Filevine has been a part of a technology revolution. We’re watching the legal profession transform before our eyes. And one piece of this revolution: how much work happens outside the brick and mortar building we call an office.
The mobile office is here.
A growing number of lawyers and legal professionals now work remotely. We’re seeing the rise of the virtual office, as well as increased acceptance by large firms that their attorneys and staff will often be working from home. And the 2017 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report found that 94% of lawyers “regularly or occasionally use a mobile device for law-related tasks at home.”
This is a trend that is only going to grow as more Millennials join the workforce: the younger generation prioritizes work-life balance more than prestige and high pay, and are more likely to demand flexible hours and the ability to work from home.
Even in traditional offices, at any given time 25% of attorneys are working away from the office due to the basic demands to be in court or meet with others. And even while we’re at our desks, we use our smartphones more than any other device.
This trend has been made possible by technology. We don’t need to be near a filing cabinet because we have cloud-based case management software. We don’t need our heavy, leather-bound law books because we use the online database. Our clients are happy to communicate through a case management portal or via text rather than trundling down to our office.
It’s hard to overestimate the effect this has had on the average workday. But there are still new ways legal tech can help lawyers practice from anywhere.
Instantly Notified
We’ve delivered our share of tools that help enable a modern law firm, from our Automated Workflows to our Settlement Calculator. But being aware of what’s happening at your office while you’re away is equally important. That’s why Filevine has created a new feature: Instant Notifications, delivered to you in the manner of your choosing.
Choose what kind of updates are sent to you. Do you want to be notified about every task someone assigns to you? Or only for a smaller subset of projects that you follow? You can also choose to be notified about incoming texts to the case file and role-based taskflow updates.
Choose how you receive notifications. You can get them through email, text message on your phone, or have them sent to your Slack.
It’s still important that attorneys have times and spaces where they aren’t interrupted, so you can also turn off instant notifications when you’d like, and continue receiving updates through your daily notification email. But you can now customize what kinds of updates that email shows, and whether it arrives in the morning, at night, or twice daily.
With Instant Notifications, It’s a great time to declare independence from the office.