Automating Legal Operations: A Case Study of Chi City Legal

Chi City Legal is a small law firm based in Chicago, Illinois. The firm is run by two attorneys who are committed to providing their clients with the best legal services. Despite being a small operation, they handle a wide range of cases and are dedicated to giving each case the attention it deserves. They are innovative in their approach to running their firm, leveraging technology and automation to manage their operations efficiently. They strive to keep their costs low and provide their clients with timely updates on their cases.

Chi City Legal, a small law firm based in Chicago, was facing the challenge of managing their operations with a minimal administrative staff. The firm, consisting of only two attorneys, was struggling with the administrative load that came with running a law firm. The tasks included client communication, creating proposals, documents, and forms, and managing case information. The workload was overwhelming and was taking away from the time they could spend on their clients and their cases. The challenge was to find a way to manage these tasks efficiently without having to hire additional administrative staff.

Chi City Legal decided to leverage automation to manage their administrative tasks. They used Zapier, an app automation tool, to automate their workflows. They created a multi-step Zap, a workflow that connects multiple applications, to automate customer communication. With the click of a checklist on Trello, Zapier would call out to Google Sheets with related scripts to send clients automatic updates. They used Trello for project management and Gmail for sending emails. They built a template from case information in Trello and pre-written scripts in Google Sheets to send emails. They also automated the creation of proposals, documents, and forms. When a new client entered their case information and submitted the form on their website, Zapier would create a new card in Trello with case and client details, send this information to a new row in Google Sheets, create a matching person in Xero, build an invoice, and send an email via Gmail to set up a phone call.

• The automation of their administrative tasks has had a significant impact on the operations of Chi City Legal. They have been able to manage their tasks more efficiently, freeing up more time to focus on their clients and their cases. The automation has also reduced the need for additional administrative staff, helping them keep their costs low. Furthermore, they have been able to take on more clients and give more attention to their cases. The use of technology has also improved their client communication, with clients receiving timely updates on their cases. Overall, the automation has enabled them to do more with less.

• Increased efficiency in managing administrative tasks

• Reduced need for additional administrative staff

• Increased capacity to take on more clients