What is Slack?
Slack is basically the AIM of the 2000-teens for teams and the workplace. Widely used by small and large businesses alike, Slack is a favorite communication tool in the professional world. After Slack was introduced back in 2013, people starting taking to it quickly. More recently, Slack has been adapted for networking groups. People use Slack to connect with fellow industry professionals, even those across the globe!
Now that you know a little background on Slack, let's look into how it's useful for lawyers and legal professionals.
At Your Law Firm
Looking for a way to communicate with your staff without having to use email or your personal phone number? Implement a better way to talk about cases, check on progress and more with Slack!. You can create different channels based on daily law firm operations. For example, if you have multiple practice areas, make a channel for each one and invite the relevant attorneys and team members. Get creative with more spirited channels. A favorite at NextChapter HQ is #idonethis. Every day each member of the team messages the top three things they accomplished. In addition to creating channels, there's an option to have direct messages between you and any member(s) of your firm. This is perfect for quick questions, reminders and more. Slack is also useful for lawyers who have remote and freelance employees on their team, even ones in different time zones. With features like accurate timezones and snoozing, you won't be woken up by messages at 2AM.
LawyerSmack - Private Group for Lawyers
Keith Lee from Associates Mind created a private group just for lawyers, formerly called lawyer slack. It has now evolved into LawyerSmack, which full membership community for attorneys, including a blog and events! So what happens in this top-secret slack group? Well, we don't know for sure but from what we've seen online, it consists of channels for areas of practice. Lawyers will "talk shop," which includes law updates and more! But that isn't all. In the #general channel, attorneys talk about their personal lives and have fun conversations with their colleagues. A perfect balance between work and play.
Secure Online Client Communication
It might seem odd at first, but Slack is a great and personable way to communicate with your law firm's clients. Good chances are your clients are already familiar with Slack, so they'll have no problem acclimating to it. Why wait for an email response when you can just send a quick direct message? You'll reach clients faster, and get responses even sooner than from calls or emails! Slack is available as an iOS and Android app, which makes it easy and accessible for clients. All data is secured so no need to worry about compromising a client's personal information. Slack has many compliant certifications and regulations it follows.
Are you convinced? Comment below how your firm uses or plans to use Slack!