm’s cash flow, pending payments, late invoices, or refunds. This data can help you identify areas of improvement so your team can work smarter, not harder. 

5 ) Enhanced Client Experience

Client portals are a great way to provide your clients with more information and control over their billing. Empower your clients to log in, view their account balances, make payments, and see a detailed fee history. By enabling the client portal in Bill4Time, clients have 24/7 accessibility to make payments or view invoices.

Grow Your Law Firm Revenue with Legal Billing Software

The legal industry is one of the most competitive and rapidly-changing fields. To succeed, law firms must be cutting edge in all aspects of their business – including billing. With so much at stake, it’s no wonder that more and more law firms are turning to legal billing software to help them stay ahead of the competition.

Are you ready to see how legal billing software can benefit your law firm? You can schedule a demo with Bill4Time today, and let us show you how our software can help you increase billable hours and grow your business.

A username and password are enough for many sites, this single-factor authentication is often used for retailers and other such sites. However, more sensitive data, like the information law firms store, should be guarded by multi-factor authentication. Hackers can access a lot of information with just a username and password, including a social security number, bank or credit card information, medical records, and more. On top of that, many people use a similar username and password across sites, so if a hacker gets one, they may get them all. 

This scenario is one that law firms simply can’t risk. As cyberattacks continue to rise, it’s imperative for law firms to educate themselves and utilize the cybersecurity resources available to protect their business.

What Is Multi-Factor Authentication?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires one factor, such as a password, that’s combined with another factor, such as a code, a device, or other personal identifiers like biometrics or voice recognition. Even with these parameters, a long, intricate password that is difficult to trace is still important. Generally, a good password consists of 20+ characters or a phrase that can be very strong, yet easy for the user to remember. Hackers want quick “attacks,” so the goal is to create a long enough password that creates more work and is difficult to guess. 

It’s important to remember that no password is fail-safe, which is why MFA is important. It is an extra layer of protection that is difficult for a cyberattacker to have access to. 

Why Law Firms Should Enable Multi-Factor Authentication

Some firms think security is reserved for large and prominent law firms, but it’s actually more common for small firms to experience a breach. For one, there are more small or solo firms, and they often don’t have the resources or team to handle their security.

A firm with Office 365 or Google Suite can enable 2FA quickly and easily. Employees will not need to go through the two-factor process for each log-in. Instead, 2FA is required for each login attempt from a new device. 2FA requires additional verification every so often, but it’s far more convenient than dealing with a breach and the possible business, legal, and reputational harm.

Incorporate Legal Technology in Your Firm’s Cybersecurity Strategy

Utilizing law practice management software is a simple way to secure your law firm’s data. Using cloud-based software, like Bill4Time, performs automatic routine updates to ensure the platform is always up to date. Out-of-date software is a common source for cyberattacks because it creates a weak point for hackers to enter.

Bill$Time also offers customized security measures like MFA. This change can only be done by users with access to firm-wide settings, such as a firm administrator. Similarly, administrators can configure the user permission settings and access for every function. Permissions and access for each task and each user can be customized, including temporary access for contractors. Administrators can also track logins automatically, so if there is a breach, it’s easier to pinpoint.

Multi-Factor Authentication and Your Firm’s Email

An email account is among the most important accounts for law firms – and anyone else – to protect. More times than not, an email provides avenues to access other accounts. Password recovery is often tied to emailing a link to reset a password. If an email account is compromised, all the account passwords could be reset.

With two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled on an email, a hacker would need access to both the email account and a smartphone or other device. This added step reduces the risk of hackers not only gaining access to email but potentially resetting other passwords.

If a device like a smartphone or a tablet is used for authentication, it’s important that they’re also protected with a PIN or fingerprint. Again, this is about creating layers of security. Like email, having access to a phone, whether it’s stolen or hacked, gives someone access to an array of accounts and information.

Outlook on Multi-factor Authentication for Law Firms

Data breaches happen, but with preparation, they can be prevented or controlled. Law firms can protect their sensitive information by creating obstacles for cyber attackers like difficult, frequently changed passwords, user access controls, and multi-factor authentication.

Attracting and hiring young talent is a big, and necessary investment for a law firm. After going through the process of recruiting, screening, hiring, and training candidates, it’s important for law firms to do all they can to keep lawyers in the long term. If a young lawyer is brought in and leaves for better opportunities, law firms have to start from scratch and put the time and money into hiring another. In total, law firm hiring costs the industry around $1 billion a year.

