Product Review: Law Firm E-Learning

Law is an ever-changing profession that requires constant vigilance, study and training to maintain a high level of expertise and success. Court decisions and legislative actions all impact how laws are interpreted and enforced. Those legislative actions can differ greatly from one region, state or locale to another. State and federal court decisions also produce widely varying impacts on how cases are argued and decided going forward.

It is safe to say in the legal world, nothing stays that same. Change is a constant that law firms must embrace and incorporate to remain effective. Change comes from within, regarding policy changes, staffing changes and other continual changes that impact all law firms. Change also comes from court decisions, legislative actions and other external factors.

E-Learning helps law firms embrace change

With a changing market, law firms must proactively stay ahead of the curve to maintain their competitive edge and grow their respective practices. Constant change requires constant vigilance and improved training to ensure success.

Online training systems are the best tools law firms can use to ensure experienced attorneys as well as new-hires fully understand the implications of recent changes and how to best address them moving forward.

Previously, ongoing professional training for attorneys often included hiring high-priced professional consultants to come to a law firm to impart knowledge and address change. Such an approach is very costly and disrupts the daily workflow within the law firm. It also removes the expert from the premises after their initial consultation.

Law firms also have the option of sending experienced attorneys to costly industry events and training sessions to learn more about continual changes in the legal industry. That approach requires travel time and costs, lodging and removes an attorney from the law firm for a period of time. That reduces productivity, while increasing operating costs. Worse, it can be difficult to quantify the actual benefits of such expensive training excursions.

Revolutionize professional development

Law Firm E-Learning is revolutionizing how legal professionals go about learning and mastering the many changes and subtle nuances they produce within the legal world. When changes occur, from paralegals and legal writers, to new and experienced attorneys, on up to highly experienced law firm partners, uniform changes must be implemented to ensure all work is done properly and in accordance with new requirements.

Custom and standardized training tools enable training and professional enhancements to occur at virtually any time. An attorney, paralegal or other law firm employee simply can complete the online training by a specific date and include the time on the next payroll. Attorneys and other law firm employees can complete their training while at home, during lunch or whenever they find it most convenient.

E-Learning enables professional development to occur at a pace that is comfortable for virtually every participant, which helps to ensure maximum learning retention.

Attorneys and other law firm staff can benefit from online tools that provide standardized training and ensure each understands the common processes used to file and argue successful cases. So that law firms can become more efficient, law firm e-learning tools are available for:

• Practice-specific training, which ensures attorneys and support staff are fully adept at the firm’s particular areas of practice
• Business and professional skills training, to ensure support staff are fully capable of providing first-rate service to clients, while making life easier for attorneys
• Client training, so that clients have realistic expectations of likely case outcomes

The tools can be standardized for those who handle more common cases in areas of practice that are not undergoing significant changes. The e-learning tools also can be customized to address specific practice areas, any changes that impact attorneys, and law firms specializing in particular fields of law or are located in specific areas. When a statutory change impacts law firms and attorneys in a particular locale, it does no good to subject others to training they never would use. Customized law firm e-learning tools ensure law firms absolutely obtain the training materials needed to ensure ongoing success.

E-Learning for support staff

Law firms have constantly rotating staff who need to be brought up to speed with how a particular law firm operates and the types of cases they process. E-Learning tools enable greater retention with videos, slides, games and other interactive learning tools that make it easier to master difficult concepts and retain important information. Increased learning retention adds up to greater return on investment for training materials, while ensuring law firm attorneys and support staff are fully capable of completing the tasks necessary for continued and improved success.

Some of the more common e-learning tool law firms find useful for support staff include:

• Processes and Firm Initiatives
• Business Development
• HR and Compliance
• Recruiting and Interviewing
• New-Hires and Orientations

SkillBurst approach enhances e-learning outcomes

The Law Firm E-Learning module utilizes a proprietary SkillBurst approach to enhance attorney and support staff training. SkillBurst utilizes engaging, interactive and bite-size learning modules that are brief and targeted to drive home valuable lessons in no more than 15 minutes. Law Firm E-Learning’s library of online learning tools enable law firms to instantly utilize standardized training tools as needed.

Customized learning tools also enable law firms to address specific areas of need and ensure continued high-quality service for clients. Whether a law firm is looking to bring new hires up to speed on how things are done, or addressing external changes that impact how cases are argued and won, customized e-learning tools using the SkillBurst system get the job done in less time and for less money than virtually any other method.

Better still, the lessons are more engaging and fun, which makes it easier to learn and master important new concepts. The Law Firm E-Learning platform is the best tool for ensuring satisfied clients and continued success in the ever-changing legal world.