The legal industry is amid a digital transformation; driven by more than half of the 58 superior county courts implementing electronic filing. This trend has led great numbers of law firms to eFile their documents to maintain court compliance; a move that consequently opens the door for firms to expand the way they use legal technology.
As these changes take hold, they are driving competition in the legal marketplace to a ferocious new level that creates challenges and opportunities for litigation support service providers. Those that wish to thrive in the evolving landscape will not have the luxury of doing things the old way. Providers must now think strategically about how to shape a response that enables them to succeed and grow.
Some have already found a way.
Success depends on this
The legal support service providers most likely to survive this change are not sitting idly by in hopes that someone will clear a path forward. Instead, they are using transformative technology to help their customers improve their businesses in three marketable ways:
- Operate with greater efficiency.
- Add value to the services they purchase.
- Help them expand.
Wondering how they do it? Here are four key strategies this class of innovative providers is using successfully to stay relevant in a changing market.
1. Successful Litigation Support Service Providers Automate and Digitize their Business
A lack of automation increases a company’s dependence on paper and increases its margin for error. Even worse—manual, paper-based business processes negatively impact revenue, cost, compliance, and productivity. With the digital transformation taking place in the legal industry today, courts and law firms are quickly moving towards going paperless. To stay relevant and support their clients, litigation support service providers must do the same.
Successful litigation support service providers are turning to litigation support service software to automate and digitize their business. With best-in-class software such as LegalConnect, a litigation support service provider can position itself for success on six important dimensions:
- Increase productivity
- Better utilize staff
- Reduce risks
- Attract new customers
- Grow revenue
- Accelerate cash flow
Working together, these dimensions deliver leading-edge services that keep a provider at the forefront of competition.
From sign-up to invoice, they use one online platform to manage all aspects of their operations—customers, orders, documents, vendors, communications, billing, and reporting.
Nationwide reach
An example of this is LegalConnect’s eFile and eService software, which enables litigation support service providers to file documents electronically on behalf of their clients in any California court that accepts electronic court document filing.
This same software enable a litigation support service provider to electronically serve documents anywhere in the United States through an interconnected partner network.
This infographic shows you how LegalConnect connects
law firms, courts, and service providers nationwide.
Click for larger view or to download.
Law firms that use a legal support service provider that uses the LegalConnect platform will be able to use LegalConnect’s self-service portal to initiate their own eFile and eService orders, making their own internal operations more efficient. Essentially, the same platform that makes litigation support service providers more efficient also makes law firms more efficient. One technology transforms both businesses.
Deal in data
The innovative use of data is another technology feature that successful litigation support service providers use to better serve their clients.
It works like this:
Litigation support service software captures important data
A litigation support service provider passes
the data to its clients.
Clients use the data to improve their bottom line.
By automating and digitizing their business, the forward-thinking attorney service provider spends less time pushing paper and more time delivering better service to its customers, growing its customer base, and achieving greater efficiency and value.
2. Successful Litigation Support Service Providers Maintain Strong Cash Flow Controls and Oversight
It’s safe to say that many litigation support service providers want to grow their business, but when cash flow is poor, a company can’t make the investments it needs to expand. “Cash is king,” so goes the saying, and successful litigation support service providers understand that maintaining tight control over cash flow is key to growth.
A success secret for many litigation support service providers has been to switch to an e-commerce platform. This allows their customers to pay electronically via credit card or ACH transaction when they place an order. Payments for fees and services are collected upfront, and checks and money orders are a thing of the past.
Accepting only electronic payments positively impacts cash flow in several ways:
- No more waiting for a check that’s “in the mail” and takes days to clear a bank.
- Payments are collected upfront at time of the order.
- No more chasing clients for payment.
- Stop conceding large chunks of revenue to a collection agency.
Open credit arrangements that tie up valuable income are a thing of the past. No longer does a litigation support service provider have to serve as a bank for its clients and shell out money from its own pocket to advance court fees on the client’s behalf.
Businesses need to manage cash flow better if they want to grow and be successful. Switching to an eCommerce platform and a payment gateway is an excellent way to make it happen.
