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Tired of Working from Home? These Lawyers Share The Importance of Maintaining a High Quality Office Presence.

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Stephanie Sexauer

While some lawyers have enjoyed the flexibility of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, others have had enough. According to a 2020 survey from design and architecture firm Gensler, only 10% of U.S. lawyers want to work from home five days per week.

Stephanie Sexauer, a Chicago attorney focusing on probate and estate planning, can relate.

“Even before the pandemic, I was never somebody who wanted to be virtual,” Sexauer said. “I wanted to be in the office. My work demands that.”

Over the past three-and-a-half years, Sexauer has doubled her firm size from two to four team members at Sexauer Law, P.C. Everyone has come to the office almost every day throughout the pandemic. Technology may be a huge convenience, but she said it’s often easier to see coworkers’ expressions and review documents together in person.

Lawyers Largely Prefer the Office Over Home

Nearly half of lawyers polled in the Gensler survey cited scheduled client meetings as a top reason why they wanted to come into the office. For Sexauer, another reason is the quality office space that she receives at Amata Law Office Suites — Chicago’s first legal community of more than 700 attorneys and Class-A downtown offices — where she has operated her firm for nearly four years.

Until last month, when she moved to another Amata location, Sexauer’s office overlooked Michigan Avenue, with views of Lake Michigan and Millennium Park. She said her clients were consistently “blown away” by the space. As a result, she was able to attract even more clients.

“It was a beautiful location,” Sexauer said. “And it was great when clients would arrive. I could hear the front desk greet them so warmly.”

Fellow Amata-based attorney Jon Masini of Masini, Vickers & Hadsell, P.C., who specializes in construction and commercial litigation and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator, said his clients have also been impressed with his Amata office for the past two years. When he and his partners branched off from another firm, they wanted to maintain a downtown Chicago presence that was affordable and high quality for clients. Now, their 150 S. Wacker Drive office is also close to the Circuit Court of Cook County and public transportation.

“Amata is just perfect for both our firm and our clients,” Masini said, noting the elegant conference rooms. “In Chicago, meeting in the Wrigley room or Comiskey room is always a great icebreaker.”

Sexauer’s office moved to Amata’s 180 N. LaSalle St. location due to a recent consolidation, and Amata made the transition as seamless as possible.

Don’t let high commercial real estate prices deter you from maintaining a fabulous physical office presence as your firm grows. Call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our Class-A law firm office spaces. Join the Amata community and find out how our flexible office options can help you save on costs and grow your business.

Discover our offices for lawyers in Chicago.

Practicing Law in Multiple States? These Lawyers Share How They Meet Clients Where They Are

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For estate planning attorney Michael Milliman, this is a busy time of the month. He takes a four-hour train ride, leaving his Michigan-based law firm (DeLoof, Dever, Eby, Wright, Milliman, Bourque & Issa, PLLC) for a few days, to serve his clients in Chicago. It’s only a short walk from the train before he arrives at his satellite office in the heart of the downtown area.

His days in the Loop are filled with client meetings, a total of 15 over the next 72 hours. When he finishes the first day of meetings, he’ll take another short walk and retire to a nearby hotel. The next day, he’ll do it all over again.

“It keeps me efficient,” he said about his schedule. “I love the fast pace of being in the Loop.”

Milliman has spent his nearly 20-year career in Michigan, but he has always considered Chicago a great second home. Several years ago, he became licensed to practice law in Illinois and began establishing a client base. While most of his work can be done virtually, he prefers a physical office, especially for maintaining client relationships. In 2019, he opened a satellite office with Amata Law Office Suites, Chicago’s first legal community of more than 700 attorneys and six Class-A downtown offices.

“I want my clients to always have a local connection to their attorney,” he said.

Fellow Amata-based lawyer, Ken Fiedler of Ken Fiedler Injury Law, echoed Milliman’s thoughts. Fiedler began his career in Chicago before moving and practicing in Colorado. He developed many connections during his time in the Windy City and always planned to resume a physical presence.

