Ethics And Practice Management

How a case management system can help you practice ethically and competently www.goclio.com

History with the LSBC • Assembled a small firm task-force to examine issues and forces contributing to frequent breaches of Professional Conduct Rules (PCR) • Identified that pervasive under-adoption of available practice/case management tools were a frequent contributor to PCR related breaches and complaints • Sought to reduce incidences of malpractice and ethical misconduct by proactively searching for a turnkey solution which could be enlisted to assist their membership www.goclio.com

Case Management 101 All lawyers need to manage: Files/Matters Time Tracking Clients/Contacts Bills/Reports Tasks/Reminders Documents A good system integrates these functions seamlessly www.goclio.com

The Contenders Many excellent traditional systems are available: Great for robust, feature-rich and desktop integrated case management www.goclio.com

The Contenders Web-based newcomers also provide compelling solutions Great for ease-of-use, accessibility, passive information security and redundancy www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management “(Case management) helps you avoid malpractice claims/conflicts” David Bilinsky, LLB – Practice Management Advisor, LSBC “A good case management system makes it easy to practice ethically and stay out of trouble.” Kensi Gounden, LLB – Manager of Practice Standards, LSBC www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 1. Tracking and keeping critical appointments with a complete calendaring system – Keeping engagements with clients – Ensuring punctuality and maintenance of professional commitments – Avoiding scheduling conflicts and overlap www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 2. Diarizing important deadlines using a date sensitive “To Do” list or bring-forward system – Provides reminder system to prevent passage of deadline without engaging in required steps or follow-up – Reminds the attorney when and how often to update the client regarding important events or developments www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 3. Facilitates timely follow-up and correspondence with clients using integrated message management – Identifies and assigns client correspondence (emails, letters & telephone messages) for response within a reasonable timeframe – Ensures that client inquiries are not forgotten or left unattended – Permits integrated archiving of important matter/client correspondence for future reference www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 4. Maintaining accurate records and documentation regarding case events and progression – Enables complete and accurate reporting to client on details of case and event chronology – Allows attorney to fulfill requirement to provide candid advice and information on matter position www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 5. Avoid conflicts of interest with integrated and comprehensive practice search capacity – Mitigates risk from information “siloing” – Enables attorney to pledge undivided loyalty in good conscience – Identify and avoid conflicts before they happen www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 6. Maintain accurate records of time and disbursements to avoid unnecessary and unseemly wrangling over fees – Time tracking system keeps an accurate history of time accrual including dates, amounts and work completed – Expense and disbursement tracking enables attorneys to document and justify any out-of-pocket expenses or additional costs of services incurred www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 7. Enables accurate recording and reporting of client moneys or Trust property using a system of ledgers – Fulfills jurisdictional Trust reporting requirements – Prevents inextricable co-mingling of client or attorney funds – Permits viewing of client ledger indicating balances for trust funds, pre-payments, retainers and unearned fees – Prohibits negative client balances www.goclio.com

Ethics & Case Management Case Management systems aid in the ethical practice of law in the following ways: 8. Ensure the privacy and safekeeping of a client’s confidential information – Guards client data against passive & active information compromise – Takes reasonable measures to protect against catastrophic data loss using information storage best practices www.goclio.com

Ethics of the Web Data Availability & Redundancy • Performing secured backups of data at regular intervals (ideally at least once per day) • Ensuring geographical distribution of backup data through simple off-site storage or otherwise • Involving third-party data escrow providers in the long-term, independent protection of data www.goclio.com

Ethics of the Web Improved Data Security Data communications are encrypted with 128 or 256-bit bank-grade SSL encryption Daily security audits performed by trusted authorities in data integrity Adherence to strict privacy guidelines and best-practices www.goclio.com

Ethics of the Web Data Availability & Redundancy • Performing secured backups of data at regular intervals (ideally at least once per day) • Ensuring geographical distribution of backup data through simple off-site storage or otherwise • Involving third-party data escrow providers in the long-term, independent protection of data www.goclio.com

Other Advantages Provides Freedom and Mobility www.goclio.com

Other Advantages High degree of accessibility and platform neutrality www.goclio.com

Other Advantages Manages documents, knowledge assets and other intellectual property www.goclio.com

Other Advantages Allows monitoring of practice health and reporting of critical information www.goclio.com

Other Advantages Provides a simple ROI proposition • Saves time spent on non-billable, or other administrative tasks • Saves money by mitigating administrative overhead, and (in some cases) entitling you to reductions in practice insurance premiums www.goclio.com

Finally… • A good case management system should just work – don’t find yourself regretting your purchase, or on the IT support treadmill • Find one that makes sense in the context of your practice workflow and level of technical sophistication – request a free trial before committing www.goclio.com

Thank You www.goclio.com

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Ethics And Practice Management

by goclio.com on Dec 18, 2008

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Ethics And Practice Management — Presentation Transcript