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Proper and proactive court calendar management is an essential part of managing any litigation firm. Not only is it key to running an efficient firm and keeping clients happy, but it is also related to ethical obligations with many jurisdictions requiring multiple backups and fail-safes. Law firms are busy places, and managing court deadlines is just one of many ethical requirements. So how can you make this critical part of firm management easier? By utilizing court calendar systems, as discussed below.
Your court calendar is the most important calendar
Every litigator knows this already, but it’s so important it bears repeating. Generally speaking, your other calendars can be fairly easily rearranged, and the blowback from missing something won’t be that severe. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with your court calendar. Rescheduling dates can be time-consuming and have serious real-world consequences for your clients. Missing court deadlines not only harm your clients’ lives and your reputation, but it can also result in fines, suspensions, or even disbarment. No one wants any of those things to happen, so court calendar management must be a high priority.
Use third-party calendaring systems
In recent years, several tech solutions have been created to aid in court calendar management. Some are integrated into case management systems, while others are stand-alone calendaring platforms. In both cases, these calendar systems can be programmed to adhere to local court deadlines and rules. Additionally, many can “plug into” court-maintained online dockets and calendars to provide seamless updates from the court calendar system into yours. As with any calendar system, they also provide alerts, the ability to invite/include colleagues, clients, and third-parties, etc. Not only do such systems allow for centralized management, but many also meet various state requirements for backups and fail-safes.
Use legal support services to set up, monitor, and help manage court calendars
Litigation and legal support services firms, such as Lexvia, can provide an even higher level of calendar management and monitoring than software and systems alone. To begin with, firms like Lexvia are already well versed in the majority of court calendar management systems out there. This is especially useful if you’re implementing a new system or haven’t had time to explore your current system’s various functions fully. In addition, those calendar systems don’t manage themselves. Data still needs to be input, connections, and integrations made, rules set up, and so on. Lexvia can assist you and your team with all of that on a daily basis, but also with so much more.
Lexvia’s team of litigation support specialists can monitor your calendaring systems, case management platform, the court’s docket, incoming and outgoing mail, task assignments, etc. to make sure that your entire on-site staff is getting live updates on a wide variety of information related to your court calendar and the matter in general. You won’t have to wait for your on-site paralegals to get caught up with everything else they have to do before entering new information. Lexvia will handle those admin tasks so that the entire firm is updated faster without adding additional burdens to already overburdened staff. Lexvia’s team can also send out emails to you, your team, client, and even third parties (all on your behalf, through your management system, or your internal email – all under your brand) regarding upcoming important court deadlines. They can then schedule additional reminders and follow-ups. Lexvia provides an additional team of eyes on your calendar, making sure nothing ever slips by unnoticed; Schedule your free consultation today!
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