Attracting and retaining lawyers and bringing in fresh grads is competitive. Law firms looking to get to the top of the pool of talent need to focus on flexibility, diversity, positive company culture, growth opportunities, mentorship, and technological innovation.

Hiring is Competitive for Law Firms

In 2021, lateral hiring moves among law firms grew to 41%, an uncommon and record high for the legal industry. While many experts found this trend unsustainable and anticipate it will cool down this year, there is still a great effort among law firms to raise salaries and adjust their hiring practices to align with the market.

This trend of salary increases leaves new lawyers and associates with a flood of options. Unprecedented salaries are now more common, so other factors like work-life balance and hybrid work are at the forefront. Flashy salaries may draw lawyers in, but it’s the quality that the employer brings to their life that makes them stay.

The Importance of Company Culture and Law Firm Hiring

Younger lawyers come out of law school with different priorities than they did years ago. These new lawyers are seeking out firms with opportunities for support and mentorship from experienced lawyers. They want to know they’re making a choice that has a positive impact on their legal career.

Law firms can attract these lawyers by nurturing a positive culture that’s as current on trends and innovations as possible. One of the most important aspects of this culture is the technology that supports time management and work-life balance.

Ongoing Support and Mentorship

As mentioned, young lawyers are looking for law firms that will serve their future. Law firms can be competitive environments in a dog-eat-dog industry, but these new lawyers aren’t looking for that kind of grind. They don’t want to be the hotshot – they want opportunities to learn and grow in their careers.

Firms that want to attract these lawyers should offer opportunities for growth and demonstrate an investment in their recruits. This may include career planning guidance, CLE training, professional development, and coaching services. These programs not only help young lawyers grow but show them that the firm is invested in them.

Better Work-Life Balance

Like all young professionals entering the workforce, young lawyers put more emphasis on flexibility and work-life balance than the hustle culture. They don’t want to be the “first in, last out” type or married to the job. They want to have a healthy personal life with time for family, travel, or hobbies.

No matter what, personal and professional lives can overlap and impact each other, but law firms can try to give associates time and space to manage their personal lives. In doing so, firms gain more productive and efficient lawyers who are loyal and satisfied with their jobs.

Law firms should also keep in mind that young lawyers are more open to remote and hybrid work environments. These options allow lawyers to balance their time better, skip the long commute and traffic, and be more productive overall.

The Need for Cutting-Edge Technology

Legal technology is an excellent way for law firms to attract law students or young lawyers. The legal industry is largely traditional, but it’s slowly shifting to adopt more innovation that improves processes or helps young lawyers maintain the flexibility they crave.

For example, young lawyers looking for remote or hybrid work can make the most of their work time with features like mobile apps, document management, and cloud-based access and storage. They can work from anywhere – field, home, or office – and have the same access to the information and documentation they need.

Young lawyers are digital natives and can adapt to new technology solutions quickly. They know that they can gain more flexibility and fewer long hours with tools for automation, time tracking, and remote communication. Firms that remain traditional are less likely to attract this top talent.

Leaving a Positive Impact In and Out of Your Law Firm

Younger lawyers have many different priorities than their predecessors, including a desire to make a difference in the world. This generation lived through a lot of historical events, suffered strife, and wants to create a positive impact with their law practice – even more than fame, status, or salary.

Law firms can attract this kind of talent with programs like impactful pro bono work and a commitment to justice, not just attracting the biggest and most expensive clients. They give back to the community and show their investment in others, whether through donations, volunteer programs, scholarships, or pro bono work.

Supporting Alternative Career Paths

Attractive law firms offer different paths and opportunities to make partner. Young lawyers can rest assured that they won’t have to put their lives on hold, such as waiting to get married and start a family, just to get their promotion. Firms can give associates the flexibility and freedom to choose when they want to take the next steps in their careers.

Alternatively, not every young lawyer wants to be on track to partner. If young lawyers aren’t seeking a partnership or leadership position, law firms can offer alternative career paths through professional coaching and training programs.

For example, young lawyers may wish to take their legal expertise and combine it with business areas to assist in running a firm, such as business management, legal technology, or human resources. This allows lawyers to find the best combination of skills and responsibilities for their needs.

Lawyers should also have the freedom to explore different practice areas and widen their skill set before investing a lot of time and energy into a practice area that doesn’t satisfy them.

Adopt Modern Processes to Enhance Your Law Firm’s Hiring

Attracting and retaining young lawyers and law students is difficult in a competitive market, but law firms can create an environment of support, continued learning, and technological innovation that keeps lawyers loyal and satisfied.