“Chicago is a great place to practice law,” he said, noting the large yet close-knit legal community. “I’ll always consider it home.”

Yet opening a satellite office in a new city can be difficult. According to Law.com, firms typically allocate around 300 square feet of office space per employee. That comes to a minimum of $14,000 for one attorney in downtown Chicago, as the average cost of Class-A office space is $48 per square foot.

To circumvent these issues and better focus on their practices, Milliman and Fiedler chose Amata. In addition to physical and virtual offices, Amata offers live reception services and an experienced legal support team.

“It’s a really economical choice for any firm that wants a presence in a large city, where it has historically been expensive to open a brick-and-mortar office,” Milliman said.

He praises Amata’s “fantastic” paralegal team, which boasts 110 years of combined work experience. He says they copy and scan documents among other tasks that he simply doesn’t have time to manage himself. Specifically, the on-staff notary is one of his favorite Amata offerings.

“It’s a huge, huge convenience for me,” Milliman said. “I never have to worry about scheduling on my notary’s availability and it’s cost-effective. When you bring a mobile notary to your office, they charge for travel.”

Fiedler appreciates Amata’s professional environment and the proximity of his office to the Circuit Court of Cook County. Once COVID-19 restrictions are further lifted, he looks forward to traveling to Chicago and meeting his clients at least one week per month.

Fiedler and Milliman aren’t the only ones taking advantage of Amata’s flexible office options. Amata also caters to Chicago-based attorneys who do business in other states.

Personal injury lawyer Sean Park of The Park Law Firm came to Amata after practicing in Georgia, where he still holds a license. He continues to virtually serve clients in Atlanta. He utilizes Amata’s live reception services and says Atlanta callers don’t necessarily know that he’s located in Chicago or frequently traveling. He attributes that to the professionalism of Amata’s receptionists, who keep him feeling grounded even when he’s working from different states.

“I hope Amata expands into other areas,” he said. “If they opened in Atlanta at some point, they would have my continued business.”

Expand your practice smoothly. Chicago is home to burgeoning startups and leading companies in various industries, making it a prime location for advising clients. With Amata’s investment in technology and support services, attorneys can feel supported anywhere.

Whether you’re based on the East Coast, West Coast or Third Coast in Chicago, call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our six Class-A law firm office spaces to learn how our legal support and live reception services can help you establish a presence in any city in which you desire to work.

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4 Ways Private Practice Law Firms Benefit from Virtual Law Office Space

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handsome lawyer in eyeglasses using laptop at workplace

Virtual law office spaces are becoming the ideal choice for many legal practitioners in the 21st century. A virtual office enables attorneys across a variety of practice areas to gain access to crucial support services and essential technology letting them work from anywhere while providing office necessities like manned reception, legal admin staff, a business address, and more.

These spaces are affordable and provide flexible lease terms to suit your unique legal needs. The best part? When you go virtual, commuting to the office is no longer mandatory.

With a multitude of benefits, virtual office space is ideal for solo and partner practice law firms. In this blog post, we’ll focus on the top four benefits that every law firm can realize from virtual law office space.

What is a virtual law office?

Unlike a standard office, a virtual office only requires that you pay for the services you use, versus services and space. Virtual office space resources and benefits vary depending on the subscription package a lawyer takes, but will normally provide ready access to it’s the office address, meeting space and day office space to receive clients and work, live receptionists, and a range of administrative services.

In some states, lawyers can practice law only when they give a corporate address of their business. A virtual office fulfills this recommendation without adding the same overhead of standard space. Virtual law offices can give lawyers a corporate address where their mail will be sent, handled, scanned, and even forwarded on to a home address. The team will collect it and pass it on to you as requested. Day-offices and meeting rooms can be rented out as needed, and you are free to work from any common space.

The law office of the past depended on dedicated spaces to provide an air of legacy and stability, at an astounding cost to legal firms. Moving towards the future, clients care more about flexibility and results than image. For solo practice law firms and partner practice law firms, the costs of renting out this space has proven an enormous hurdle – virtual office space erases these unnecessary expenditures.

