Effective incremental change for boutique law firms helping them delight their clients now, and in the future…

Are you part of a boutique law firm looking to change how you work? McLay Legal Consulting can help your law firm getting started or as an extra resource to make headway on a project you want to get finished.

Book a time to talk to me about how I can help you using this link

Tech implementation project management

• assess user and client needs and analyse cost/benefit of different available technology solutions

• audit existing processes and identify opportunities for improvement and appropriate pilot projects

• enlist and work with internal champions to support the implementation

• manage objections for less tech savvy users and very busy change-resistant lawyers

• use agile project management tools to manage team collaboration

• design document automation and workflow automation systems

• monitor take up of the new system, training needs and opportunities for continuous improvement

Document automation

• business process mapping

• designing automation workflows

• simplification of precedents and template letters

• convert your documents to templates on document automation software

Writing content

• Tender responses

• producing blogs and content marketing material

• customer friendly cost agreements and template scope of works for use in fixed or value pricing

Training

• presenting at your office or via webinar on:

  • easy low cost changes you can make today to improve the way you work

  • case for changing the way law firms work

  • effective delegation and managing work load within teams

Speaking

Fiona is an engaging speak who shares actionable tips and insights based on her deep understanding of the legal industry. She has an insider’s knowledge of the barriers to implementing change but uses practical use cases and stories to make tech adoption less daunting.

Contact her about speaking at your next group event or team workshop.

Have a look at my online speaking portfolio

Download my speaker pack

Blog

5 podcasts that will help lawyers keep up

If you are a busy lawyer, mostly still using a phone, email and Word documents every day, how do you penetrate the alarming headlines to focus on what will equip you to flourish in a tech enabled world? How do you make sense of the changes and keep up? These are some of the podcasts I listen to regularly in order to keep up.

How to overcome the challenge of adopting lawtech in law firms

If you feel like you are in a never ending stream of new technology solutions for legal services, you are right. Thomson Reuters reported there has been a 484 percent increase in the number of patents filed covering new legal services technology globally in the last five years.

Useful apps and online resources

A list of useful online and digital resources for Australian lawyers.

About me

Office with a harbour view…

I couldn’t believe my luck when my first job as a lawyer was in a tower office with a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour. I loved the view and I never got tired of it. And I loved the friendly team that that took me under their wing and taught me how to be useful. Like most of the lawyers I have had the pleasure of working with, they cared deeply about getting to the bottom of complex disputes and coming up with a creative solution. We worked for the insurers of professionals who had been sued. It was fascinating work because in each case you needed to understand what that person did (whether it be a mine engineer, brain surgeon, freeway designer or chiropractor) work out what had gone wrong.

I eventually moved on because I wanted to work more closely with individuals who were directly involved in the litigation. I joined a smaller team. We were busy and always running interesting cases in court.

In a small team I became interested in how I could use tech tools to operate more effectively. I was able to manage large scale document discovery single handed using e-discovery tools. I could perform document review, identify potentially privileged documents, prepare chronological bundles and produce accurate detailed lists of documents for a fraction of the cost of using paralegals. 

Working in a small team also taught me how to be strategic about the work that was done (and not done) in a dispute. We didn’t have time to chase down every scenario. I worked with my clients to look at their options and identify a plan to achieve their objective within their budget.

Failing to thrive…

One of my clients invited me to a seminar on thriving in the workplace. Over those two days I saw that my bad habits - working too long, not enough exercise and skipping lunch breaks - was quite a common problem.

The idea that a healthy workload, alignment with your personal values and an open collaborative network could make your business more profitable was a bit revolutionary for someone who had been hanging round lawyers so long.

Lawyers are trained to see risks and downsides in any given situation. Law firms are full of people who trend towards introversion and perfectionism. Plus a traditional business model which measures achievement with rigid daily billing targets rather than effective outcomes. It can make it a difficult environment to effect change.

I started to seek out other lawyers who also believed that there were smarter ways to work. Some of them had started NewLaw firms. Some of them were working in traditional law firms. But they all proved that is possible for lawyers to change how they work, to make use of new tools and be flexible about what a successful business looks like.

Most importantly, that it is not compulsory for a successful lawyer to also be miserable.

I believe that today, and in the future, successful lawyers must be more customer-centric and able to work collaboratively. Other professional services have undergone enormous change as a result of digitalisation. I want to be a part of improving the way lawyers operate in a digital enabled world.

I’m still lucky to have a view of the harbour, but now I can see it when I work remotely from my home on the northern beaches. I work flexibly using technology to work paperless and communicate with colleagues regardless of location. I don’t miss the daily commute to the tower.