Reading certain articles or listening to certain conferences, becoming a “connected lawyer” would be the horizon and the objective of all lawyers in France. According to other articles and comments, it is innovation that is the key to law firm transformation.
So, what does connected lawyer mean? Does being connected mean being innovative? At a time of strategic questioning of transformation of the legal market, the debate is indeed important.
The connected lawyer is the lawyer of today
Being connected means using the Internet to work more quickly and efficiently. We can cite :
- work with emails
- communicate with customers via the Internet
- ensure visibility on the Internet
- use social networks
- access your information from your mobile
On the other hand, there is no notion of change in practice or transformation of one's profession. We replace mail with email, brochures with the website, consulting our smartphone rather than calling the assistant.
The connected lawyer is therefore the lawyer of today, who uses the tools at his disposal to optimize his time
The innovative lawyer is the lawyer of tomorrow
For his part, the innovative lawyer understood that the way his profession was practiced was changing and that he had to rethink his work and billing processes.
You can find out more by consulting this article by Antoine Henry de Frahan (from whom I borrowed the illustration).
Also listen to the interview (in American) with Mark A. Cohen, American innovation specialist
https://soundcloud.com/user-49270590/a-conversation-with-mark-a
Rather, its key concepts are:
- work in project mode with clients, stakeholders and opposing parties
- track and qualify your contacts and prospects with precision
- adjust your billing to the customer's needs, even at the last moment
- have precise and regular management and reporting tools
- put the client at the heart of your strategy and your firm
For this, emails and the Internet are not enough. The innovative lawyer needs a technological partner capable of providing him with efficient, agile and interconnected tools.
The practice management software therefore constitutes the real problem. The Décideurs magazine lists here the main players in the market. For him, a tool like Jarvis Legal, fully hosted, ergonomic and functionally complete, is truly relevant.
