Why Your Law Firm Needs to Update Its Communication System

The Modern Law Firm series delves into how AI can streamline your law firm — whether it’s by saving you time and money, eliminating mistakes and redundancies or making your workflow more efficient. 

Communicating with clients is key for lawyers, but many firms may not be exactly where they need to be in this respect.

Learn why your communication system may need an overhaul. 

How Law Firms Communication Systems Fare

Findings from the 2023 American Bar Association Legal Technology Resource Center’s Legal Technology Survey show that lawyers could be doing more to better communicate with their clients. To begin with, the use of websites for firms is down. In 2023, 87% of respondents said their firms had a website, seven percentage points less than in 2021.

Having a website — one way that potential clients can find you — is only one part of the puzzle. When you’re actively working with clients, there are many different systems you can use to communicate with them. According to the survey, these are the most common communication methods:

• Email: 92%
• Telephone and voice mail: 86%
• Face to face: 45%
• Video conferencing: 37%
• Web conferencing: 34%
• Postal mail: 19%
• Text and SMS messaging: 18%

Most of the communication happens via email or over the phone. Meanwhile, options that could be more accommodating are not as popular. Video and web conferencing, for example, experienced drops of seven and 12 percentage points, respectively. 

Additionally, live chat is rare among firms, with 81% saying their firms do not offer it. And while 40% of respondents use messaging to communicate with clients, only 21% of firms give clients a way to check updates on their cases on their website or online. 

Why Your Firm Needs a Modern Communication System

A modern communication system benefits the client and the firm. Here’s how:

Offers Client Flexibility

Clients also lead busy lives, so coming into the office might not work for them. Or they may not check their email often enough. Or they might just prefer to send a text when they get a moment. Regardless of their reason, offering more options means you are meeting clients where they are. 

Encourages Progress

The immediacy of some methods means there’s a chance you can make progress and move them along at a better speed. For example, if you choose to do a video call or a text message, you might be able to get crucial information. 

Improves Collaboration

Using the right systems can not only help you and your clients work together more efficiently, but it can also help members of your firm collaborate. Having more modern systems means there’s more information tracking so someone can more easily jump into a case, see all the relevant details and take action from there. 

How to Improve Law Firm Communication, The Noodle Solution

The Noodle portal is an all-in-one solution aimed at helping immigration and bankruptcy lawyers do their work. Noodle offers:

A Website Widget

With just a few lines of code, Noodle offers a website widget. It means that even without having experience, you can direct clients to your website to use their Noodle accounts. There, they can make appointments or get the information they need. 

Chat Support

Noodle offers 24/7 chat support through an AI assistant, which can help direct clients toward a solution. But even for those questions that might need a lawyer’s input, your clients won’t have to wait as long to get a response from your firm.  

Meeting Scheduler

Noodle has a meeting scheduler that allows clients to see what dates you are available. They don’t need to sit around and wait to hear when you have time to meet. 

Automatic Updates 

Noodle offers clients automatic updates on their cases. This can help you constantly communicate with your client without having to do extra work.