End Results
Richardson Law increases billable hours by 100% with business SMS.
Business texting services reduce Richardson Law’s non-billable hours by 10 hours each week.
The global legal services industry was worth 849 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. By 2021, it is expected to become a trillion-dollar industry. As the industry grows, law firms are seeing more incoming cases. Small firms are turning to technology for help with managing more administrative tasks and client communication.
Richardson Law Firm is a boutique firm that focuses on family law. Owned and operated by John Richardson, the firm works with both the state of Tennessee and also independent clients. Given the ever-growing need for legal services, Richardson has a lot of cases to handle.
Richardson strives to maintain a healthy case balance, taking on only the number of cases that he can give his full, undivided attention. To ensure his focus is on case contents, he tries to tackle non-casework as efficiently as possible—including client communications.
Before texting, Richardson used phone calls and emails to connect with clients. But both channels were time-consuming, and some clients didn’t have access to email. Plus, recording and tracking phone calls was a cumbersome task.
Then, Richardson discovered business text messaging.
A New Support System: The Clio SMS Integration
Richardson works alone. He has to handle client communications and administrative tasks alongside the cases themselves.
He used to focus his communications on phone calls and emails. But phone calls consumed a lot of time, and he had to answer them right away, no matter what he was working on. They were also difficult to record to his case management system. Emails were more convenient, since John could answer them quickly whenever he had time, and could easily sync them with his case management system. However, many of his clients didn’t have reliable access to computers or email accounts.
Richardson began to use Clio for case management. It helped streamline everything from contact management to billing. Then, he noticed one of Clio’s integration partners—a business text messaging company called Heymarket.
Business text messaging appealed to Richardson immediately. He realized that his clients had access to phones and that he could answer their texts whenever he got to them. He also knew an SMS integration with Clio would streamline his communications, centralizing texts within his case management system.
With all of this in mind, Richardson decided to try Clio’s integration partner, Heymarket. While Clio had other business SMS partners, Heymarket had more robust features specific to the needs of law firms.
How Clio Text Messaging Streamlines Case Management
Richardson got up and running quickly with the self-service platform. When he had questions, he found the Heymarket team ready to help immediately—a welcome service for a one-man firm without an IT team. While he adjusted to the platform, the Heymarket team integrated Clio with their business text messaging platform. Within a couple of days, the systems were entirely synced. Richardson quickly found his favorite tools, which he still uses today. These include:
Synced contacts. Heymarket seamlessly synchronized Richardson’s contacts between Clio and the business text messaging platform. Because of the Clio SMS integration, all of those contacts were automatically added to the Clio platform—unless they were already there. Now, when any contacts are added to one platform, they automatically update in the other.
Saved messages. Contacts aren’t the only data that syncs between platforms. Every single SMS message sent to Richardson’s business text messaging number is logged in Clio, too, under the correct contact and case. Richardson can quickly review text history for any client, whether he needs to refer to it in conversation or is reviewing case details.
Time stamps. Each logged message is clearly marked with time stamps. These time stamps make billing a lot easier for Richardson. Now, the time he spends communicating through texts is accounted for.
Scheduled texts. Scheduled texts are a key tool for Richardson. He can easily schedule client reminders and notifications while he’s thinking about them. Then they’ll automatically send right when he wants clients to receive them.
“Heymarket and Clio are my support staff.”
—John Richardson, Owner, Richardson Law
The Impact of an SMS Clio Integration
Richardson quickly streamlined his workflow with the help of the SMS Clio integration. He has been able to:
Save time. Because Richardson doesn’t have to manually upload or record customer conversations to his case management system, he saves a lot of time. He can also batch his messages, replying right when he’s ready to. His new ability to schedule messages saves an extra tenth of a non-billable hour per client—at 100 clients, this adds up to 10 billable hours each week.
“I’m not losing time anymore. I can reliably record all of my billable hours.”
—John Richardson, Owner, Richardson Law
Accurately record billable hours. Tools like synced contacts, saved messages, and time stamps help Richardson manage billing. Now, he can bill more accurately, doubling what he had billed before. In turn, he has been able to increase his overall revenue.
A Future with the SMS Clio Integration
Richardson plans to continue using the SMS Clio integration to streamline his workflow. His technological support staff—Clio and Heymarket—will support him as he grows his client base.
As Richardson Law discovered, an SMS Clio integration helps law firms:
- Save time. Tools like synced contacts, saved messages, and scheduled texting help save lawyers’ valuable time.
- Increase revenue. Saved texts with time stamps help lawyers accurately invoice clients, ensuring that they are counting all billable hours.
Want to try business text messaging with your law firm? Test out our platform today.
