When it comes to work practices, the legal sector is perhaps one of the most inherently conservative. Most commercial law firms still maintain quite impressive office spaces, and staff are expected to do the vast majority of their work at their desks, or at clients’ offices. As such, the sector has traditionally relied upon on-premise IT infrastructure; with staff only able to access the network, or document library, when in the office. Now, however, the sector is changing – and fast. New cloud-based mobility solutions, and innovations in security and remote connectivity, have given legal professionals exciting new levels of flexibility. But what does this mean for your firm, and your people? How can you use new, mobile innovations in order to attract and retain high quality staff?
Responding to ever-changing staff demands
A law firm is only as good as its people; and law firms invest huge sums in attracting and retaining the best and most committed graduates, as well as the most experienced and successful senior practitioners. Today, however, legal professionals have greater expectations when it comes to technology than ever before. Accustomed to a high degree of mobile connectivity, they expect your firm to provide fast, reliable, round-the-clock access. They want to be able to access the information they need to do their job, regardless of where they happen to be: at their desk, travelling to a client, at a client’s office or from home. This requires having a strong wireless and network, as well as secure, capable devices.
By providing your people with reliable, secure, ‘anywhere access’ to your network, you can make their day-to-day work life easier and more rewarding – improving the likelihood they will join your firm, and stay for longer.
Creating the ‘work anywhere’ workplace
New mobile solutions can also help workplaces increase the number of ‘hot desks’ they support, and reduce permanent seating and hardware infrastructure, in order to save costs.
“At least in Sydney, where real estate is just so expensive, a lot of companies are allowing people to work remotely and using technology to reduce their cost in real estate, and keep pace with demands for more flexible working conditions,” says Ashley Steadman, The Missing Link’s cloud expert.
A recent Legal Technology Future Horizons Report by the International Legal Technology Association, also suggests that law firms must start using mobile technology in order to leverage lawyers more effectively.
“We must enhance the productivity, strategic insight and impact of lawyers. At the most basic level, they need to perform from anywhere at any time on a range of personal devices that could emerge over time. Next, we must build intelligence into lawyer support to anticipate and provide the content they need when they need it — from analysing critical information to presenting in court,” the report says.1
Find out more
To learn more about the increasing importance of mobility for law firms, contact The Missing Link on 1300 865 865 or contactus@themissinglink.com.au.
1 International Legal Technology Association, Legal Technology Future Horizons Report
