An Overview of Case Management at a Law Firm
It is fairly obvious that where there is a law firm, there are cases. Those cases are the "products" the firm delivers to clients. Just as any business might have product specialists or case managers to help ensure consistent delivery and quality, so does the legal team. In this case, the "business case manager" is often called a Paralegal or Legal Assistant. Depending on the size of your firm, you may have a case manager for each department, or they may all report into one person (more on that later).
Paralegals are your clients’ best friend—each case, regardless of complexity, should be managed to its successful conclusion through a series of steps, such as:
Here’s where it gets tricky: things don’t always go as planned. A witness fails to appear for a deposition. Someone discovers that a critical piece of information is missing. Expecting the unexpected is key here .
Faithful adherence to the process would seem to dictate that the case manager responsible for processing collections would then send a sternly worded threat to the delinquent client, informing him of the consequence should he choose to ignore the due date. The problem is, the results of the process, in this instance, vary greatly from the planned process. Sometimes the delinquent client simply needs a reason for the tardiness—perhaps he’s had a death in the family, or has become ill, or his business has experienced problems resulting in cash flow issues. Whatever the reason, it is critical that he be treated with respect, dignity and understanding. Otherwise, he may be lost forever. This is why the best law firm case managers understand the importance of communication and customer service.
To boil down the benefits of using case managers offered by The Sharper Lawyer, we see the existance of a well staffed and educated staff working towards the goal of keeping the firm organized, and work flowing through to the benefit of your firm & and clients.
The Responsibilities of a Law Firm Case Manager
A law firm’s case manager is the key person responsible for coordinating the activities of the case team, the clients and third parties. They are also the primary point of contact for all correspondence and communications related to the case. Other key responsibilities include the following: Managing the moving parts of a complex, multi-player situation. With an eye toward meeting immovable deadlines, it is the case manager’s responsibility to ensure all activities and tasks are completed by their assigned due dates. By regularly checking in with the case team, they can gauge the status of each task and proactively follow up to make sure everyone is on the same page. Project Management. The ability to multitask is essential when managing several deadlines for multiple clients and or cases. Keeping detailed notes of tasks scheduled and completed will allow the case manager to easily backtrack when necessary to refresh their memory, as well as to keep the client updated on progress. Fact and Research Finding. Clients naturally expect their law firms to communicate timely and frequent updates on the status of their case. On a regular basis, the case manager will either need to conduct research or coordinate their case team to obtain needed data and information. Keeping a checklist of frequently requested data can help the case manager to quickly retrieve updates without wasting time re-scoping the request. Effective Communication. It is the case manager’s responsibility to develop and maintain a comprehensive communication plan and schedule, tailored to meet the needs of each client. Their role does not involve providing legal advice or consultation to the client, but rather keeps the flow of information and updates moving between the law firm and the client, as well as third-party vendors or other attorneys associated with the case, such as opposing counsel and expert witnesses. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures, like mediation, require report submissions that generally will have specific requirements for formatting. The case manager coordinates communications for these reports, ensuring that required drafts and revisions are created on schedule for final submission. In terms of providing regular updates, the case manager should submit reports to the client weekly or biweekly, with a summary of the previous week’s activities and the current status of each task.
Training and Qualifications of a Law Firm Case Manager
Commonly, a case manager position in a law firm requires an undergraduate degree in a related field or equivalent experience. Put simply, if a recently graduated college student or recent graduate of a paralegal program applied for the job, they would be in consideration. When reviewing qualifications, the personal skills of the applicant are considered highly. In almost every case manager job description organization is listed as a skill the applicant must have. Much like legal assistants and lawyers, this is due to the nature of the job. A case manager is often tasked with sorting through document databases, reviewing litigation documents, and the general task of organizing all documents and pleadings involved with a particular client all while making sure there are no scheduling issues that will create problems down the road. While case managers are not completely dealing with the everyday issues that a case presents, it is their job to keep track of anything on the horizon for the client. An added level of detail must be used when it comes to client billing. Just like in any type of corporate accounting, the numbers must match up accurately. This attention to detail is another quality every case manager must have. Agencies that deal with case manager candidates, including staffing firms focused around legal professionals, always require applicants to have an excellent attention to detail to be considered. Strong communication skills is another prerequisite for case managers. This is a skill that transfers to many aspects of this job position. It helps improve relationships with clients, fellow co-workers and members of the legal community. There are plenty of times where it is necessary for the case manager to convey important information quickly and accurately. As with almost any job, being a team player and assisting management when needed goes a long way as well.
