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IMMIGRATION LAWYERS TOOLBOX
Immigration Tech I
The Top 7 Tech Mistakes Made by Immigration Attorneys By Nadine Heitz, Esq., Nadine@heitzimmigrationlaw.com
In
my journey to find the best possible combination of technology apps for my own law firm, I have come to realize that there is no perfect solution. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get as close to perfect as possible!
Nadine Heitz, Esq.
ILT MAGAZINE l ISSUE NO.
02
Nadine@HeitzImmigrationLaw.com
Since launching my solo firm in 2015 I have used so many different tech apps that sometimes I can’t even remember them all! For the first few years, it was just me with a part-time assistant, so I experimented a lot. Here is a list of the ones I remember: My Case, Clio, Lexicata (now Clio Grow), Practice Panther, Faster Law (add-on to Clio), eImmigration Air (Cerenade), Smokeball, LollyLaw, CampLegal, and Prima Facie (and this doesn’t include all the other addons like a scheduler and communications apps). I have done demos with companies like Neutrinet (formerly AILaw), Infotems, Lawcus, FastVisa, and more. Some I could write off immediately, and others I tried and stayed with for years. Here is what I finally settled on and it took the pandemic last year to force me to really develop a totally online automated system. But just because this is what I use, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s what YOU should use.
Right now my apps are: Monday.com (for practice management to track all cases), Docketwise (for immigration forms), Practice Panther (just for invoicing), Dubsado (for CRM and to launch the case with quote/contract/deposit invoice), Pipefile for document collection, Calendly for appointments, Gmail for communications and I connect most of them together with Zapier or app integrations.
From the day I started my firm, I knew that I wanted technology to play a big role. Since it was onlyme, I had to have systems and automation in place to minimize the need for staff. Today my two full-timers are well versed in all our systems and I feel like we have a really good set up to minimize the most important fears we all have: things falling through the cracks (like missing an RFE or brief due date!) and clients not being satisfied (solution is automated monthly status reports!).
I think it’s important to say that I don’t consider myself a computer techie. I actually hate computer programming (I once failed a university computer programming course!) but I love working with apps that are intuitive, look good on the screen, and make my life easier. Here I will share with you some of the mistakes that many of us have made and continue to make when we work with tech apps in our immigration law firms. 1. Not creating a budget for technology. Yes, these apps will cost money – most of them will be charged monthly. So put a line item on your expense sheet to budget for technology. Paying for tech apps has become a cost of doing business. Just like paying rent , the phone bill, and the utility bill, you must pay for some technology. Whether you are just starting out or a seasoned veteran, you need tech apps in your law firm to reduce errors and stay on top of things. Excel spreadsheets or Word charts just won’t cut it anymore (unless maybe you are a true wiz at Excel and can build something really phenomenal, not me!). If you plan for this in your budget then it won’t be so hard to take the plunge when you have to pay for these apps every month or year.