The advantages of moving to virtual office space

Office Space Without the Commitment

Virtual office spaces can benefit any type of law firm or attorney, particularly those whose time rarely involves staying in one place.

For instance, a family law attorney usually spends the lion’s share of their time in meetings out of the office or in court. Yet having access to an office space in a central area offers a place to reconvene and work from. With the help of a virtual law office provider, it’s possible to rent space as needed, while side-stepping the commitment and expense of a conventional office lease.

Big Firm Benefits for Private & Boutique Legal Practices

Virtual law offices offer more than simply a place to work. At Amata, we offer a suite of services designed specifically around legal practices, such as on-site paralegals and notaries. Our legal live receptionists vet incoming calls even after normal business hours, optimizing your client intake.

As a law office designed specifically for attorneys, you will have access to our attorney referral network and legal industry events and partnerships. Conference rooms and both furnished and unfurnished office spaces are available for convenience, and can be utilized as-needed.

Easy Expansion

Virtual office space enables law firms to expand operations by opening new office spaces outside of their normal base of operations. Many leading law firms follow this strategy by having no central office space, while employing hundreds of lawyers across the country. Law firms that expand with the help of virtual office space can boost their revenue because there’s no fixed rental fee that they have to shell out monthly.

Work Flexibility

Lawyers who sign up for virtual office space can work anytime, anywhere without being confined between the four walls of a conventional office. They may decide on working from home for any number of days without having the pressure to use the office space for matching up the payment. In an increasingly digital work environment spurred by COVID-19, this can prove an immense boon.

Unlike traditional office space, virtual workspace is based on a pay-as-you-go model. That means attorneys pay a small fee to subscribe to virtual space and manage their day without the pressure of going to an office. Even better, lawyers can move their practice to any location without having to worry about lease contracts that come with traditional offices. Securing a new virtual office in a new location will also be less stressful as it’s easily available.

Virtual Law Offices at Amata Law Office Suites

Being the only shared office space provider catering to law firms and legal practitioners in Chicago, Amata Law Office Suites offers virtual law office programs. Our private office space comes with services and amenities required for supporting attorneys.

We give attorneys in Chicago seven premium spaces to choose from across the entire downtown loop. Additionally, we offer furnished and unfurnished offices; scalable lease terms; office necessities such as water, coffee, and printer; and on-site admins, notaries, and paralegals.

With our shared office space, you’ll easily establish your Chicago practice and keep it running smoothly without worrying about dedicated office space’s maintenance. Schedule a tour of your next virtual law office with us and become part of a growing community of over 700 attorneys. Visit our website today for more details.

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Expanding Your Team Nationwide? This Law Firm Shares How It Hung a Satellite Shingle in Chicago

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alaw-office-space-virtual

As a leader in multiple industries, from health care and technology to food manufacturing and transportation, Chicago is known for its diverse economy. It also offers a robust yet “close-knit” legal community. All of these factors make the third largest U.S. city a top choice for law firms of all sizes to open a satellite office and build prospective clients. In fact, four of the world’s 10 largest law firms have Chicago branches.

But starting a firm in a new city is no easy task. According to commercial real estate company SquareFoot, the average cost for office space in downtown Chicago is $48 per square foot, while Law.com says firms typically allocate 300-400 square feet per employee. That means space for one attorney in a satellite office would cost no less than $14,000. There are plenty of other costs to consider as well, such as additional computers and insurance.

Earlier this year, Veteran Legal Group, a California-based firm representing armed service members and their families, wanted to expand. The firm needed an attorney to take on an influx of veteran disability claims and recruited Chicago-based attorney Edward Farmer, who has specialized in veteran disability law for the past 10 years.

“Chicago is a big-size market,” Farmer said about the Windy City’s appeal to Veteran Legal Group, adding that the city lacks stiff competition in veteran disability law. “There aren’t many attorneys who do what I do.”

