With proper implementation of software, legal firms can improve their legal service and anticipate latest trends. However, many law firms are reluctant to integrate case management software into their daily operations. Integration issues and costs can be prohibitive for law firms. Even for big firms with more flexible financial situations, integration works can be disruptive to their normal activities. However, once the system is set up, lawyers and other legal professionals can get a much more powerful way of utilizing, organizing and storing data. Case management software is usually based on relational database platform. If you have a relational database in place, each table in your database is associated with pre-defined categories. Information in database is usually stored in rows and each cell contains unique data. It means that each table in your database is relatable to other tables. When you input special commands, the system can dynamically create a new table with information taken from multiple tables. It means that you can get more relevant information in a form that’s very easy to understand. Case management systems often have easy to use interface, so you can view data in the most convenient manner.
With relational database, there will minimal or no redundant data in your system. If you want to pair and correlate information from different tables, you can just do it easily with a set of commands. Having duplicate data increases the chance of inconsistency and errors. If there are erroneous information in your table, your decision making process will be erroneous as well. Poorly managed database could cause misinformed decision and eventually missed deadlines. Lawyers and law firm managers should consider having case management, due to the following benefits:
- Information is divided into relevant subjects to minimize redundancy.
- The software system can join pieces of information from different tables based on specific rules of commands.
- Integrity and accuracy of the information can be assured.
- Reporting and data processing needs can be accommodated.
- Quick queries of contact and case information for specific functions.
- The mail merge feature drafts information using various correspondence, discovery and pleadings.
- Case loads for each lawyer and staff can be monitored to better manage sharing of tasks.
Case management also helps you to manage deadlines. A notification or alert system can be enabled if deadlines are due in a few days. For law firm administrators, information can be updated easily using a query. Tables in the database can be accessed using easy, visual interface. Depending on the platforms, inputting new information into the database should be quite straightforward. For law firms administrators, the appeal of platforms based on relational database should be quite big. They can reorganize existing data to make things much easier to handle. Once a piece of information is submitted into the database, everyone in the law firm can access it, depending on the level of authorizations. This should help to improve collaboration and productivity among everyone in the firm.
