Hybrid work models have already become the standard in many law firms: 64% of law firms now operate under a hybrid model, according to Thomson Reuters Institute’s 2024 Law Firm Office Policies Report. And for the most part, this is a positive development. A 2024 Owl Labs survey found that 62% of responsive managers reported higher productivity among employees in hybrid and remote arrangements.
But it also requires legal administrators to rethink how they manage their law firm, addressing cracks in both communication and collaboration and, perhaps their greatest challenge, narrowing what many call the ‘connection gap.’ A physical office provides a space for mentorship of recent recruits and consistent check-ins across practice areas.
Technology is filling the vacuum. The following strategies outline technological tools administrators can use to strengthen communication, retention, engagement and security in the era of a hybrid workforce.
Centralize Communication
A fragmented system of communication often marks hybrid law firms: Attorneys rely on long email chains and business staff use chat apps. Varying employee schedules further complicate communication, causing missed updates, delayed responses and frustrated clients.
A centralized platform allows administrators to concentrate firm-wide communication into a single, secure space. Tools such as Slack, Teams and Yammer have already become commonplace in many hybrid operations. But less worn, legal-specific platforms like Workvivo, designed for professional services, can streamline communication across practice areas.
“Partners can post urgent updates with read receipts so they know critical information is seen, managers can make case milestones visible across practice groups and staff can access everything directly from their phones, whether they are in the office, courtroom or working remotely,” Workvivo Global Director of Services Colum Nugent says. “This creates a single source of truth for the firm and ensures time-sensitive updates reach the right people without delay.”
Oftentimes, conflicting drafts and duplicate proposals are lost across email chains and Teams chats, wasting staff time on locating the most recent version. A single platform eliminates the confusion. Managers can filter traceable messages by role so employees see only what is relevant to their position, limiting unnecessary traffic and increasing accountability. An organized platform allows users to search correspondence and records by content matter, substituting sprawling Slack threads with categorized folders.
Workflows Centered Around Legal Practice
General workflow tools such as Monday, Trello and Asana aren’t built for legal-specific environments. Law managers have to modify these platforms around the needs of a legal practice. This causes two problems: It both adds additional work for administrators and risks operating outside compliance requirements.
Tools built specifically for law practices that integrate a firm’s structure and regulatory standards from the software’s development can lessen the workload and strengthen compliance. 8am, formerly AffiniPay, is one such option, designed with compliance features for law firms.