Farmer has built his Chicago presence through Amata Law Office Suites, the city’s first legal community of more than 700 attorneys and seven Class-A offices in downtown Chicago. When Veteran Legal Group began searching for Chicago office space, Farmer steered the team toward Amata, where he operated a solo practice from 2017-2020.

“What you get for the price is much better than setting up an office from scratch,” he said. “You have the support of the staff … If I was here by myself, my workload would be five times as much.”

In less than two weeks, Farmer had his office arranged and started practicing with his new firm. In addition to a furnished office, he has access to Amata’s experienced paralegal team, live receptionists, copy machines and WiFi, all of which are necessary for communicating with his out-of-state team.

Amata also provides a built-in community of 700-plus legal colleagues, a support system that can be lacking for attorneys working out of satellite offices. Farmer is currently the only Veteran Legal Group lawyer in Chicago and therefore has little in-person interaction with coworkers. But he credits Amata for his relationship with Jim Thompson, a now-retired personal injury attorney, who informally mentored him while Farmer was starting his previous practice. They are still friends today.

As Veteran Legal Group continues to grow, Farmer expects another attorney to join him at the Chicago branch. When the time comes, he said the firm will simply need to lease another office. Amata will take care of the rest and allow them to focus on hiring the right attorney.

“It’s a great place for lawyers to work,” Farmer said. “I really believe that, especially if you’re in a private practice.”

Marc J. Bern & Partners LLP, a New York-based firm specializing in personal injury law, medical malpractice and more, also has a Chicago satellite office through Amata.

Call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our seven Class-A spaces to learn how our legal support services can help quickly set up your satellite office and establish your Chicago presence.

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While Lavish Law Office Space is Nice, Talent Tops List of Client Priorities

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While Lavish Law Office Space is Nice, Talent Tops List of Client Priorities

According to a recent Cushman & Wakefield survey, roughly two-thirds of law firms polled spent 4-7% of gross revenue on real estate last year. While firms have been downsizing, some still spend millions of dollars on physical offices.

This year, however, the practice of law has greatly shifted with many lawyers utilizing virtual offices, live reception services and on-demand legal support in place of the traditional office setup. In fact, plenty of firms are looking to short-term extensions instead of long-term contracts, as the ups and downs in 2020 have caused many firms to seek flexibility in their future overhead costs.

Richard Gurak, a founding partner of Advitam IP, LLC, a U.S.-based but globally-focused intellectual property law firm that regularly receives referrals from roughly 30-plus different countries, says fancy office space is secondary to great counsel.

In 2012, after he and his business partner Michele Katz left their former AmLaw 100 firm, Husch Blackwell, to launch Advitam IP, they knew office space would be one of their top costs. They sought space in downtown Chicago with little overhead for which clients would be billed, a decision that dually allowed them to put more resources toward quality talent with many years of IP experience. They eventually outgrew their first location, moved to Amata Law Office Suites, a community of more than 700 attorneys and seven Class-A offices in downtown Chicago, and have since grown their firm to 15 attorneys and staff.

“Amata’s office … is perfect for us,” Gurak said. “Not only for the location, but for the professional atmosphere that it provides us as well as multi-layers of staff and legal support services. … They absolutely tailor their services specifically to attorneys.”

Gurak prefers to spend time identifying experienced and dedicated lawyers to bring onto his team. He believes most clients value experienced attorneys’ services and people skills more than their physical office. He particularly thinks respect, organization and attention to detail are important, as these qualities often convey how attorneys represent their clients.

With Amata’s Class-A downtown office space, remote working technology, live receptionists, experienced paralegal team and community of more than 700 attorneys, he says Amata helps them raise the bar. He thinks his small but highly capable team is on par with big firms’ capabilities. In fact, they can adapt to important business changes in 24 hours or less, which could be a month-long process at a large firm.

“Amata is very fertile ground to plant those attorney-to-attorney relationship seeds to establish a strong referral network,” he said. “They are constantly striving to make themselves better. We plan on being here for quite a while.”

