There’s a great deal of work and attention that goes into managing a law firm. It’s almost impossible to expect one person to have a deep understanding of every aspect of a firm’s business. Using dashboards consisting of the firm’s most important data points in a consolidated view is a great way to keep firm management abreast at all times. … Read More
Tech Tip #183: Compliance Should Be #1 Priority in Legal Accounting
If you are an attorney you’re familiar with trust accounting and you probably aren’t fond of it either. Unfortunately, it is an area of running a law firm that can’t be ignored. Firms will often ignore the 3-way reconciliation process until it is required because it’s complex. Put technology in place that automates the process and ensures that all of your … Read More
7 Reasons To Run a QuickBooks-Free Law Firm
Often the go-to software for general accounting, QuickBooks offers tools that fulfill the needs of many small and medium-sized businesses. However, due to the compliance requirements unique the legal industry, it is important to recognize the program’s limitations – particularly when it comes to billing, trust accounting, and proper allocation – and consider utilizing a legal-specific solution, instead. Here, we’re … Read More
Tech Tip #182: 3 Areas That Must Be Evaluated When Measuring Your Law Firm’s Productivity
Measuring productivity is crucial to any successful business. For law firms, the way in which productivity is measured is slightly different from that of other industries. When measuring your firm’s productivity, it is imperative that you consider; who the originating attorney is, who is the person responsible for overall efficiency, and all contributions to billable hours, contingency-based work, and non-billable … Read More
CosmoLex Announces A Re-imagined Interface & New Enterprise-Grade Features in CosmoLex 5.0
CosmoLex 5.0 to feature an entirely new user experience and a long list of new features driven by users. MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ – December 19, 2017 – CosmoLex, a leading provider of cloud-based legal practice management software, has announced the release of CosmoLex 5.0. CosmoLex 5.0 is being billed as the largest release in 2017 for the legal software. The newest … Read More
Tech Tip #181: Utilization vs Realization Rate: Building Productivity-Based Compensation Models
When building an incentive compensation model for your firm it’s important to remain consistent, transparent and objective. For that reason, we recommend basing compensation on realization rate vs utilization rate. Doing this ensures that all members of your firm are compensated based on what is collected. This will remove any controversy associated with any adjustments or credits that come at … Read More
7 Common Habits of Successful Law Firms
For so many lawyers, having their own law firm is a dream. Many lawyers reach that point only to learn how much more challenging it can be to run a successful law firm — and let’s be honest, nobody sets out to own and manage an unsuccessful firm. Here at CosmoLex, we work many different firms throughout North America, and … Read More
Tech Tip #180: Know What Data Needs To Be Migrated When Moving Your Firm Into The Cloud
Have you considered moving your firm’s practice management and accounting into the cloud? It’s a great idea and can improve efficiency across the board, but before you do so it’s important to understand which pieces of your existing data needs to be migrated into a new system. Most migrations will require you to bring data over-focused on clients, matters, events, … Read More
Tech Tip #179: Improving Your Firm’s Technology: Who Will Migrate Your Business?
Your firm has decided to move its practice management and accounting into the cloud. But how do you plan on migrating the valuable data and information your firm runs on? Make sure you have a full understanding of whether you’ll have someone in-house or a third party handle the migration. It’s also important to consider any fees associated with migrating … Read More
How to Navigate the Complexities of Creating a Productivity-Based Compensation Model for Your Law Firm
Unsurprisingly, the issue of compensation is a major focus area for management when running a law firm (or any business for that matter). This point often becomes particularly complicated for lawyers due to the unique complexities associated with the billing practices in most law firms. Because of this, establishing a sound measurement of productivity in the law office can assist … Read More