The floors in my house are being refinished this weekend, so my family and I were evicted and are “vacationing” in a hotel just a few blocks away. I just finished reviewing my email, had a conversation with a colleague over Skype, and am now posting to my blawg, all while sitting on a lounge chair by the pool while my kids kill each other. Life is remarkable. The technology we use to make our life easier is remarkable.
All of this technology can really enhance client service. Skype and other VOI technology can dramatically reduce overhead or pass along charges if bill your clients for long-distance. Secure blawgs allow a client’s various lawyers to communicate with each other in a way that others can see and add to the value of the communication. It occurs to me that one of the most critical people on a client service team is the IT person-someone who can speak English and tech, someone who can train many and teach one-on-one, someone who can see the value of technology and persuade others to use it. The teaching/training role is not limited to the outside lawyers-frequently in-house lawyers are not given the resources needed to take advantage of certain technological opportunities. The IT trainer can facilitate the use of technology with the client too (maybe even first!).