So, you want to be an eFiling service provider?
Allow us to recommend setting up shop in California and Texas—for two good reasons:
1 | 2 |
| California Largest court system in the United States with more than 170,044 active attorneys. | Texas Approximately 90,485 active attorneys, ranking only behind California and New York. |
Doing business in states with court systems that are this busy demands eFiling service providers (EFSPs) that can keep pace. Opportunity is there and shows no sign of slowing, so now is an ideal time to enter these markets.
The first step to becoming an EFSP in California and Texas is to make sure your business is equipped with eFiling-capable litigation support software. That tool will be indispensable, so here’s how to choose it correctly.
Spend Smart
How can you be sure your investment in litigation support software is money well-spent?
The rubric below can help you figure it out.
Use it to match your spend with a platform that will deliver lasting value—and provide the perfect fit for your business’s eFiling needs.
✔
eFiling-capable Software Checklist
| Comprehensive and Easy to Use
| A single, online system that provides all the tools you need to manage your company and get customer work done.
|
| Keeps You Relevant
| Court-certified for eFiling and eService throughout California and Texas.
|
| Meet the Needs of Today’s Law Firms
| The software prioritizes streamlining litigation document workflows, leveraging data and more, by integrating with third-party software, i.e., document management and practice management partners, and law firm’s tech systems.
|
| Bank Grade Security
| System meets strict data security requirements and privacy standards.
|
| Always-On Access
| Allows your customers, staff, and vendors to access orders on their schedule from anywhere.
|
| Effortless IT and Integrations
| No hardware expenses, no downloads, and no pricey upgrades.
|
Build Your Digital Factory
With this software purchase, you’re essentially building a digital factory that delivers a digital product for customers and stakeholders who want seamless court eFiling.
To make that happen you’ll need an eFiling platform that is flexible and scalable.
It must integrate with other systems for time-saving convenience and provide order tracking so that you and your customers know how work is progressing.
This platform should also generate reports and analytics about the performance you deliver to your customers as well as how your customers, themselves, perform. These insights provide performance transparency and accountability which will strengthen your customer relationships.
Make sure your system is also Ecommerce capable of accepting online payments. This will protect your cash flow with secure transactions that are seamless, paperless, and assure you’re paid for the services you provide.
Most importantly:
The platform you choose must already be a certified eFiling service provider for California and Texas.
360 Degrees of Value
While understanding what facets need to be included in the right software vendor, you should also consider other crucial intangibles.
No software engineer can provide two of the most important values you’ll find among the industry’s top-performing eFiling platform software providers: deep domain expertise and customer support that understands the local court rules and regulations.
Both are part of the 360-degree value picture. And, the company that creates your software should provide these two vital resources to help you stand out as an EFSP.
1. Domain Expertise
When problems arise with the courts’ technology or processes, you’ll have someone to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you who possesses expert knowledge to deal with these situations.
That includes expertise in:
1) How to operate eFiling software.
2) Electronic court filing systems different courts use.
3) Navigating the courts themselves.
A partner with domain expertise can also support you with critical understanding about state and local court rules and the peculiarities of clerks and judges in their service areas.
2. Customer Support
Whether you’re operating in California on Pacific Time or in Texas on Central Time, you’ll want to choose a technology provider that is accessible by phone or email during the hours that you do business.
Your provider should have a knowledge base that’s accessible 24/7 and a live customer success team that responds when you need answers.
Likewise, that team should have an unrivaled grasp of industry eFiling technology and systems, eFiling procedures, and document requirements.
Partner Smart, Execute Relentlessly
Perhaps the best news about becoming an EFSP in California and Texas is that the eFiling software market has proven and affordable turnkey solutions.
LegalConnect is one of them. Already court-certified in California and Texas, LegalConnect currently supports more than 100 partners that offer eFiling.
A partnership with LegalConnect means you’ll get support and engineering that build your eFiling business’s operational mojo in four key ways:
| 1. Save Time Reduce repetitive data entry with auto-populate features.Built-in integrations with document management systems allow your customers to move documents without leaving the customer portal.
| 2. See All, Know All Get on-demand snapshots of every order in your business.Keep yourself and your customers fully informed with reports that track court acceptance rates, eFiling turnaround times, and more.
|
| 3. Get Paid Quickly Your customers can pay electronically via credit card or ACH transactions. No more waiting on paper checks.
| 4. Pricing Perfection Road tested advice from successful EFSPs: The Price is Right: How to Set Strategic Pricing for Your Litigation Support Business.
|
Off to the Races
Serving the litigation support service industry is a lot like being a race car driver: Once you decide to do it, the only thing you really need is high-performing technology that moves quickly when it’s time to take advantage of an opening.
LegalConnect can provide that technology and power up your goal of becoming an eFiling provider with the services that California and Texas markets demand.
Ready to take the leap? Start the engine on your eFiling provider business now with LegalConnect. Call (800) 909-6859, request a demo, or email support@legalconnect.com, to speak with one of our customer success experts and get started!