PRI website now available
The site makes it easier to find practice management information
A new section of the Bar’s website designed to help Florida lawyers with law office operations and to assist members’ use of technology is now available at wwwfloridabar.org/PRI.
The Florida Bar’s new Practice Resource Institute — one of the top priorities of Bar President Greg Coleman — was created to assist members dealing with all of the business aspects of setting up, managing, merging, or closing a professional practice.
“PRI’s web presence is designed to make it a lot easier for our members to find the practice management information they need to improve the business side of practicing law,” said Jonathon Israel, director of the Practice Resource Institute. “The department is creating a comprehensive list of law office technology, tools, and resources for the website.”
Israel said PRI’s web presence includes a variety of shareable electronic tools, web-based archives of articles, blog posts, and resources that can be easily located and used by Bar members.
Israel said the website’s five sections address:
* Office technology ;
* Finance and accounting ;
* Marketing ;
* Management ; and
* New practices.
Each area also has links to articles, videos, and podcasts and will be updated whenever the latest information becomes available, said Israel, who moves to his new position heading PRI after working for years as the operations manager for the Bar’s Information Technology Department.
Bar members may also sign up to be notified of the latest changes to the site and the information provided will be searchable.
Israel said the PRI site also includes a live chat feature where lawyers may pose questions directly to PRI practice management advisors and receive answers in real time.
Israel said the time was right for the Bar to update its law office assistance services to provide the membership more technology tools and solutions.
“That is what everything is being driven by today — technology,” said Israel, adding that if lawyers want to make their offices more efficient and cost-effective, they must stay current with emerging technological trends.
“The potential for PRI is going to be huge for what we can bring to the members, as far as trying to help them vet technology or other needs, as well as provide added member services and benefits through some vendors,” he said.
Israel said the Practice Resource Institute will also provide free guidance, information resources, and general assistance to Florida Bar members and their staff, regarding all areas of law office management, including case management, risk management, and specific law office management principles and techniques. He said those include law firm economics; financial management; trust accounting; human resources management; recruiting; communications; paralegal utilization guidelines; facilities management; purchasing; records information management; marketing; legal research methods and library management; structure and governance of law offices and law firms; law firm strategic planning; law firm start-ups, mergers, acquisitions, and dissolutions; and general law office management.
The department will also present CLE programs on law office management and other administrative matters relative to law office/practice management and technology in the law office.
When introducing the PRI program to the Board of Governors in December, Coleman said it also became obvious during the development of PRI that the Bar had a limited number of member benefits that could fit with the new service. He charged the Member Benefits Committee, working with Bar technology consultant Adriana Linares, to address that scarcity. The board approved 11 new providers for the Bar’s Member Benefits program, with most of those having a technology product or service to help Bar members. All new services will be included in the Member Benefits section of the Bar’s website, as well as through the new PRI section, as they become available. They include:
* CrosStar Network Solutions and Peritus Affinity Partners. The companies buys bulk telecom access from the carriers like Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile and then passes along the discounts to customers.
* Social Finance, Inc. The company helps lawyers with student loan debt refinance at lower interest rates, usually between 1 and 4 percent lower. The average lawyer using the company saves $15,000 in interest and principal payments over the life of the loan, and the company offers other benefits, including abeyance of the loan if the lawyer becomes unemployed.
* NextPoint. This is a document, evidence, and litigation management software.
* Ruby Receptionists. The company is a remote telephone call handling service that provides more than the typical answering service and allows firms to have calls handled at a fraction of the cost of a full-time receptionist.
* ServeManager. The company vets process servers and ties them to law firms, which can track the status of outstanding service matters, including GPS and photo verification of service, as well as affidavits.
* Rocket Matter, Clio, MyCase, and Amicus Attorney. All four of these programs address practice technology needs of lawyers.
* TheFormTool PRO. This software takes any document generated by a lawyer and converts it into a form, and then allows it to be modified as needed.
* Bill4Time. This billing software program works with existing programs and allows lawyers to track time on computers as they work.
“We are here for the members,” Israel said. “If there is anything they think we need to address, we are all ears.”
