The Attorney of the Future: 5 Attributes for Success

With the ages of information and automation well upon us, the legal industry is ripe for a revolution. You may already see it happening — there are more and more people looking to “do it themselves” for parts of their case, finding information online and initiating consultations with more education and knowledge than they have in the past. There are even companies that promise consumers fully automated legal services nowadays. These trends (and more) point towards a new era of lawyering, along with a major opportunity, and we’ve created a list of attributes that will help you evolve into the Lawyer of the Future.

• The lawyer of the future has automation systems in place. From lead conversion automation, to intake and document preparation, to email communications and even case management – the lawyer of tomorrow makes use of all the new technology pouring into our industry and uses it to their advantage.  (legal tech, streamlining of services, document automation, etc.). It’s about streamlining your systems and processes so you can serve more people with new service offerings (like unbundled legal services), positioning you for earning a high effective hourly rate.

• The lawyer of the future offers new and unique service offerings like unbundled legal services to better help the massive amount of people who are now filing pro se. This offers a massive opportunity to serve the people who either don’t want to or might not be able to afford traditional legal services. Many state bar associations are in favor of unbundled service options as it presents an opportunity to assist more people in getting the legal help they need. And right now, it’s a unique way to stand above the crowd of attorneys (read: majority) who do not yet offer these types of services. 

• The lawyer of the future commands a higher hourly effective rate. When you are able to serve more clients in ways that are efficient and streamlined, what would normally take you 3 hours can take you only 1. This is a real benefit we see with Unbundled Attorneys who implement our training — they start to experience the benefit of taking advantage of legal technology to help get things done more efficiently. 

• The lawyer of the future prioritizes educating and coaching their clients from initial consult through representation and beyond. People love to be informed, and increasingly so as it relates to their legal issues. You have a wonderful opportunity to serve as the guide in your clients legal journey, coaching them along the way should they decide to take certain aspects of their case into their own hands. Done right, this is a GREAT way to build very positive reviews and referrals for a lifetime. 

• The lawyer of the future utilizes effective lead generation services to keep their pipeline full. Okay, you knew we had to throw this one in there… but seriously, successful attorneys simply do not waste time trying to do their own marketing. Not only is doing your own marketing not sustainable, but it’s often way more cost effective to let a reputable and proven service generate your leads while you focus on being an attorney and helping people through to their desired case resolutions. 

There are many ways to be a lawyer today, but as the industry progresses, it’s up to you to evolve along with it so you can continue to build a profitable practice that does good work for people. Blockbuster didn’t evolve, and Netflix obliterated them. Borders didn’t evolve, and Amazon put them out of business. There are countless examples of how companies remained stagnant, fell by the wayside, and then got runover by those willing to evolve. Now we’re not saying you’ll go out of business if you don’t follow these things, but we do hope to open your mind to the possibilities and exciting future that being a lawyer has to offer. 

If you’re looking to become the attorney of the future and set yourself up for success for years to come, register to watch our webinar for a deeper dive into the 5 areas listed in this article and tips on how you can apply them into your practice.