market with the economic downturn of 2008, law firms faced increased pressure to provide their clients with better value. Clients are now in control, and they're demanding better efficiency, higher quality service and more reasonable fees from their law firms. Where is one place those law firms turn for solutions to better meet the needs of their clients? Technology. "The outcome is that law firms are now having to be much more efficient," according to Dan Safran, executive vice president of Project Leadership's management consulting practice group. Project Leadership is the largest technology consulting services provider to the U.S. legal industry. "They need to take more cost out of the model, and they're using technology to do it." for high-quality small to mid-sized firms like Primerus firms and for their clients, too. "Technology is a great market leveler," Safran said. "Smaller firms can do it cheaper and faster." According to Mike Moore, in his 2011 column "The Changing Definition of `The Small Law Firm'" on legalproductivity.com, "Today, a good lawyer practicing alone or with a handful of colleagues can accomplish far more than that same lawyer or team could've several years ago. The difference today between working with a smart lawyer at a large firm and working with a smart lawyer at a smaller firm just isn't nearly what it once was. It's not even close. Technology can democratize virtually anything, and the practice of law isn't exempt," he wrote. "In many situations, a large M&A (mergers and acquisitions) transaction or a piece of complex if not better and more efficiently, by an experienced, technology savvy lawyer than by engaging a big firm." So, how are small and mid-sized firms doing big things with technology? How are Primerus firms using technology to add to the value and quality service they're delivering to clients around the world? computing storing and accessing data and programs via the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive or servers. In fact, Safran advises small law firms, if they have not already, to "run, don't walk" to the cloud for everything from document production, like Microsoft 365, and document management to file sharing in 2015. |