3. Successful Litigation Support Service Providers Get the Job Done Right and On Time
Nothing creates a dissatisfied customer more quickly than a rejected court filing, a missed deadline, slow service of process turnaround times, or being left in the dark on the status of a filing or service or process.
Successful litigation support service providers know that to retain customers and grow their business, they must deliver excellent results on time.
Be the expert
Customers also expect a high level of expertise from their litigation support service provider, particularly in these key areas:
- State and local rules
- Industry eFiling systems
- eFiling procedures
A provider that wants to be thought of as a top performer should also be able to file in every court where eFiling is accepted and to have access to reliable process servers in every state.
Take a leadership role
Being successful also means being a leader. Litigation support service providers rise through the ranks by leading their markets with deep knowledge of the legal landscape, technological expertise, and by providing tools that help their clients’ filings succeed.
Exceptional offline services are also something best-of-breed providers offer, including document review. This service is critical because it can catch errors in filings before they are dispatched to a court. Ultimately, document review reduces the chance that a filing will be rejected.
Building a business that has a reputation for delivering top performance means never taking a chance on technology. That’s why industry-leading litigation support service providers rely on a proven, stable technology platform certified with every Electronic Filing Manager (EFM) in California. That same platform can prepare and file documents on behalf of clients in every eFiling court.
Because everything is handled electronically—no paper, no printing, no scanning—eFiling and eService save both time and money and lower the risk of delays and errors that arise from emailing or faxing documents.
eFiling and eService done right
Many successful litigation service providers use eFiling and eService software to manage their clients’ file and serve work. Used correctly, eFiling and eService software provides an upper hand in getting the job done right and on time.
Smart providers also choose eFiling software technology with features that reduce the chance of error on a filing. Systems with these capabilities flag errors such as missing dates and signatures in a document before it is dispatched to the court.
Reducing errors increases filing acceptance, and greater filing acceptance means more satisfied clients.
Connected platform
A top litigation support service platform is an asset that successful litigation support service providers have in in common. This platform connects providers to a nationwide network of fulfillment partners. Through the platform, they can access reliable process servers anywhere in the United States to serve papers on behalf of their clients and track the status of service along the way. That’s how easy it is to get the job done.
The bottom line, successful litigation support service providers invest in the processes and tools they need to excel at service delivery. They manage the client’s work from beginning to end with best-in-class litigation support service software.
4. Successful Litigation Support Providers Keep their Customers Abreast of Service Progress and Promptly Respond to Client Inquiries
Because legal professionals work in a time-sensitive, high-pressure environment, they need a responsive litigation support service provider who looks after their work and is there for them when they need support.
Always be in touch
Successful litigation support service providers understand how crucial it is to be reachable to their clients, so they invest in this area. They provide clients multiple channels to reach them including:
- Toll-free telephone number
- Customer support email address
- Live chat feature on their website
They ensure that well-trained, responsive support staff who understand all the state and local court rules are ready and available to respond to customer inquiries.
Some best-in-class litigation support service providers go beyond that. Depending on the client, they may provide:
- Dedicated account manager reachable via an email address or direct dial line.
- Document specialist with deep domain expertise and experience to handle a client’s order from start to finish.
Automated alerts
Keeping clients apprised of the status of court filings and process service is key to customer satisfaction. The most successful litigation support service providers fulfill that need by using eFiling and eService that issues automated alerts. When a document has been filed at a court, or served and confirmed by a process server, these systems generate an email confirmation that is sent to the client.
Clients appreciate being kept in the loop, not in the dark.
Power to grow
The pace of a digital transformation in the industry requires all litigation service providers to change how they do business. Fortunately, with leading-edge litigation support software, it’s not as difficult as it seems. LegalConnect provides a complete solution of software and services to propel your company forward. With it, you can automatize and digitize all aspects of your operations, harness cash flow, and provide the leading-edge services and support your clients expect. You can spend less time pushing paper and more time delivering better service with greater efficiency and value.
With LegalConnect, you have the power to grow. Are you ready?
Call (800) 909-6859 or email support@legalconnect.com.