Financially Legal

In this special series focused on legal case management software, host Dan Lear explores various case management companies to help firms make informed decisions. In this episode, we dive into the world of legal case management software with Clever Case, a tool designed by attorneys for attorneys. Host Dan Lear speaks with Brett Spooner, the CEO and founder of Gravis Law and the founder of Clever Case, to explore the features, target audience, and philosophy behind this innovative case management solution.

In this special series focused on legal case management software, host Dan Lear explores various case management companies to help firms make informed decisions. In this episode, Dan speaks with Harsimran Singh, Founder and CEO of Lawcus. Lawcus offers a comprehensive solution, combining legal practice management, client relationship management (CRM), client intake, and no-code automation, all unified in a single platform.

In this special series focused on legal case management software, host Dan Lear explores various case management companies to help firms make informed decisions. In this episode, Dan speaks with Dov Slansky, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at Litify, a legal operating solution that helps law firms, in-house legal departments, and government agencies run smarter.

In this special series focused on legal case management software, host Dan Lear explores various case management companies to help firms make informed decisions. In this episode, Dan speaks with Dragana Milovanovic from Matter365, a user friendly cloud solution that fully integrates all data from Microsoft Office 365 applications into a matter-centric environment. With powerful add on features and Microsoft 365 applications, Matter365 is one of the most comprehensive solutions on the market today.

In this special series focused on legal case management software, host Dan Lear explores various case management companies to help firms make informed decisions. In this episode, Jonathon Fishman, CEO of LeanLaw, shares insights about their financial operating system designed for small to medium-sized law firms.

We are excited to announce that Gravity Legal has teamed up with QuickBooks, the leading small business accounting platform, by formally joining the QuickBooks Solution Provider Program. In combination with Gravity Legal’s QuickBooks integration - the only legal-specific payments integration in the QuickBooks store - Gravity Legal and QuickBooks are truly better together.

Gravity Legal is thrilled to announce the launch of Gravity Legal "Fast Transfers." Efficient payment processing is essential for modern law firms to maintain financial stability and to continue providing exceptional services to their clients. That's why we've designed Fast Transfers to streamline your payment process and get your money quicker.

As we continuously expand the value and power of Fidu, we are thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Gravity Legal, an innovative payment processing and money management solution for law firms. This partnership was unveiled at the American Bar Association Technology Show held in Chicago.

Over the last few years there’s been an explosion of third-party commercial financing options. Familiarly known as “Buy Now, Pay Later” and offered by companies like Klarna, Affirm, and Sunbit, these services provide short-term loans to consumers to purchase everything from furniture to event tickets.

How, if at all, do compensation, diversity, and transparency overlap? How can these competing priorities be reconciled? Jim Meadows from Culhane Meadows doesn’t have the perfect answer. But he’s giving it a solid try.

Plaintiffs' lawyers are often bold, brash, larger-than-life characters with billboards, regular TV ads, and ambition to match.

But they're also visionary creatives. They excel at building something from nothing and carving out a new and unique path for legal professionals - often where no path existed before. But that creativity needs to be leavened with stability and more strategic thinking. 

Financing legal fees is not new. Bar associations have been grappling with the rules around   lawyers accepting a simple financing tool - credit cards - since the 1970's. Given that cards haven't been around for that long - and that some states are still grappling with how lawyers can use them* - what happens most often when clients need to finance their legal bill is that lawyers or law firms themselves become the bank. They offer installment payments or financed offerings to their clients in order to enable the clients to pay the firms' legal bills.

If you don't know who Dan Kennedy is, you should. Here's just a quick recap of the impact he's had on the business world in his 30+ year career:

Two episodes into our four-episode series with law firm CFOs one theme that's emerged is collections. Specifically, how much money lawyers and law firms leave on the table by failing to implement processes that ensure that the firm gets paid for the work it bills out.

One thing every law firm needs is money. And I don’t think that I’m going out on a limb suggesting that money and financial health are common elements across most successful firms. In this episode, the first of our series of interviews with law firm CFOs, we speak with Scott Shaffer of Winterfeld IP Group. We dig in with Scott on law firm collection rates, collection strategies, whether firms should refer clients to collections agencies, the firm’s tech stack and how it helps facilitate the firm getting paid, Scott's “most important financial metric,” and a bunch more.

One of our most popular features at Gravity Legal is our compliant surcharging, enabling firms to shift credit card processing fees to their clients. When we talk with firms, many are surprised to learn that it's against federal law for small businesses, including law firms, to shift processing fees on debit cards. A smaller group is not just surprised but a bit concerned because they've been shifting card fees on debit cards unknowingly.

In this blog post, we break down the reasons why surcharging on debit card transactions is impermissible and the implications of these restrictions for law firms.

