Law Firm Pressure Points to be Released by ALT Advisers
Antonio Vescio recently established Accounts Legal Tech Advisers to improve legal and accounting firms' practice management systems, helping them better use their current technology rather than incurring the cost and time of implementing a new PMS. Accounts Legal Tech Advisers engages firms with a focus on their pressure points, such as reporting, workflow, or maximising existing resources, and addressing knowledge gaps.
Evolution of Practice Management Systems and Key Priorities
Vescio noted that the initial excitement around new practice management software often declines after about one or two years, leading firms to feel their investment no longer meets their evolving needs, especially if the firm is growing or changing direction.
Key priorities for law firms currently include adopting AI, improving workflow management, better integration, enhanced reporting, and upskilling staff to use modern, integrated systems. Vescio emphasised that even a 10% improvement in systems can result in significant financial savings, especially since most firms keep their software for 8 to 10 years.
Cloud Transition, Growth, and AI Implementation
Cloud solutions are certainly the way forward for many firms, with a focus on leveraging the investment for 10–15% business growth,” Vescio said. He further explained that SaaS solutions help drive growth by enabling firms to fine-tune their services or explore additional external services. In terms of AI, Vescio observed that law firms are implementing it primarily to improve operational efficiency in the practice of law, such as identifying case solutions, summarising information, and quickly deriving conclusions from documents.
Reporting and Client Engagement Trends
Vescio noted a shift away from traditional Excel spreadsheets, though they are still sometimes used to display outputs. Progressive firms are seeking more statistical and analytical data and want to slice and dice it to identify trends or provide summary information, often using tools like Microsoft Power BI. Conversely, more traditional firms still rely on simple, colour-coded spreadsheets, but younger staff are pushing for visual dashboards and graphs. Vescio also highlighted that client engagement is changing, with data now coming through various channels, such as portals and text messages, and that no single communication model fits all clients.
Technology Transformation Implementation
Regarding how a law firm partner should start a technology transformation program, Vescio advised beginning by identifying different key business requirements, such as intake, day-to-day workflows, or document management. A bottom-up approach is recommended to examine challenges across different legal practice groups and to focus on common issues, such as workflows, reporting and document management. Vescio stressed the importance of interviewing staff to understand how they currently use the systems, not to criticise them, but to identify what will move the business forward. Furthermore, staff often develop inefficient workarounds due to insufficient training or a lack of structured feedback channels, underscoring the need to identify gaps in training that users perceive as lacking.
Frequency of Optimisation and Change Management
Vescio observed that many progressive firms conduct system optimisation reviews every six months with smaller touchpoints at team meetings, fostering an open forum for discussing systems and business outcomes. The personnel typically responsible for implementing changes in practice management systems are usually the IT person and the Practice Manager, supported by a Partner or Director. While medium to large firms often have the depth to facilitate an architectural design review of new solutions, smaller firms might lack this capacity, leading Vescio to often step into that design role for the firm. Vescio noted that process mapping tools are not standard technology in law firms, with many still relying on manual documentation and sometimes integrating it into HR systems for onboarding.
Characteristics of a Law Firm Using Technology Well
When defining what a "good law firm" looks like in terms of technology, Vescio described a firm that generally uses the systems to achieve defined business outcomes, rather than simply demanding that the system perform a specific task. Vescio is a strong believer in “best-of-breed” technology adoption and asserts that firms that invest in technology are growing significantly, sometimes 10–30% year-on-year, while those that do not will fall behind competitors. A firm should use technology to develop an outcome that puts it at the leading edge, not one that keeps it at the back of the pack.
Antonio Vescio
Founder, Managing Consultant of Accounts Legal Tech Advisers
About Accounts Legal Tech Advisers
ALT Advisers empowers legal firms to achieve a higher ROI from their Practice Management system and legal technology choices.