Given that law firms are service-based, revenue earned in the legal profession is mainly based on hours billed for work on behalf of their clients. These are the kinds of tasks and hours that law firms want to maximize, so they can run revenue-driven businesses. In this interactive session hosted by Lawyaw’s Cory Bates-Rogers, we will help you better understand how your law firm can automate and optimize with tech solutions and the improvement of internal processes. We will cover: - How optimization and automation can benefit your practice - 6 Steps to begin automating your workflow - Tips to consider when evaluating new technology for your law firm - Workflow optimization best practices - Process mapping

1. LEGAL WORKFLOW AUTOMATION & OPTIMIZATION:
WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT
BENEFIT YOUR PRACTICE?

2. cory.bates@clio.com
www.lawyaw.com
TODAY’S SPEAKER
Cory Bates-Rogers
Legal Customer Support Specialist

3. GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THE SESSION
● There may be a few polls throughout
the presentation
● Use the “Chat” section to ask
questions
● Dedicated time for Q&A at the end

4. AGENDA
● Optimization v. Automation
● Why automate your workflow?
● How to optimize your workflow
● Automation Change Management Planning
● Tips to consider when evaluating new technology
● Workflow optimization best practices
● Q&A

5. OPTIMIZATION V.
AUTOMATION

6. WHAT IS LEGAL WORKFLOW AUTOMATION?
● Leverage technology to automate basic tasks
● Reduces errors
● Reduces overhead
● Frees up staff from redundant tasks
● Focus on the human needs your business

7. OPTIMIZATION v. AUTOMATION
The Traditional Approach
Potential Client Calls
Staff performs basic
intake over the phone
Staff sends intake to
Attorney for Quote
Attorney responds
with Quote
Staff calls P.C. with
Quote, schedules
consult
P.C. shows up for
appointment, fills out
detailed intake sheet.
Attorney reviews
detailed intake and
meets with P.C.
Client signs contract,
attorney passes off
to Staff for Payment.
Staff takes payment
Staff enters intake
data into CRM, sets
up file
Staff sends file to
paralegal who drafts
initial pleadings
Paralegal sends
pleadings to attorney
to approve and sign.
Attorney reviews and
returns with edits
Paralegal makes
corrections, returns
to attorney to sign
Attorney Signs and
returns to paralegal
to file
Paralegal Files
pleadings and awaits
responses.
More Waiting
Client calls, upset
that they haven’t
heard an update.
Paralegal explains
they haven’t
received
discovery, client
wants to speak
with attorney.
Attorney speaks with
client and confirms.
Staff calls Client for
payment, no answer.
Client returns call,
Staff takes
payment. Client
asks about case,
handoff to
paralegal

8. OPTIMIZATION v. AUTOMATION
The Optimized Approach
Potential Client Calls
Staff performs
basic intake over
the phone,
provides quote
based on price
guide, schedules
consultation.
P.C. shows up for
appointment, fills out
detailed intake sheet.
Attorney reviews
detailed intake and
meets with P.C.
Client signs contract,
attorney passes off
to Staff for Payment.
Staff takes payment
Staff enters intake
data into CRM, sets
up file
Staff sends file to
paralegal who drafts
initial pleadings
Paralegal sends
pleadings to attorney
to approve and sign.
Attorney reviews and
returns with edits
Paralegal makes
corrections, returns
to attorney to sign
Attorney Signs and
returns to paralegal
to file
Paralegal Files
pleadings and
notifies client of
progress.
Staff calls Client for
payment, no answer.
Client returns call,
Staff takes
payment. Client
asks about case,
handoff to
paralegal

9. OPTIMIZATION v. AUTOMATION
The Automated Approach
Potential Client Calls
Staff performs
basic intake
over the phone,
provides quote
based on price
guide,
schedules
consultation,
and sends
electronic
intake form to
client.
P.C. Client fills out
intake and data is
automatically
uploaded to CRM.
Attorney reviews
detailed intake and
meets with P.C.
Client signs contract,
attorney passes off
to Staff for Payment.
Staff takes payment,
creates recurring
billing in CRM.
Staff sends file
to paralegal who
uses document
automation to
draft initial
pleadings and
file them
immediately.
Paralegal
electronically
notifies client of
progress. Automatic draft of
payment from
Client’s account -or-
auto-invoice sent.
Client views Client
Portal to check for
case updates
automatically
triggered by CRM
workflow.
P.C. Shows up for
Appointment.