Call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our seven downtown Class-A spaces to learn how our legal support services can help you successfully grow your law practice.

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Lawyers Rarely Miss A Beat With Virtual Office Support

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As COVID-19 quickly spread across the U.S. earlier this year, lawyers in large and small firms began embarking on an unprecedented shift: remote work from anywhere through virtual offices. According to a recent Bloomberg Law survey, 84% of firms polled said at least three-quarters of their attorneys have been working remotely since March.

But for Amata Law Office Suites, made of a community of more than 700 attorneys in the Chicagoland area, the concept of virtual officing is nothing new. Now with seven Loop locations, virtual services for lawyers, including phone systems, live receptionists and legal support, have been Amata’s foundation since 2012.

David Kirsh, who has specialized in family law for roughly 40 years and whose work has been repeatedly recognized by his peers, joined the Amata community in September after leaving his former firm, Berger Schatz. A solo lawyer establishing a new client base, sometimes through Amata’s community of lawyers, he recognized that attorneys meet clients more infrequently in person.

“I didn’t see a need for a traditional office,” Kirsh said. After researching, he determined that Amata’s virtual office options, which provide him with a mailing address and conference room when needed, were a perfect fit. Plus, he already knew several Amata lawyers.

Working in this way creates more flexibility in Kirsh’s schedule, an aspect he finds especially important now. Amata’s legal support team, including paralegals with 110 years of combined at-work experience, allows him to focus on practicing law. He can simply send a document, ask for it to be reviewed, filed in court, or notarized, and they will do so without requiring his in-person supervision.

“The fact that Amata offers paralegals and other staff when I need them is a huge advantage,” he said.

While virtual offices might be new for some, many believe they are here to stay. The Bloomberg Law survey also cites that 86% of people polled expect law firms to continue offering work-from-home options once the pandemic ends. 

Kirsh believes COVID-19 has “forever” changed the practice of law and thinks other firms will soon be turning to Amata as a concept worth modeling. He said Amata is “perfectly attuned” to remote adjustments that attorneys are now making in their practices.

Call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our seven downtown spaces to learn how our virtual offices can help you successfully grow your law practice.

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Changing Times Call for a New Legal Business Model

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Changing Times Call for a New Legal Business Model

Law firms and their cultures began to change long before COVID-19 hit. The pandemic has only accelerated the shift.

Many factors including, but certainly not limited to, changing norms, technology, mergers, increased focus on profits, the retirement of senior partners and the rise of non-equity partnerships have irrevocably transformed the old model. “The traditional law firm took care of its attorneys,” said Jacalyn Birnbaum, of the Chicago-area family law firm Birnbaum Haddon Gelfman & Arnoux, LLC. “There’s no daddy looking after anyone now.”

Birnbaum believes today’s lawyers need a work environment that allows them to be independent yet supported by a team that can handle the many administrative burdens of running a practice. In 2011, upon the break-up of their old law firm, Birnbaum and her current partners didn’t realize such a combination was possible.

Until on a Friday morning in late May of 2011, when Jackie serendipitously visited the new Amata office of a childhood friend who had just relocated her law practice to the 37th Floor of 180 North LaSalle Street – one of Amata’s seven attorney focused Chicagoland  communities.

“Amata was the perfect, turn-key solution.” Indeed, by the following Thursday, Jackie and her partners had made all necessary arrangements. BHGA, LLC was up and running as of August 1, 2011. It’s still growing.

With Amata responsible for administrative tasks – including managing reception and other shared areas, working with building management, and now, implementing COVID-19 safety measures – Birnbaum feels liberated. She finds the Amata environment has more in common with a business incubator than with typical leased office space.  “Amata lets you breathe so you can focus on the practice of law,” she said.

That breathing room fosters civility and openness. Amata lawyers get to know each other organically, connections are made, and a sense of community takes root. Birnbaum said she and other lawyers on her floor routinely interact and often form close friendships. Moreover, each Amata community includes attorneys in varied areas of practice and easy access to their special expertise, she says, is welcome and helpful.

