Examples of Legal Tech Innovation During COVID-19

At the onset of the pandemic, firms and legal marketing teams across the globe found themselves frozen in uncertainty and questioning the next best steps to ensure business continuity. Nevertheless, many refused to allow this to be a roadblock and seized the opportunity to create unique solutions. Discover the innovative strategies that legal marketers and service providers have created and how their ingenuity will impact the industry for years to come.

‘Gitting’ It Done With Remote Photography

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Gittings Global, a professional photography agency serving law firms across the world, was determined to push forward and continue to provide the high caliber of service that its clients have come to expect.

Despite the logistical challenges, it was critical for the team at Gittings to continue to provide headshot services for attorneys and legal professionals. Steadfast, they acted on an idea that had been in the incubation stages for a few years prior. The end solution: a compact, easily transportable kit. The Virtual Photo Pro™ was created and shipped to clients, including lighting, remote camera access, a color-coded mat to get the right pose and technology to support direct communication with the photographer. Over the first few months, little by little, the pieces came together and with great success. With this new innovative system, the team at Gittings has photographed over 200 professionals globally in locations ranging from suburban London to the islands of Hawaii.

“Thanks to the legal community and our longstanding relationships with LMA, we were able to bring this idea to reality,” says Greg Lorfing, CEO and creative director. “We’re looking forward to the possibilities ahead as we bring our services into the future and continue to support the legal community.”

Project Management Tools Promote Transparency While Working Remotely

Prior to the pandemic, it became increasingly necessary to have a central repository of projects and status updates to stay coordinated across multiple offices. Many firms were already using PM tools such as Smartsheet, Asana, Basecamp and Wrike, among others. Microsoft Teams also began to make its way to law firms as a solution to keeping everyone connected. At Troutman Pepper, the marketing team began using a new project management tool to provide transparency, efficiency and ease of reporting while working remotely.

Ashley Elliott, business and competitive intelligence manager at Troutman Pepper notes, “Implementing a project management tool, like Asana, was a great way for our marketing team to stay coordinated as a larger department post-merger and while working remotely. It allows managers and directors to ensure productivity, spot potential road blocks and report any potential issues all while working from our different corners of the country. Project management tools are great for breaking down silos across teams, during a pandemic or otherwise.”

Reimagining the Workplace

When Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard returned to their four offices in July 2020 after working remotely for five months, they saw an opportunity to reimagine the new “socially distanced” work environment. With a focus on providing resources to attorneys and staff, the firm converted its conference rooms into business development and virtual networking hubs.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and through internal communication efforts, Lugenbuhl announced their Conference Room Events, providing all attorneys the opportunity to attend and learn about firm involvement, the organization and business development potential. Lugenbuhl uses several conference rooms for the same event to ensure small numbers, masks and social distancing remain in place. They also offer reserved remote access for those who prefer to isolate from others.

Creating a Solid E-Communications Plan

Williams Mullen, like many firms in the pandemic, were receiving a high volume of marketing and e-communications and needed to keep everything organized and streamlined. They created an Excel spreadsheet to track all activity with fields noting priority level as well as ethics counsel review status. Communications Manager Tyler Harris said, “The system that we created last year has really gained traction among our entire marketing and business development team, and it’s something we’re continuing to use. It will certainly help us track and make reporting easier moving forward.”

The last year has proven that legal marketers and firms were able to think creatively at a moment’s notice and are exceptionally resilient. As a community, we have collectively embraced this change and take great pride in how our colleagues and teammates are bringing the legal services industry into the next era.