Maximize your slow times, downtimes

By Jeffrey Schoenberger, senior consultant with Affinity Consulting Group

For lawyers – particularly solos and those responsible for making payroll each month – it seems there are only two states of the business. Either you are too busy to breathe, or you are scrounging around for billable work.

One of my colleagues refers to slow spells as time to “shake the trees” and work on those small tasks that need to be completed but you’ve forgotten about, or they were always less pressing than other matters. There are useful things you can do during slow periods that will eventually turn your “molasses time” into money:

Invest in training

You and your employees use core tools every day. I guarantee the computer programs you already own have features that would help you work faster and more accurately.

If you draft documents, do you have templates with key language in one place that’s consistently editable with ease?
Have you customized your email application with rules to filter incoming mail, separating client correspondence from newsletters and advertisements?
How about setting up reusable task templates in your case management system?
Have you developed a documented procedure for redacting PDFs for filing?

Use your downtime to learn how to use your tools better.

If this interests you, Missouri Bar members get a 20% discount on Affinity’s legal-specific software manuals. Go here and use the coupon code MOBARMANUALS.

Catch up on CLE

Irrespective of business conditions, you will need CLE at the end of your reporting period, June 30, 2024. The Missouri Bar allows a portion of self-study CLEs to apply towards your MCLE hours. Here is a list of upcoming CLE programs.

Take inventory

Take inventory of your technology. Ask the following questions:

Who has what? Make a list of each staffer and what they have as far as computers, monitors, scanners, printers, phones, and headsets. Also record what software each staffer has, the version of that software, and any associated licensing key. The software list says who has access to special software, like a child support calculator, and whose software should be upgraded.
Where is it? After making the list, identify where that equipment is. Some equipment will likely at the office, but given hybrid-work policies, a fair portion might be in the homes of remote employees.
How old is it? Record the purchase date and warranty status of each piece.

This inventory list will serve you well for two purposes: insurance claims, if necessary, and planning for replacement of equipment as it ages out of warranty.

Everything has a process

What you do in the firm has an “order of execution” or checklist of events/actions you take – from drafting a letter to a client to scheduling a meeting to creating, and executing documents. Even paying rent or restocking the coffee beans has a checklist.

Document how you do both administrative and substantive processes. Documenting processes will help you discover and eliminate bottlenecks. It also creates a “cookbook” should the person “in the know” be on vacation and the work still gets done.

Use the spreadsheet here to start your documentation process. Start with these two LPM whitepapers as your guides.

Centralize your knowledgebase

If you currently create client documents – whether it be a letter, estate plan, or operating agreement – by finding the most recent one you created for a client and modifying it for the current situation, you’re wasting time and relying on your memory to locate the starting point.

Take time to gather a representative set of recent documents – wills, for example – and assemble a single template, a starting document that contains the best versions of your provisions. Put those provisions into a single word processing document to use as your future starting point. See this LPM checklist as a guide on the subject.

Slow times in your business are stressful but remember there are useful things you can do during those times that will pay dividends down the road. And focusing your mind on something immediate and useful has benefits of its own.

For more practice management tips, visit MoBar.org/LPM for whitepages and checklists, as well as News.MoBar.org for articles covering a wide array of topics.