12 Ways LexWorkplace Will Help Your Firm Do More With Less
In our experience, law firms of all sizes have the same challenges with managing documents and email.
Which of these sound familliar?
- Your productivity is weighed down by clunky, outdated legal document management software
- Basic file systems like file servers, OneDrive, or "The S:\ Drive" are just not cutting it
- The file storage within your practice management software is just a little too basic
If so, you should really take a look at LexWorkplace.
This innovative new document management platform has taken the legal industry by storm and is gaining recognition for its advanced features and functionalities.
In this article, we’ll dive into 12 ways LexWorkplace will help your firm do more with less. From secure external sharing to favorite and recent documents at your fingertips, you’ll quickly see how this platform will change the way you work.
Let’s get started.
In This Article
-
- Introduction
- 1. Search and Find the Documents You need
- 2. Save Emails to Matters
- 3. Code and Categorize Documents
- 4. Securely Share Documents
- 5. Work the Same Way on Windows or Mac
- 6. Seamless Practice Management Integration
- 7. Automatic Versioning
- 8. Matter Docs and Firm Docs in the Same System
- 9. Favorite and Recent Documents at Your Fingertips
- 10. Meet Compliance Requirements
- 11. Quickly Peek at Documents (Preview)
- 12. Limit Who Can Create Clients & Matters
- Closing the Loop
1. Search and Find The Documents You Need
Manually searching for the document or email you need is a huge pain. What’s more, most basic filesystems allow you to search by file name only. Not very useful.
LexWorkplace is like having Google Search for your firm’s documents, data and email. With LexWorkplace’s full-text search, you can search within the content of every document in the system, in seconds. You can search by:
- Client or Matter
- Document Type or Status
- Document Tags and Metadata
- Author, Modified By
- Documents, Email or Both
- Suppose you want to search three specific matters for a particular type of document. You can do it in LexWorkplace.
- Or, maybe you want to search all matters for a single client for a specific email. You can do it in LexWorkplace.
2. Save Emails to Matters (Where Your Team Can Access Them)
You may have a perfectly organized Outlook inbox, organized by client and matter… but that’s not very useful for the rest of your firm.
With LexWorkplace you can easily save client or case-related emails to the appropriate matter, right from Outlook. The benefits of this approach include:
- All matter-related emails are centrally stored, where everyone in your firm that needs access can see them.
- Matter-related emails are stored alongside documents and notes for that matter, keeping everything together.
- You can use LexWorkplace's search tool to search across millions of emails in seconds.
3. Code and Categorize Documents
LexWorkplace allows you to categorize and code documents by optionally assigning various properties, such as type, status, and multiple tags, to each document. This provides a clear understanding of the context and purpose of each document, making it easier to identify which documents you need to work on next.
Coding key documents in this way also makes it possible to search and filter documents by any of these properties, allowing you to find what you need quickly. In this way, LexWorkplace helps you stay organized and saves you time, freeing you up to focus on more important tasks and move your matter forward.
4. Securely Share Documents
LexWorkplace makes sharing documents with clients and outside parties easy and secure. You can share a document (or multiple folders with many documents) with an outside party in just a few clicks. You can always see what was sent, when, and by who… as well as whether or not your recipient has downloaded the document(s).
This is a much better method of sharing files that old-fashioned email attachments, because:
- All email systems have built-in file size or quantity restrictions
- Email attachments are unencrypted, and therefor inherently insecure
- Any share in LexWorkplace can be revoked at any time (you can't un-send an email)
5. Work the Same Way on Windows or Mac
The big problem with most document management products is that they only work on Windows computers… yet more and more law firms use Mac computers in the office (or at a minimum from home).
The long-standing work-around to this for Mac users is to run Windows on a virtual machine using Parallels, involving a full installation of Windows on their Mac computer. This is often slow, clunky, and expensive, making it difficult to use the software effectively.
By contrast, all components of LexWorkplace, including add-ins, work natively on Macs, no Parallels or other clunky work-arounds required. With LexWorkplace, law firms can work with their preferred computer platform, without sacrificing the tools they need to manage their cases efficiently.
