Webinar Recording: Key Insights From Clio’s Legal Trends Report

Are you up to date on the latest trends in the legal world? The more you know, the better you can ensure your firm stands out to prospective clients.

This is why Clio develops an annual legal trends report. As the provider of one of the most widely used legal practice management programs on the market today, the Clio team knows that industry intelligence will only serve to make their solutions (and the lawyers that use them) even better.

During the webinar, you’ll learn:

• The latest numbers on law firm KPIs
• How potential clients find legal expertise, and what they expect
• Law firm performance as affected by the use of modern practice management tools

Discover the state of the legal industry in this on-demand video of our recent webinar hosted by BMC Networks CEO Brian Mauch and featuring Clio’s Lawyer in Residence, Joshua Lenon.

Clio 101

For local law firms, competing in today’s technology-driven world requires the best practice management software. But with so many great choices, finding the one that best fits your law firm can be hard.

BMC Networks is proud to work with Clio. This software is a cloud-based legal practice management solution for smaller firms or solo practices. Clio is one of the most widely used legal practice management programs on the market today.

Clio easily integrates with many other applications that law firms use, such as Microsoft 365. Use Clio to capture more billable time, increase your staff’s productivity, and improve your profitability.

It includes a Timekeeper that helps employees track important deadlines and manage cases. Plus, you can access your data via your desktop or mobile devices, including iOS and Android phones.

Features:

• Time Tracking
• Trust Accounting
• Matter Management
• Billing and client payments
• Legal Accounting
• Document Management
• Legal Research
• Calendars and meetings
• Bank-Grade Security
• Lead Tracking
• Mobile Apps

To better serve the law firms they work with, Clio develops an annual legal trends report. As the provider of one of the most widely used legal practice management programs today, the Clio team knows that industry intelligence will only serve to improve their solutions (and the lawyers that use them).

Clios Top KPIs For Law Firms

At the top of the webinar, Lennon demonstrated how Clio’s data could reveal a distinct issue: how much time lawyers spend working vs. how much time they can bill for. Using the data they collected, they calculated three key performance indicators (KPIs) that show where time worked does not always translate into paid hours.

Utilization Rate: 30%

The number of hours worked is divided by the number of hours billed.

Realization Rate: 81%

The number of billable hours invoices is divided by the number of hours worked.

Collection Rate: 85%

The number of hours collected is divided by the number of hours invoiced.

“This cuts down a person’s day,” says Lennon. “They’re only getting paid for 1.6 hours a day.”

Where Are Lawyers Losing Billable Hours?

The fact is that many lawyers believe their billable rate is closer to six hours every day. So what constitutes the difference?

• Admin Tasks: Lawyers spend 40% of their days on non-billable administrative work
• Business development: 30% of a lawyer’s day is spent developing their firm.

As important as business development is, it could certainly be better managed and more streamlined. In particular, the pursuit of new clients can be optimized if you have the right data about their needs and expectations…

The 4 Most Important Qualities That Clients Are Seeking

1. Timely response: They want to hear back from their lawyer as quickly as possible.
2. Easy to understand: They don’t want to be made to feel stupid.
3. Understanding the process: They want to know what the plan is.
4. Knowing the next step: They don’t want to be surprised by the course of their legal assistance.

Are You Responding Fast Enough?

As listed above, the top quality that potential clients look for in a law firm is timely response. 79% expect a response within the first 24 hours.

To put this to the test, Clio emailed 1,000 law firms with an initial inquiry, which resulted in an astounding  60% never responding.

When clients do contact a law firm, they prefer to do so…

• Phone
• In-person
• Email
• Text message
• Secure mobile app
• Website chat

How Are Client Expectations Changing?

As the modern world continues to evolve and change, so will clients for law firms around the globe. As you may guess, the pandemic has particularly changed how clients want to interact with their law firms.

Whereas in 2018, only 23% of clients were looking for lawyers with remote capabilities, today, that number has grown to 79%. Today’s clients are seeking this capability at all stages of interaction with their legal counsel:

• Intake

• • Reaching out to a law office
  • First meeting/consultation

During a matter

• • Receiving status updates
  • Communicating about key decisions
  • Receiving reminders
  • Viewing or sharing documents

• Concluding a matter

• • Making payments

A key example of this change is that video conferencing has become an acceptable and preferred consultation method. Whereas a few years ago, that would have been an in-person activity, the modern remote era has changed that.

In summary, 67% of consumers expect lawyers to offer a remote client experience. From meetings to document review to making payments, the modern client wants remote to be a viable option at all stages.

Growing Law Firms Are Using More Technology

Another key topic in the webinar was how the use of technology correlated with growing law firms. This is exemplified in several ways:

• Use of client portals
• CRM adoption
• Use of reporting tools

The bottom line is that firms that use modern technology to automate their processes and streamline administrative tasks were those that also grew over the course of the study. This suggests several key takeaways:

• Technology-enabled firms are winning by adapting to client expectations
• What was once innovative is now a basic expectation
• Flexibility is key throughout the client journey

How Are Law Firms Spending Money?

The webinar also examined Clio’s data on how law firms spend their money on business development, optimization, and long-term strategy.

Spending priorities included:

• Practice management software
• Hardware
• Marketing website and domain

This is compared to the lowest priorities, such as office space. Once again, the pandemic changed the nature of the modern law firm, showing that law firms don’t need to invest most of their spare funds in an office when remote technologies can help them manage most of their work.

Take The Guesswork Out Of Your Firm’s Strategy

Review the full webinar recording above for all the details on Clio’s report, and download the report for yourself. For expert assistance deploying Clio’s practice management tools at your firm, book a meeting with the BMC Networks team.

Click here to request a demo of Clio.