DATA VISUALIZATION FOR LAW FIRMS

By ALB In Legal On 30 Jul 2019

Data visualization sounds a lot like jargon, something best left to the mathematically inclined. However, in practice, data visualization is an essential part of managing your firm and with the right tools available, is rather easy to implement.

Data visualization can help firms leverage the mountains of data law firms capture during the timekeeping process in myriad ways.

As humans, we tend to be rather visual. Distinguishing between different sized objects placed on a table seems to be a much simpler task than interpreting raw data. Using data visualization graphics help in communicating the underlying meaning of the data and in making sense of what the data means. Data visualization proves essential in identifying relationships between data that are not directly quantitative. We can spot trends, correlations, and relationships between data and within data that may not be apparent when reviewing the raw figures.

An increasing number of law firms are recognizing the benefits of using data visualizations to get a snapshot of how their practice is operating. Using regularly generated financial reports and important metrics, firms find it easier to analyze which areas of the practice are flourishing and which are not.

Managing Your Firm

Matter Management: While law firms have access to tremendous amounts of internal data (a.k.a. Big Data), the utilization of this data is a process that takes up more time than most firms’ managing partners or administrators can afford to spend on it. However, by using an advanced billing management software such as the AI-enabled billing platform created by Accurate Legal Billing Inc. (ALB), this data becomes instantly accessible in just a few clicks and can help in analyzing the performance of a law firm. The reports generated provide valuable insight into the firm’s management trends over time and helps decide resource allocation better so that optimal amounts of time and money can be spent on client acquisition, client care, marketing, training, etc.

Getting Paid: Data visualization aids the firm in better assessment of their working relationships with clients and influence these relationships so as to ensure on-time bill payment of the full amount. The use of a real-time dashboard can assist managing lawyers in assessing the number of hours being billed by different timekeepers. Furthermore, these hours can be tracked against similar past cases to check the billing efficiency of particular timekeepers. The managing attorney can subsequently take necessary action to better train the team, perform quality-checks the work, or identify additional client legal issues that have expanded the scope of the matter.

Ultimately, data visualization takes out the element of surprise in managing a matter and helps firms deliver their work product on time and within budget.

Large law firms often struggle to describe how best they serve their clients and data visualization provides valuable insight into the dynamics of existing client relationships by displaying this information in an easily comprehensible manner. Using this information, relationships with existing clients can be improved upon and new client relationships can develop optimally.

While the idea of implementing data visualization may seem daunting, using a unified system for timekeeping and billing can centralize the data sufficiently such that firms can use any type of visualization tool that they wish. By using firm management software like ALB, firms can have the best of all worlds – a centralized data depository and a powerful data visualization and reporting tool that can power better firm management and help build the firm’s book of business.  

ALB is an AI-powered cloud-based legal billing software enabled with features that help law firms across the world improve their cash flow and billing efficiency by preparing and submitting invoices that are 100% compliant with their clients’ billing guidelines such that the

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