6. Seamless Practice Management Integration
Law firms often struggle with managing multiple software platforms for different aspects of their practice, such as practice management, document management, and more. The process of switching between systems, inputting the same data in multiple places, and juggling multiple logins can be time-consuming and frustrating.
LexWorkplace solves this problem with its Clio Manage integration. This integration allows you to pull and link matters from Clio Manage to LexWorkplace in just a few clicks, eliminating the need for duplicate data entry and maintaining a link between the same matter in each application.
7. Automatic Versioning
If you’re like a lot of legal professionals, you manually maintain versions of documents by performing a Save-As, then name the document “Document – V2,” , “-V3”, and so on.
This is very manual, error-prone and leaves your folders a cluttered mess.
With LexWorkplace, a new version of each document is created every time a document is changed, automating this process for you while avoiding duplicate copies of the same document in your folder view.
This automated version management also includes:
- Tracking of who made the change and when it was made
- The ability/option to enter a version comment to note significant changes or milestones
- Ability to view and download prior versions
8. Matter Docs and Firm Docs in the Same System
Another recurring problem we see plaguing law firms is: Different kinds of data and documents in different systems. For instance: Maybe you keep your client/matter documents in your practice management software, but keep internal firm documents in a cloud storage app like Dropbox or OneDrive.
Not with LexWorkplace. Our software includes a space called Firm Documents, where you can store business documents, internal information, HR files, financial files, marketing and more–anything not related to a client or matter.
- Firm Documents includes the same tools as Matters: Version management, full text search, document profiling & tagging
- Firm Documents is separated into 'Public' for all firm users and 'Private', restricted only to certain users
9. Favorite and Recent Documents at Your Fingertips
When working on a particular case or project, do you often find yourself in and out of the same handful of documents many, many times?
LexWorkplace keeps relevant and recent documents just a click away, no matter where you are in the software.
- Mark any document anywhere as a Favorite; this pins it to your personalized Home screen and the always-available "Favorites" drop-down.
- See all recent documents in one click, no matter where you are in the system.
10. Meet Compliance Requirements
LexWorkplace is the data security and compliance easy-button, with these features built-in:
- Multi-Factor Authentication: MFA provides an added layer of security to your account by requiring a second form of identification, such as a code sent to your mobile phone, in addition to your password. This helps prevent unauthorized access to your account and sensitive information.
- Data Encryption in-transit and at-rest: LexWorkplace uses encryption to protect your data as it is transmitted over the internet and while it is stored on its servers. This helps ensure that even if unauthorized access is gained, the information will be unreadable and inaccessible.
- Geographic Data Redundancy: LexWorkplace stores multiple copies of your data on redundant servers throughout different locations to ensure that your information is always available and that you can retrieve it no matter what.
- Permissions + Access: You can control access to sensitive cases or data by restricting access to specific matters to specific users or groups within your firm.
11. Quickly Peek at Documents/Email (Preview)
Sometimes you just need a quick glance at a document or email: Maybe to grab a phone number, email address or account number. Or maybe you want to make sure you’re looking at the right document before opening it outright.
With LexWorkplace, you can see a full-text preview of any document or email, in one click.
Just click the eye icon and a full-text preview sidebar will open in LexWorkplace instantly, without opening the full document and its application (Word, Outlook, etc.)
11. Limit Who Can Create Clients & Matters
If your firm uses (or has used) basic file systems such as a local file server (AKA “The S:\ Drive”), OneDrive or Dropbox, you know that anyone can create new folders anywhere. Which means, inevitably, over time, your folder structure (once so tidy) becomes an incomprehensible mess.
We call this the “Wild West” of folders and sub-folders.
No more. With LexWorkplace, every document and email must be stored in a Client/Matter (or in Firm Documents). And you can limit what users in your firm can create new Clients and Matters, eliminating proliferation of empty, “bogus” client/matters.
Closing the Loop
Modern law firms need modern tools to best serve their clients.
LexWorkplace is a powerful yet easy-to-use legal document management platform. From secure sharing, to full-text search to automated version management, LexWorkplace has everything you need to streamline your work and improve your bottom line.
If you’re ready to see what LexWorkplace can do for your firm, we encourage you to watch the 5-minute demo below, watch the full LexWorkplace Walk-Through, or book a one-on-one demo, and experience the difference for yourself.
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