In the previous installments of our legal transaction management (LTM) series, we shared how LTM software automates the tasks associated with closing deals, including creating checklists, managing versions, capturing signatures, and creating final closing books. With LTM, you have enhanced security, seamless collaboration, and better client experience. Those are all good things, but with the many legal technologies to choose from, why should LTM make the cut at your firm?
There are three key areas where LTM can deliver measurable value:
Reducing uncollected billable hours. This helps law firms attain the essential objective of maximizing revenue realization. When lawyers bill hours but don’t collect (or don’t bill, because they recognize the time is uncollectable), that time is wasted. Closing book preparation is a classic thankless task that ties up clerk and lawyer time without monetary benefit, since few clients want to pay for the administrative tasks associated with closings. With an LTM, you can reduce this unbillable time from days to hours or minutes and get your lawyers back to doing more profitable work.
Lowering risk of errors. It’s all about details. Something like a purchase agreement missing a signature from a key shareholder means that your client won’t get their money today as expected. Even the best lawyers make mistakes occasionally, but these missteps can cost more than just embarrassment—it can cost you the clients themselves. And the expense of losing a client is immense when you consider not only the foregone billings, but also the cost of the firm’s reputation being tarnished as the client tells others about their bad experience. Even if your clients don’t leave over the error, they may use your mistake against you in future negotiations, which could also end up being expensive for your firm. Fortunately, LTM helps to lower the risk of these errors.
Developing a reputation as a technology leader. This is a great way to win new business in today’s legal market. Clients are looking for innovative firms to provide faster and better service for less money. Management of legal transactions is highly visible to clients and represents a key opportunity for law firms to enhance their service offering with technology. When clients work with firms using LTM, they see the technology used and witness first-hand how it significantly improves the overall client experience.
Recruitment and retention also benefit from LTM. As digital natives, young lawyers expect technology to be part of their work life. If you can’t demonstrate to new talent that you have useful software like LTM in place at your firm, you may find fewer potential recruits heading your way. Since junior lawyers are also typically tasked with the administrative labor of the closing process, using LTM to speed things up can be the difference between your new employees leaving the office at 10 PM instead of 2 AM—reducing the risk of attrition of burnt-out junior lawyers.
With LTM, the closing process is predictable in both timing and results. Gone are the unbillable hours, costly mistakes, and 2 AM closings, leaving you with happier lawyers and clients.
To learn more about the value of LTM, download our “Closing the Deal” report.
About the author
Gia Tammone-Park