Selecting vendors for your law firm

There are a lot of components that make up a law firm and each plays an important role in ensuring day-to-day operations run smoothly. With the importance of technology, continued prevalence of online meetings, and cloud computing, your tech vendors are key to the firm’s operations. But how can you ensure that you are picking the right ones for your needs, maximizing value, and minimizing liability? Here are some of our tips:  

Industry Experience

There are numerous vendors out there but few specifically service law firms and are truly familiar with legal operations. Don’t be afraid to ask your vendor if they are familiar with assisting law operations and if they are willing to provide client references within the legal industry. For example a copier leasing company must understand cost recovery, including the various way a firm needs to reconcile those costs.

A firm’s value is the expertise of it’s people, and with a vendor who does not understand the structure of partners versus associates versus staff, you might be setting yourself up for headaches and frustrated attorneys. An attorney calling a vendor for support when trying to meet a filing deadline needs help immediately.

Security & liability

Law firms are responsible for handling highly sensitive and confidential information which is why we feel it is imperative that your vendors have good liability and cyber insurance. If you’re using an outsourced IT provider, they need a special kind of insurance called Tech Errors & Ommissions, since standard insurance does not cover that type of work. The requirements necessary to obtain a cyber insurance policy are robust and many vendors struggle to get coverage due to poor security policies. Make sure you ask for a copy of their certificate of insurance (COI) from each vendor on an annual basis, and make sure policies have a reasonable limit (generally $1 million or more).

Create an annual vendor review program that accounts for increasing security requirements, especially when they’re storing or accessing your firm’s client data. You can view CGP’s initial vendor screening form here to use as a starting point.

Always negotiate

Even the biggest vendors will negotiate a contract if you are persistent enough. We recently did an in-depth presentation on contracts, but there are two key items for law firms. First, keep the contracts as short as possible. Copier leases (and office leases!) are the only two contracts that truly require a long term. Software, cloud, IT vendors, etc. will almost always sign a one year term for only a minor price increase. Second, make sure the vendor has some real liability. There should be a financial penalty for non-performance that is outlined in a simple manner, as well as the option to terminate the contract. Your firm should not be stuck with a non-performing vendor because of a one-sided contract.

Need more assistance? CGP works with small and mid-sized firms across the country with a variety of practice areas.