Amazon stores your credit card. Uber or Lyft might have it too. Do you use Netflix, Disney Plus, or other platforms to regularly consume goods and services? 

One of our most popular blog posts is a post about how lawyers can realize the benefits of a retainer without a trust account.  By storing a client payment method and subsequently charging the payment method in accordance with the attorney/client engagement agreement, firms can get the benefits of having access to funds on hand without the burden of trust account compliance.

Lawyers make their living by helping others comply with rules and stay out of trouble. But every lawyer will tell you that there are gaps in their knowledge. And this is true even for a given lawyer’s professed area of expertise. So it’s not a surprise that most lawyers don’t understand - and perhaps don’t even want to understand - how technology and internet security work.

What’s a lawyer doing running an offshore virtual staffing firm? Starting in 2011 Brett Trembly built a successful business law firm, Trembly Law Firm, in Miami, Florida. They now employ 30+ people and nearly a dozen lawyers. 

On this special episode of Financially Legal, we’re announcing the launch of our integration with Lawmatics. Lawmatics is a Legal Intake Solution, Marketing Automation, and Law Firm CRM software all in one. Today they are announcing the launch of their time and billing module with Lawmatics payments powered by Gravity Legal.

Why do lawyers struggle to get paid for the work that they do? Whether it’s the low collection rates that we see in the Clio Trends Report to lawyers offering too steep a discount, to lawyers refusing to sue their clients, and on and on, “Show me the money” is definitely not the #1 mantra for many of our fellow lawyers.

In this, the fourth and final installment of our discussions with RJon Robins on the seven essential parts of a law firm, we move to the 5th and 6th essential parts of a law firm: physical plant and financial metrics and controls. The topic of physical plant naturally brings up the question of “whither physical law firms in the time of COVID?” We also discuss how intellectual property may be the most significant way that you can add value to your law firm. We wrap with a discussion of financial metrics and controls and the one metric that you as a law firm should be tracking. We also take a detour and talk briefly about Joe Walsh.

Have you ever considered the role of profit in a law firm? No, I mean, really thought about what it is, why it exists, whether it should be a part of your firm, and/or how to grow it. If so, then this episode is for you.

Brooke Lively is the founder and CEO of Cathedral Capital. Her mission is simple: make law firms more profitable. And she’s written a book for lawyers all about it: From Panic to Profit.

In this, our third installment of our discussions with RJon Robins on the seven essential parts of a law firm, we explore the 3rd and 4th essential parts of a law firm: production and people. As a reminder, in episode #1 we discussed the seventh and final part of a successful law firm, the owner and in episode #2 we talked about sales and marketing.

In this, the second installment of our discussions with RJon Robins on the seven essential parts of a law firm, we dig in on the first and second essential parts of a law firm: sales and marketing. As a reminder, in interview #1 we discussed the seventh and final part of a successful law firm, the owner.

Is law a business or is it a profession? Are law firms like other businesses? Are they different? How different? 

RJon Robins is the CEO and Founder of How To Manage a Small Law Firm, the largest provider of fractional executive (CEO, CFO, COO) services for small law firms in the country. I’ve known about How To Manage a Small Law Firm for a number of years. I first attended and spoke at one of their quarterly meetings a few years back, when I was working for Avvo. I’ve since attended a couple of other meetings and spent more time with RJon. 

Vetting, deploying, and managing new technology takes a lot of time and can be expensive. More to the point, while much of today’s cloud computing technology uses some common technologies, the implementation can vary significantly even in the cloud. This can be a real headache for law firms who not only often deal with sensitive information but have specific rules and heightened standards regarding how confidential and privileged information must be protected. 

Small law firm owners may not be familiar with the terms "docker," "container," or "Kubernetes." They may even be a bit fuzzy on the definition of “the cloud.” But most firms know that, along with significant opportunities, new technologies often present security risks, interoperability challenges (will this system work with my other systems? And/or will my staff be open to using/willing to use this tech?) and, most relevant for the Financially Legal audience, significant costs in terms of time and money to vet, test, and deploy.

You can’t really blame consumer bankruptcy attorneys for being finicky about how they get paid. After all, would-be clients wouldn’t be knocking on the door if the those debtors had managed their money well and been able to regularly pay their debts. As a result, many bankruptcy attorneys do way more gymnastics than other lawyers to ensure they get paid. For example, insisting upon upfront payment, payment by the debtor’s friends or family, automated payments that fall on a debtor-client’s payday, or even the development of a new type of bankruptcy, bifurcated bankruptcy, that changes how clients pay in order to improve their odds of getting paid (we won’t get into bifurcated bankruptcy here but watch this space for a subsequent post on the topic). You’ve got to hand it to them.