Businesses go mobile
With technology evolving at an exponential rate – namely, tablets and smartphones – more and more businesses are going remote – mobile. Apparently, even lawyers.
Meet Burton Law
In Dayton, Ohio, there’s a law firm – Burton Law – that functions almost exclusively remotely. Yes – meaning, believe it or not, not inside but outside of the office.
In 2013, Chad began using his iPad to handle most of his legal documents. As a self-proclaimed early riser, he says that he loves being able to sink his teeth into his workload in the wee hours, just before sinking down a protein shake or a lemon tea. For him, it means that not a minute of the day is wasted. What more could a workaholic ask for?
Less cubicles, more apps
It’s not just Burton who works from his iPad, either. His whole eight-person team works remotely. They all rely on a plethora of apps designed for legal professionals. Using an app called Box, a cloud storage and syncing service, which integrates with Clio, a legal management software app, they’re able to communicate all their updates on the go. He even uses Apple’s Pages to draft up legal documents, claiming that the Pages app is capable of meeting his needs. Who’d have thought? Talk about keeping it simple.
Drive value to customers
To give you an idea of the mentality driving the Burton Law operation, here’s a telling snippet, straight from their website:
“The way things have always been done” is not always the right answer. Burton Law has dismantled the traditional law firm model and turned it on its head. Burton Law’s structure has been recognized as one of the leading virtual law firm models.
We use the latest technology available, not as crutch, but as the driving force to advance client service. We meet with clients personally. However, our lawyers are not contained within a typical brick and mortar setting under one roof. Technology allows our lawyers to practice in a greater geographic footprint while maintaining a work environment as if we are sitting in an office next to one another.
Office a thing of the past?
Reading about how Burton has managed to mobilise an entire law firm got me thinking, thinking about whether brick and mortar offices will eventually be a thing of the past? Tablets and smartphones are becoming only more powerful, and accordingly, more capable. In a world that is always on the go, it makes sense that the mobile office will one day become the norm. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.