10. WHY AUTOMATE?
Legal workflow automation can increase
your billable hours.
● According to the 2022 Legal Trends
Report, the average lawyer in the United
States bills only 2.6 hours of billable
work each day.
● Using the standard 8-hour workday, the
typical lawyer only has a 33% utilization
rate.

11. WHY AUTOMATE?
Automation gives your law firm the advantage
of serving clients and attracting new business
more efficiently.
● Remove room for human error related to
duplicate data entry
● Create a better client experience
● Increase attorney and staff satisfaction
● Improve communication and transparency
between your law firm’s staff and clients
● Decrease the overhead costs

12. OPTIMIZE YOUR WORKFLOW
WITH PROCESS MAPPING

13. PREPARING FOR PROCESS MAPPING
To start the mapping process, consider your
objectives. The goal is to:
● Identify an under-performing process.
● Note the people executing the process.
● Determine which decisions and events
occur at every step in the process
● Detail each step clearly and visually
● Search for bottlenecks and slow-downs
● Analyze data to find areas of
improvement
● Create an actionable plan for
improvement

14. Primarily, you want to look at
areas of your organization that
are underperforming, whether
that means noticeably failing to
meet goals or simply not living
up to desired expectations.
Underperformers Slow-Downs
NOT SURE WHICH PROCESS TO MAP?
Look for processes and teams
that have obvious bottlenecks
first. From there, you will most
likely see how those
processes are impacting other
areas of your organization.

15. TYPICAL LAW OFFICE BOTTLENECKS
Returning Potential
Client Calls
Drafting
Initial/Standard
Pleadings
Generating and
Mailing Invoices
File Setup/Data Entry

16. For most processes, we recommend using
swim lane diagrams.
Swim lane diagrams have the ability to
simplify complex workflows as well as
visualize how different departments, persons,
and roles work together to achieve an
outcome.
On a swim lane diagram, a cross-team activity
can be indicated by a task that extends
across several swim lanes.
USE SWIMLANES
TO SHOW
RESPONSIBILITIES

17. SWIM LANE DIAGRAM -
File Creation to Initial Pleadings
POOL
Attorney
Assistant
Paralegal E-File
Take
Payment
Draft
Initial
Pleadings
Send File to
Paralegal
Review
Revise &
Return
Review
& Sign
Copy &
Serve

18. WORKFLOW AUTOMATION
CHANGE MANAGEMENT PLAN

19. Involve staff in this process
to get maximum feedback
and engagement.
● Calling to collect payments
every month
● Constant document errors
and revisions
● Unable to keep up with case
status, things falling
through the cracks
VALUATE AND
PRIORITIZE
EACH NEED
CREATE YOUR
PLAN
1 2 3
IDENTIFY
WHAT YOU
WANT TO
AUTOMATE
Which tasks are best for
automation and which will
provide the most value first.
● Does it take a lot of time to
do?
● Is it repetitive or tedious?
● Or is it a necessary task but
non-billable?
● Is it time-sensitive?
Develop a plan of action so
that you’re able to tackle
changes one by one.
● Prioritize items on your list
by those that will provide
biggest value first.
● Plan implementation as
part of your day-to-day life
without jeopardizing the
attorney and client
experience.

20. Conduct research to find the
best solution that fits the
needs of your firm.
● Think about all of your
issues, good tech solutions
should solve multiple
problems, not just one.
● Check out the education
resources before you buy, if
publicly available.
REVIEW AND
ITERATE
5
4 6
GATHER
YOUR TOOLS
IMPLEMENT &
REINFORCE
Commitment is key to
success. You’ve set a goal,
stick with it to avoid chaos.
● Change isn’t easy, so be
kind to yourself.
● Hold your staff accountable
and encourage them to hold
you accountable as well.
● Make note of problems as
you go, but resist reverting
back to prevent whiplash.
Although one of the
advantages of implementing
automation is that you can
“set-it-and-forget-it,” regularly
re-evaluate your processes
over time.
● Regularly asking for
feedback from staff and
clients will help you uncover
valuable opportunities for
improvement and further
savings on overhead.

