Today, I ran across a really great article on the Lawyerist blog.  The article focused on how to do the things that you can “do now” versus doing the things that are “due now” when you plan your work schedule.  So often we tackle our deadlines within minutes of the due date when we could be planning ahead, checking things off our lists early and finding more time to do the things we really enjoy in life.

Sam Glover’s article gave a few great tips on how to make a switch from the “due now” to the “do now” mentality, such as setting aside an hour every week to make a schedule to plan work ahead of the due date.   He also gave a work schedule plan that breaks down deadlines into individual tasks that can be completed in advance, and he suggested completing some tasks early when you have time to do so.

I think that utilizing tech resources can be another way to help move from a “due now” to a “do now” schedule.  For example, if you hire a virtual receptionist to answer your phone calls, take your messages and schedule appointments, why not add a few other tasks?

• Prepare an intake questionnaire for your virtual receptionist to use when answering calls from prospective clients.  This will save time and help you evaluate the tasks you need to do before you return the prospective client’s call.

• Breakdown messages into different prioritized categories.  That way your virtual receptionist can flag messages that are sent to your inbox with different levels of importance and time commitments.

• Ask your virtual assistant to rank messages based on clients’ sense of urgency.  This will help you rank importance of your call return list, and it will help you determine how much time you may need to dedicate to your next client meeting.

• Block off time to schedule tasks at least once a week, and give your virtual receptionists blackout days and times so that they will not schedule appointments during those times.

Another way to use technology to help schedule your workweek is by taking advantage of the features available on a virtual law office platform.  Virtual law offices help streamline the administrative side of law practice management using processes that are built into the software.

• For example, using the calendar feature in a virtual law office, you can set deadline reminders that will keep both you and your client on pace with case matters.

• Does your new client’s case sound extremely similar to something you worked on last year? Use your virtual law office’s search engine to avoid reinventing the wheel.  In just minutes, the file, forms and law library will give you the tools to turn a 10-hour task into a 30-minute one.

• Do you find yourself waiting until the end of the week to call your clients back to tell them how their case is going? Or do you end up waiting to receive a check in the mail or a signature before you act on a time-sensitive matter?  Don’t put off important aspects of your client relationship.  Instead, use the automated features in your virtual law office to notify clients of case updates and respond to messages quickly.  In addition, stop wasting time waiting to receive checks or signed documents in the mail when you can just have your client pay online, upload signed documents and accept your retainer agreement with the click of a mouse.

After using these technologies to prioritize your to-do list and help you check off the items on that list, you might find that you can add a round of golf, a vacation or at least an hour of relaxation to your schedule with a few days to spare before you head to the court house to file a motion or send a timely response to a USPTO office action.

In the past year, virtual law offices and cloud-based services have become commonplace in many law firms because they offer attorneys new ways to manage their practice both in the office and on the road, organize documents in a centralized and accessible location, monitor billing and timekeeping and add ways for attorneys to communicate and collaborate with co-counsel and clients.  In addition, these web-based services often offer attractive, efficient and economic solutions to practice management and client communication issues that may come up within the four walls of a traditional brick and mortar office.  While most internet-based services operate on secure systems and offer regular back-ups and encryption for confidential data, it is still important to be aware of malpractices risks that are unique to virtual practices.

Recently, Stephanie Kimbro did a great article on these risks on her Virtual Law Practice blog.  Here is a quick overview of the malpractice-related issues that may come up in a virtual law practice:

* Keep in mind that rules and statutes of limitation may vary state-by-state if you plan to accept clients from more than one state via your virtual law office.  In addition, it is important to avoid the unauthorized practice of law in states in which you are not admitted to practice.

* Be sure to check for conflicts of interest.  VLOTech offers a conflict of interest checking system that rates the relevancy of entries so that attorneys can see which cases have names of parties that are similar to prospective clients.

* Be picky when selecting clients.  You may never see your client face-to-face, so it is important to choose carefully and reject or refer-out clients that have matters that may be better suited in a traditional law firm setting.

* Always require a retainer or engagement agreement.  Be sure to clearly define the scope of your relationship with the client, what services you will and will not provide, and any risks that might exist.  This can be done through a signed agreement or via a click-through button on your law office website.

* Do not go out of your comfort zone. If you do not feel that you can represent the client competently because you are not familiar with a particular area of law or you feel that a traditional firm would better serve their matter, you should refer the client to another law firm or collaborate with another attorney.

In addition to some of the issues that can come up when running a web-based law practice, a virtual law office can also help you avoid malpractice with automatic reminders and thorough client communication mechanisms.  Virtual law offices have many benefits that are missing in most physical offices:

* You can set up a calendar or ticker system to remind you of important deadlines and meetings.

* Virtual law offices make collaborating easy since you can authorize multiple users to access a case file from more than one physical location.  If you plan to collaborate with an assisting attorney, however, it is important that you acquire consent from your clients.

* A virtual law office can help you communicate better with your clients because you can give them 24/7 access to case files and status updates, and you can set up auto-responders to let clients know when you have read their messages or reviewed their files.  In addition, automatic time and date stamps will allow clients to clearly see any progress or changes in the case file.  This lets clients know that you are working on their case and this type of transparency can helps build up value and trust in your work.