For many lawyers, the need for a community of peers has been heightened in recent months: meetings and court appearances have gone virtual; law firms have responded to COVID-19 with layoffs, pay cuts, and other cost-cutting measures. In this uncertain climate, lawyers are seeking new ways to build and grow sophisticated practices.

As the legal landscape continues to evolve, Birnbaum recognizes and appreciates the value of the Amata community. “With law firms facing current economic realities, Amata came upon a business model that is perfectly attuned to these times.”

Call us today to learn how our virtual offices can help you successfully go solo with your law practice.

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  1. The Future of the Large Law Firm: Growth, Mergers and Inequality: https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2020/01/06/the-future-of-the-large-law-firm-growth-mergers-and-inequality/
  1. Being a Law Firm Partner Was Once a Job for Life. That Culture is All but Dead: https://www.wsj.com/articles/being-a-law-firm-partner-was-once-a-job-for-life-that-culture-is-all-but-dead-11565362437

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Lawyers Going Solo Without Going It Alone

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Michelle Lawless Use Virtual Office

Most of the 1.3 million lawyers who practice in the US today are solos and lawyers working in firms of up to nine.  Attorneys taking the solo leap face an endless list of daily decisions and responsibilities that can distract them from focusing on what they do best – practice law.

When Chicago lawyer Michelle Lawless decided to go solo, she knew her biggest challenge would be figuring out how to handle the administrative responsibilities of a solo practice. “I was coming from a place that was a well-oiled machine,” said Lawless, who spent nearly 20 years as a large-firm partner before making the leap. “While there are a lot of resources available to solos, it’s about finding the ones that work best for your practice,” she said.

To address her concerns, Lawless eventually chose to rent a virtual office with Amata. She had heard about the company from other family law practitioners who appreciated that Amata allowed them to singularly focus on the practice of law. “I wanted a place where I would have the support I needed right out of the gate,” she said.

Endless choices for services and support can grow as one’s practice grows. Lawless started out as a “mail only” Amata client, working remotely. “Mail is actually still an integral part of the practice of law, especially with subpoenas, so in the very beginning, it was great to have someone telling me when I’d gotten mail from a person or business,” she said. Lawless then became a “virtual plus” client and was pleased that, wherever she was, she could receive client calls through an app without giving out her cell phone number.  She recently chose 180 N. LaSalle, one of six downtown Amata lawyer-focused communities.

Now, as she settles into her new space, Lawless, who used to have a big-firm team of associates, paralegals and assistants, focuses on taking systems that ran smoothly at her large firm and adapting them to her solo practice. She is working with Amata to develop a client-intake process that will free her from fielding preliminary questions from prospective clients. Amata staffers will handle these calls, asking questions provided by Lawless.

She is also hammering out a process that will allow her to efficiently send out subpoenas. At most large firms, the task involves several players. A paralegal typically drafts the subpoena for the lawyer’s review; the lawyer drafts the rider to the subpoena and ensures the right documents are requested; an accounting department employee prepares the check for the witness fees; and a legal assistant or paralegal drafts the accompanying letter, makes the necessary copies and ensures the subpoena is sent by certified mail.

Now, Lawless prepares the rider, the check, and the letter, and Amata’s paralegals help draft the subpoena. Her location’s admins make copies and handle the certified mailing. “Amata is willing to create a customized process for me,” Lawless said.

As she navigates the challenges of going solo, Lawless said it’s nice to feel supported by a team dedicated to finding the solutions that her growing practice demands.

Call us today to learn how our virtual offices can help you successfully go solo with your law practice.

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Home Office Deductions: A Refresher on the Rules

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Woman working from home

The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) allows taxpayers to claim a business deduction for expenses arising from the qualified use of all or part of a residence, as long as certain conditions are met.