The Challenges of a Law Firm Case Manager
Let’s take a look at what in-house Case Managers at law firms encounter: Rather than discrete tasks, Case Managers are involved in complex, interdependent tasks which need to be completed in quick succession. Due to the time-sensitive nature of insurance claims investigations, Case Managers are also being challenged by whether or not they are getting their work done fast enough. For example, deadlines come from court rules, but also from insurance client control guidelines (both of which are continually evolving for different reasons). The good news is that technology is helping to get the work done while streamlining the workflow process. As opposed to working on your own, you now have access to the law firm’s network to communicate, re-assign tasks, and monitor where you are in the process.
The Importance to a Case Manager of Technology
The use of technology is also a key to law firm success. Case managers often face the same issue as attorneys, having to first answer the emails that come through so as not to cause forward delays. The problem comes when attorneys and case managers have a full file of clients and have 200 – 1 , 000 emails each day and have to sift through them all and review them quickly. It is critical for law firms to be able to monitor email and respond accordingly. One of the most common ways for a case manager to do this is via their smartphone. A lot of firms use cloud-based email solutions such as Office 365 or Gmail that allow for case managers to receive emails on their smartphones without having to worry about emailing from their phones out of compliance with regulations. Having technology that allows for forwarding or lot of mail to a central location is another way to help keep the in-boxes clear and to make sure no important emails are missed. A case management software or practice management software is another critical tool that allows for case managers to keep documents organized and readily accessible so they can spend less time searching for something and more time focused on answering emails as needed.
Advancement and Future Opportunities for a Law Firm Case Manager
Case managers in law firms follow a career path that is often not defined as clearly as other positions such as attorneys or paralegals. Most case managers have progressed from entry level clerical or paralegal positions. As most cases progress through litigation stages such as discovery, motion practice and trial preparation the need for a more experienced case manager becomes apparent. Therefore, promotion from within is the most likely career path.
Paths for further advancement are varied. Case managers can choose to become attorneys, or move up the ladder to a supervisory position such as managing case manager or legal nurse consultant. Or, with the continuing trend to outsourcing multiple tasks to lower cost countries they may find themselves looking for other opportunities outside of the firm, such as legal project management. In each of these cases certification or advanced education would be a plus in order to stay competitive in today’s job market. Since case managers possess many of the skills necessary to coordinate cases across multiple jurisdictions or multiple service providers it is a logical extension for them to expand their roles to include project management of legal projects outside of the firm.
Conclusion – Why you Want a Law Firm Case Manager
A case manager adds substantial value to your law firm by keeping cases moving. Cases tend to languish in a law firm with no case manager. If a client doesn’t hear from anyone in a law firm for a few weeks or months, they are more likely to hire someone else. A case manager builds loyalty with a client based on the fact that they do not have to chase down their attorney to get status updates—we know that because of their weekly flow reports, the case manager has diligently stayed in touch with the client.
An active case manager will build the workload of the staff and attorneys at your law firm in a smart way, balancing the load of cases from the case manager to the attorneys so that one attorney does not become the bottleneck.
Without a case manager, a case can quickly become dormant . When a case is not moving along, it takes more time to catch back up with the case. In some cases, attorneys must re-read all previous pleadings to get up to speed. This further delays the case.
Someone new to the law firm may not know exactly how to progress a case that an unfamiliar attorney or client brought with them. A case manager typically understands the file, the client, the attorney, and any other case staff so that they can jump in on the case as needed.
With a case manager handling the active cases, the attorneys are freed up to spend more time with clients who need their expertise-in rare circumstances will attorneys be asked to step in on a case or communicate with a client. The firm gets the work done, the clients are serviced and everyone is happy.