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Tech Audit

Does your office measure up digitally?

By: David Beckman and David Hirsch

Metrics. Call them a fad. Call them unrealistic. Still, there's no argument: periodically rating your office efficiency is useful. Here are 10 tasks for you to brutally and honestly rate firm or lawyer efficiency. No magic here - just a wake-up call to sensitize and highlight areas for improvement. Fill out your score for each task according to the specified standard, total your scores and then check ratings at bottom of this page.

Task 1: Get out a one-page letter (from composition to sealing the envelope).
Less than 15 minutes.
15 minutes to four hours.
More than four hours.

Comment: We're talking the typical time you take to do this task. In a pinch it can be done fairly quickly, while during turmoil, it will obviously take longer. Most letters of all sizes should go out the same day or within 24 hours. If one has truly good address management and letter assembly, a 1 is possible more often than not.

Task 2: Go from composition to printing of 10-30 interrogatories.
Less than 10 minutes.
10 minutes to two hours.
More than two hours.

Comment: If you are dictating, time starts when dictation begins. With a decent document assembly system, less than 10 minutes is reasonable using customized names inside of form interrogatories and inserting a reasonable number of customized, non-form interrogatories.

Task 3: Retrieve or have in front of you a specific, known statutory citation or case citation, full text (either on a computer screen, in a print-out or in a book).
Less than 5 minutes.
5 minutes to 15 minutes.
More than 15 minutes.

Comment: This is easy to do with electronic research, and is not hard to do if the cases and statutes you use most are physically close to you in book form. The point is that most of the time, you should be able to get to your most frequently used pertinent authority quickly.

Task 4: Have an active client's file in front of you.
Less than 1 minute.
1 minute to 10 minutes.
More than 10 minutes.

Comment: The only way for an active office to get a "1" on this is to digitize files. Once you are paper-free, a client can telephone with a question and, before the question is finished, you can have the file on your computer monitor, and frequently can answer the question instantly and specifically, as though all you were doing that day was thinking about that client's matter and sitting by the phone waiting for the call. The greatest time-waster in most law offices is looking for and maintaining paper files.

Task 5: Have an inactive client's file in front of you.
Less than 1 minute.
1 minute to 60 minutes.
More than one hour.

Comment: If you are digitized, the same one-minute standard applies. If extra credit were given, it would be for accessing dead files by category of matter (type of case), or by word searches of items within the file. Accessing dead files the old-fashioned way (going to the basement, an offsite storage area, etc.) frequently cannot be done the same day and usually takes up uncompensated time.

Task 6: Compose and print out a fee agreement.
Less than 10 minutes.
10 minutes to 30 minutes.
More than 30 minutes.

Comment: This is more important than merely saving time. If this job is not easy and quick, it is too tempting to use written fee agreements only when they are ethically required, such as in contingency matters. The better practice is to use written agreements in most or nearly all situations. Fee agreements usually are not complicated, but frequently require tweaking and customization.

Task 7: Compose and print out a simple will (or a simple dissolution petition, or a simple document in a major area in which your firm practices).
Less than 5 minutes.
5 minutes to 1 hour.
More than 1 hour.

Comment: Depending on your practice, choosing a few tasks to test for especially efficient treatment can be useful.

Task 8: Get a bill out in a single matter
Less than 10 minutes.
10 minutes to 30 minutes.
More than 30 minutes.

Comment: You might also look at how long it takes your office to get out useful time reports, income reports, and aged account reports.

Task 9: Get all your (a single attorney's) bills out for the month, from time of request to approval
Less than two hours from when requested.
2 hours to 6 hours.
More than 6 hours.

Task 10: Enter a tickle for automated notification and reminder of due dates, deadlines, events, etc.
Less than 1 minute.
1 minute to 15 minutes.
More than 15 minutes.

Comment: An electronic system is best.

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