This deduction can be a particularly attractive tax planning tool for those who meet one of the following requirements:

  • The home office is taxpayer’s principal place of business. A home office must be used regularly and exclusively to conduct business. Consequently, working on the kitchen table (which is also used for purposes other than work) doesn’t qualify, but a desk set up in a bedroom might.
  • The home office is where the taxpayer meets patients, clients, or customers in the regular course of business. This can be difficult to assess if the taxpayer operates out of different locations. In such cases, the IRS will look at things like the amount of time spent at the location. To assess where the principal place of business is, if a taxpayer has multiple work locations, consider the relative importance of the activities conducted in each location, the amount of time spent there, and whether another fixed location might compete as the principal place where work is done.
  • A separate structure not attached to the dwelling and used in connection with the business may qualify.
  • If the dwelling is the only fixed location of the taxpayer’s business. A space within it that is used regularly to store the business’s inventory or product samples may qualify as a home office.

These considerations generally apply to the self-employed, because employees who work from home are not entitled to claim a home office deduction even if the employer requires the employee to maintain a home office. (The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated employees’ ability to deduct unreimbursed job-related expenses paid with personal funds as miscellaneous itemized deductions.)

The following is something of an exception to this rule: if the employer sets up an “accountable plan,” which reimburses workers for business expenses, that reimbursement is not counted as income, and it is not subject to withholding or reported on the employee’s W-2. When setting up the plan, the employer must (1) ensure that reimbursed expenses are business-related, (2) substantiate the expenses within a reasonable period and (3) make sure that any unspent funds are returned to the employer within a reasonable period.

This means that to avoid raising red flags for the IRS that can result in the plan being treated as a nonaccountable plan, the business owner must set up the plan carefully, fully document all associated expenses and comply with any limitations or restrictions associated with deductible expenses.

Ultimately, the point is that an accountable plan is a simple way to shift deductibility of business expenses from the employee to the employer and offers the ability to mitigate tax liability by allowing business owners to choose which expenses are reimbursable and which employees will be eligible to submit reimbursements. These rules can get complicated, so be sure to work with a professional on these, and all home office tax issues.

Additional reading:

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Being Remote: Lessons to Take Back to the Office

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At the Office

If you have a physical office space, being remote may feel like a temporary burden. You’re either:

  • making the office set-up you have work, and hoping this will be over soon, or
  • you’ve signed up for a couple of telework services that you can cancel as soon as you’re back to ‘normal’

This can be more than just an aberration in your firm’s history, though. Many attorneys are hoping measures like RON (which Gov. Pritzker is permitting in Illinois while the gubernatorial disaster proclamation is in place) and video conferencing for uncontested motions stay in effect long after the pandemic has passed. In the same context, measures put in place to manage your firm remotely can be brought back to the office to benefit your firm’s efficiency and bottom-line.

There is a lot to talk about, so we’re splitting it up into three parts, each a blog filled with lessons we’ve learned and that our clients have learned, and that are worth taking back to the office. This week, we are discussing technology that feels practically necessary when working remotely: practice management software and the cloud.

Practice management software & the cloud

Law firms who aren’t on the cloud are scrambling to set up VPNs and put their employees on secure networks at their homes. Law firm partners are struggling to share files and manage their employees remotely (and the employees are having a hard time co-editing docs). Practice management software and cloud drives can help firms overcome these momentary hurdles, but many attorneys find they are also just a great addition to a firm in general.

We grouped these two services because they go hand-in-hand. You won’t attend a single practice management software demo without the salesperson covering document management and the cloud drives they can integrate with. It’s not a surprise; much of the casework you and your team is working on revolves around documents! Similarly, the benefits of these two pieces of tech intertwine.

How these technologies help your firm work remotely now, and will benefit your firm in the future.

Fewer emails. More answers.

What was the status of that case? Who sent the document you are group editing last? Outlook used to hold the answers. Now your inbox is flooded with pandemic related email updates, webinar invites, and your neatly defined folders have been muddled. Not to mention spending fifteen minutes searching Outlook wasn’t the best solution in the first place.

