Matter Management Is Reshaping the Legal Industry – and Making it Stronger
Matter Management is a crucial part of any law firm’s operation. With the growing reliance on e-discovery and the organization of digital content, law firms need to consider signing up for an electronic document management system.
Unlike the everyday user or small business that utilizes document management, law firms have unique needs. If they don’t use the proper platforms, there is a chance that they’re putting themselves and their clients at risk.
Let’s take a look at a few of the key ways that an enterprise content management system can help lawyers and staff run their firms successfully and without interruption.
It Ensures That Work is Completed
When working on a case, you never know how many parties will need to get involved. A case may require the work of other attorneys, staff members, summer associates, and/or paralegals in order to reach completion. The addition of hands from various areas or departments makes it easier for pieces to get lost in the shuffle. With a consolidated matter management system, that won’t happen anymore. You’ll always know who was working on what part of the case, and when.
Legal matter management software offers a wealth of workflow options. This makes it easy to set a system in place for a specific task or type of document, passing it along to the proper person or department. With all transactions and movement digitally documented, you’ll know exactly where your file or data ended up, when it was completed, and which parties were involved in the process.
Workflow is supposed to make life easier. If it’s only causing you and your firm headaches, then something isn’t right. Matter management software keeps your tasks on target and your productivity moving forward.
Users are Alerted to New Events or Crucial Data
No one wants to be left in the dark when it comes to their business or practice. It’s hard to feel like you’re in the loop when new events or case files slip past you or take too long to reach you.
Let’s say you’ve been waiting for a particular file to be uploaded into the system, checking back a few times an hour to see if it’s accessible. No one has time for twiddling their thumbs and peeking around corners for data in the legal industry. The act of waiting around and wondering is a waste of company time and money.
With matter management software, notifications will keep you abreast of new additions to the system. As soon as important documents enter the system, an email will arrive in your inbox. When that document comes in, you can work on it or give your approval and immediately hand it off to the appropriate staff member.
You Can Feel Carefree About Compliance
If you live and work in the legal world, you know all too well about the importance of compliance. What used to be a shrugged shoulder or a firm’s side-project is now a large component of the overall strategy of operations.
Once the legal risks are identified for your business, matter management software allows you to create the necessary controls. Every file you put into the system can have its own set of regulations that can be adjusted if needed. Have those annual reports or practice licenses automatically show up on your desktop a week before renewal or sent off to a recipient to sign at just the right time.
Your firm’s contractual obligations, permit conditions, and other such compliance-related documents should absolutely be organized. Email attachments have a habit of disappearing and external hard drives may accidentally get erased. However, matter management gives you the chance to build your legal safety net by keeping those files out of harm’s way until you need them again. This puts less burden on your business and less finger pointing when files fail to get renewed. ECM solutions for matter management let you know when an important date draws near, keeping you and your business in the clear.
You’ll Get Tight Security and Data Encryption
When it comes to legal practices, confidentiality and reliance are two attributes clients always look for. To meet these expectations, law firms need a system in place that guarantees privacy and offers security.
A data breach can hurt any business but it can truly ruin a legal practice. Clients entrust you with their private records, their history, case-related evidence, and sensitive information. Classified data of this variety should always be encrypted, even during transit.
Most matter management software will provide encryption on all documents, in addition to double-encryption for documents of the very sensitive variety. Encryption will protect data while it sits on your computer, laptop, or server. Encryption will also protect data en route via the internet, wireless networks, and through email.
As attorneys and law firms, you have a client’s past and future in their hands. Tight security and encryption through matter management will protect private data from hackers while protecting your reputation from possible disaster.
You Can Grant Diversified User Access
With a matter management system in place, access is something you can determine based on your firm’s needs. This classification of entry keeps everyone’s eyes where they need to be, which is especially crucial within a law practice. For example, you can grant the head of HR access to employee profiles and tax forms, but a client’s contract can be off limits. As an administrator, you’ll decide who’s allowed into each wing of your system, and who holds the key to which door.
Along with the ability to set up different accounts and passwords for employees, our system tracks every person’s move. You can see who edited a document or viewed a file, and when. Because of this detailed accessibility, accountability becomes a group activity. Matter management takes the weight off of your shoulders, and puts trust back in business.
Detailed Search Options are Literally Endless
Save the sleuthing for your cases, and let matter management serve as your data detective. Let’s say you only remember a part of a file name or the date that you uploaded it. Your matter management system comes to the rescue with advanced search features. Frustration over misplaced documents or forgotten file names will be a thing of the past. Type in what you know, and a sophisticated search system will have your document in hot pursuit. A small bout of memory loss shouldn’t cost your firm any of its time or money.
The Takeaway
Contentverse is an award-winning enterprise content management system that will improve your law firm’s processes and simplify your workday. You’ll know precisely when work gets completed or a new important document has entered your system (expected or not). Contentverse takes care of legal industry compliance requirements and keeps track of contractual obligations so you don’t have to. Legal practices can trust us to keep their data safe, carefully encrypted, and in the right hands. With our ECM solution for matter management, accessibility belongs to the administrator and no file is lost forever. You can rest assured that your documents will be organized, secure, and easy-to-locate with Contentverse.
Want to learn more about our electronic document management offerings? Contact us today for a consultation for your law firm.