21. PROCESS
MAPPING
EXAMPLE
START
Talk with
prospective
client with a
need that we
can solve
Gather initial
contact info
Run conflict
check
Generate
engagement
agreement
Send agreement
for signature
Generate
retainer invoice
Send invoice to
client
Did client
pay
within 3
days?
NO
YES
Schedule
meeting
END
Start Trigger
Action
Decision (Smaller Circles: yes/no)
Send
reminder
x
- Time consuming, missing other calls
- High likelihood of data errors
x
- High Risk of
Error
- Bottleneck
x- Manual timing errors
- Bottleneck
- Manual reminders
waste time
- Manual scheduling
wastes time

22. Gather initial
contact info
x
- Time consuming, missing other calls
- High likelihood of data errors
Valuate and Prioritize Research Tech Solutions Create a Plan
- We lose 5 cases per month
because staff is on the phone
and cannot return messages
quickly enough.
- That’s roughly $5,000/mo.
- Data errors at intake cause
- Rejected filings
- Extra paralegal time
(est. 1 hr/week =
$300/mo.)
- Postage and service
waste (est. $150/mo.)
- Total Loss: $5,450.00/mo
- Needs:
- Customizable, electronic
intake forms
- Mobile friendly
- Formatted data fields to
reduce error
- Integrates with CRM
- Other Needs:
- Training and Support
from tech company
- Call/Email/Chat support,
not generic “I have a
question” + Hope
- Goal: By July 30, we will eliminate the intake
bottleneck by sending case-specific electronic
forms to all clients to collect information.
- Purchase capable software by May 30.
- Designate project leader: Paul Paralegal, who
will complete software training by June 7.
- Paul to finish intake setup and integration for
one case-type by June 14.
- Whole Staff Training by June 21.
- Whole Staff implementation of first case-type
by June 30.

23. Generate
engagement
agreement
x
- High Risk of Error
- Bottleneck
Valuate and Prioritize Research Tech Solutions Create a Plan
- We lose about 2 cases per
month by failing to send out
agreements in time (est.
$2,000/mo.)
- Time spent on intake wasted
if client moves on (est. 1
hr/mo @ $25/hour).
- Reputation at risk when
agreement sent with prior
client’s information.
- Agreements lose formatting
as staff manually enter new
case data, reputation.
- Needs:
- Quickly generate accurate
agreements using intake
data from CRM
- Easily automate clauses
based on case type
- Perfectly formatted
- Other Needs:
- Training and Support
from tech company
- Call/Email/Chat support
- Professional Services
- Goal: By July 30, we will eliminate errors and
delays with engagement agreements by utilizing
document automation and e-signature.
- Purchase capable software by May 30.
- Designate project leader: Andria Attorney, who
will complete software training by June 7.
- Andria to finish agreement template and send
to pro-serve team by June 14.
- Whole Staff Training by June 21.
- Whole Staff implementation of electronic
agreements by June 30.

24. COMMON GOALS AND
CONSIDERATIONS

25. INTAKE: PRE-CLIENT ACQUISITION
Goals:
1. Make it easy to engage with you
1. Allow potential clients to self-qualify
1. Quickly close business before they go with
a competitor

26. INTAKE: CLIENT ONBOARDING
Goals:
1. Make sure information is properly collected,
formatted, and stored
2. Keep clients updated about their cases
3. Maximum client communication with
minimum effort

27. DOCUMENT DRAFTING
Goals:
1. Speed up drafting time
1. Create a “branded” consistent
appearance
1. Eliminate/reduce errors
1. Delegate more of the drafting process
1. Minimize back-and-forth revisions
between drafter and attorney

28. SIMPLIFIED FLAT-FEE WORKFLOW
Components of A Flat-Fee Project Workflow
Intake
Client
Onboarding
Document
Drafting
Work Product
Delivery
Automated
Automated Automated Automated

29. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

30. TIPS FOR EVALUATING NEW TECH
Involve your team in the research
and evaluation process
Look at software integration
and remote/cloud access
Identify “influencers” to guide and
influence reluctant groups
Conduct regular training to drive
user adoption
Take advantage of free trials
when available
Ask about available training
resources and professional services

31. CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Provide each employee (and yourself)
with uninterrupted blocks of time for
training and setup.
01
Does it remedy multiple pain points?
04
Is it scalable? (CRM, document
automation, esign, etc.)
03 Nominate an implementation point
person.
02
Does it enhance security?
⚠️
⚠️
What does the ROI look like in terms
of time-savings, cost-savings, and
convenience?

32. QUICK POLL
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33. Watch How Clio Law Firms Use Lawyaw
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smart, reusable templates
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without retyping client information
● Increase firm collaboration during the drafting, review, and
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34. Thank you for taking the time to join us today.
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www.lawyaw.com
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