With a practice management software, you don’t need to depend on Outlook to know who is working on what, to find the status of any given case, or to see a version of any given file. Additionally, if you’re group editing a document with your team, and want to work on the most recent addition, then you simply need to pop into your cloud drive and open the file – no guess work. (For many cloud drives, including Office 365, you can even edit a document collaboratively). By removing your dependence on emails, you’ll have less of a chance of missing important updates or accidentally sending the wrong version of a file. Plus, less time is spent digging through your inbox. And we all know time is money.

Benefits summary: Saves you time, keeps you organized, and gives you the answers you want when you want them.

Better team management.

With a practice management software, comes two items called ‘tasks’ and ‘workflows.’ Workflows are simply a series of tasks that you put in order and can assign to specific staff members. When a client comes through, you place them in the appropriate workflow, and a robot assigns your staff tasks for the casework as the case progresses.

We’re not saying you can drop the ball and let your staff do as they please, but we are saying that the documents will be assigned to the right staff member, at the right stage, with little oversight and managing necessary on your end. And when you spend less time managing your team, you spend more time on the billable hour (or with your family).

Benefits summary: Once again, frees up your time and provides better organization; this time not just for you but for your whole team, which means you’re improving the efficiency of your entire firm.

The convenience of working from anywhere.

This is the most widely touted benefit of both practice management software and the cloud. It’s also the most ignored! For firms who have a physical office, this isn’t a selling point. They don’t want to work from anywhere, they have their office for that. Firms who say “we don’t need to work from anywhere” are missing a huge part of the picture: decreasing the overhead costs of physical space.

Let’s say your firm has two attorneys, a paralegal, and a law clerk. That’s space for four people that you pay for each month. It you shift your firm’s thinking, and have yourself, your partner, your law clerk, and your paralegal, working from home part-time, and rotating days in and out of the office, then you can cut office costs in half while maintaining all the benefits for being a brick-and-mortar firm. It’s a simple solution to decreasing overhead costs for your firm; and if you pass the cost savings onto your clients, you’ll find yourself a strong competitor due to your decreased rates.

Additionally, by cutting out the commute to work on some days (and Illinois commutes are no joke) you’ll each earn more time in your week.

Benefits summary: More money kept in the bank each month. More personal time for both you and your staff. And potentially greater mental health due to having more free time in your day and a healthier financial state for your business.

The main concept is that these two tech items bring (the ever elusive) efficiency to your firm.

It’s easier to know what is going on with casework and to find the information you need. You spend less time being shifting through disorganization, and less time on tiny tasks like following up on casework, assigning tasks to staff members, or trying to find the latest version of a document someone sent you. If there are any pieces of tech you are looking to adopt to increase your remote office functionality, these should be the top two on your list. They are easily applicable to traditional and private office setups — though if you decide to move to a partial remote office setup for your firm, you can see even more of a payback in money saved.

If you’re intrigued, but don’t know where to start, we have some ideas:

  • Ask other attorneys what practice management software they use.
  • Contact us! We have the wealth of knowledge from 700+ Amata member attorneys at our fingertips and have experience with both types of tech. If we don’t already know a good solution for you, we can put you in contact with an attorney who does. Reach us at [email protected], or give us a call at 888-497-9957.
  • If you use a cloud drive already, reach out to some practice management companies and ask if they integrate with your cloud drive. Then you’ll be able to set up demos with ones that fit into your existing infrastructure.

Why we’re writing this series: Private law office members at Amata have reached out over the past month and told us how using the remote services we offer has changed the way they will operate their firms in the future. We’re not exclusively a virtual office for lawyers, but this is remote office technology we’ve had for a while that many legal office space users didn’t have an immediate need to use until COVID-19. The out-pour of client support has been incredible, and many have explained that this is tech they will continue to use. We’re building this series of blogs based on their emails, and the conversations we’ve had because of them. To every Amata member, we just want to say: thank you.

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