Sysero: Four ways law firms can use workflow portals to drive efficiency
Collaboration Portals have become a standard offering by law firms to attract larger clients. Once considered the height of technological sophistication, these on-line document libraries are now commonplace and many law firms are looking at more sophisticated ways of working with high value clients.
Whilst Collaboration Portals have clearly improved the way law firms manage their client communications, Workflow Portals offer the next step to improve legal operations and streamline core legal processes. As we head into 2022, improving the use of technology, standardising and centralising processes, and enhancing legal services are amongst the top priorities for law firms. So, it’s no surprise to see more law firms exploring the benefits of legal Workflow Portals.
Workflow Portals replace the need to download templates and complete exhaustive search-and-replace exercises with easy-to-use on-line interviews, complete with on-screen guidance that can be used to create sets of customised documents that are perfect, every time. By employing quality knowledge management processes, firms can now ensure that workflows are maintained and ensure ongoing compliance.
In more complex scenarios, workflows can be used to produce packs of documents (rather than customising multiple documents) based on a single online interview, for immediate use. Alternatively, firms can configure workflows to route interview answers through their legal professionals before the final documents are created, thereby ensuring quality and compliance to legal and in-house standards. Through the use of workflows, firms can shift lawyers’ time from reviewing complete documents to simply reviewing clients’ responses and advising them as needed.
At Sysero, we’ve partnered with leading law firms around the world to develop custom Workflow Portals to power more efficient and productive ways of working. Here, we share some of the most common uses for Workflow Portals.
Practice-Based Workflow Portals
Clients often expect their law firms to produce standard documents for a fixed cost. This can be a loss-leader for firms but need to be provided for the sole purpose of retaining a client’s business. These are the ideal type of documents to automate using Workflow Portals. A practice-based workflow portal enables clients to simply complete an online interview at their convenience. Their answers are then forwarded to a lawyer for review and approval and then used to create a final document(s), which can then automatically be sent to the client. Law firms can offer these portals as an incentive to retain customers or bill time for checking the content and advising the client.
To see how a firm might use this type of workflow in an M&A practice, you can view this simplified demo.
Client-Based Workflow Portals
Another advantageous way law firms are employing Workflow Portals is to automate and maintain clients’ in-house documents. Some workflow tools, like Sysero, include a document automation extension to Microsoft Word that enables lawyers to easily automate client documents without any coding. These documents are then made available via secure online portals where clients can access and generate legal documents on-demand.
The legal contents of the document are managed entirely by the law firm, however, the workflow can be easily configured by business development staff using Sysero’s graphical flowchart designer. These types of portals can be provided by law firms to their clients as a subscription service, producing a regular revenue stream for the law firm.
We have aplaylist on YouTube showing how our Word extension can be used to automate any document by anyone familiar with Microsoft Word.
Compliance Workflow Portals
Compliance is at the forefront of client and matter acceptance these days. New client and matter intake processes, commonly known as KYC/AML, requires input from various roles within a law firm, as well as from the client. These complicated and manual processes can often put law firm compliance at risk.
However, compliance Workflow Portals can streamline client and matter intake and ensure compliance at every step of the way. Using a compliance workflow portal, a lawyer can enter basic client or matter information into an online form, which will then trigger an email to a client to provide details on themselves and their requirements. From there, the client completes an online interview and the answers are routed back to the lawyer.
The lawyer can then upload identification and evidence documents within the workflow, which can be configured to automatically calculate the risk level for each matter based on a predetermined set of requirements. Any client or matter that falls outside these requirements can be automatically forwarded to partners or Money Laundering Reporting Officers if necessary.
If the matter is deemed as being appropriate, the details can be forwarded to the accounts team so work can begin. By integrating a compliance workflow with your firm’s PMS, you can also allocate client/matter numbers before automatically adding the documents captured during the process to the firm’s DMS.
To meet expanding internal and legislative requirements, firms must make regular updates to their compliance workflow process. The no-code development environment provided by Sysero, combined with the savings on redevelopment costs and reduction in reputational risk, make these portals extremely cost effective. To see it in action, please visit our live demo.
Transaction Workflow Portals
A large portion of work done at traditional full-service law firms is transactional. For most firms, the information required for these transactions is captured via email, phone calls, and Word documents, which creates the opportunity for data loss and miscommunication.
However, with a transaction workflow portal from Sysero, lawyers can very quickly design online data capture forms for specific transactions, with minimal training. These forms can be hosted on a Sysero Workflow Portal and used to collect information from hundreds of clients. As most transactions are time sensitive, the ability to rapidly deploy an online transaction portal can be a key competitive advantage in winning new clients and ensuring repeat business. Once the transaction is complete, Sysero can anonymise or delete the data ensuring GDPR compliance.
Want to see how it works? We have provided a number of online demonstrations which can be accessed through our ownWorkflow Demonstration Portal.
When it comes down to it, today’s law firms need to offer clients greater efficiency, transparency, and service. Fortunately, Workflow Portals can be employed in a number of ways to suit the unique needs and requirements of your firm. To learn more about how Sysero can help your firm build better processes with workflow technology, please get in touch with us.
