The cost of corporate burnout and communication overload looms large over the legal profession. As attorneys maneuver through a daily torrent of emails, memos, legal briefs, research materials, and case documents, it can become a challenge just to keep our collective heads above water.
Corporate burnout is a plague on all U.S. businesses, costing an alarming $1.9 trillion per year. Communication overload has been identified as a significant contributor to declining productivity and well-being. The constant pressure to remain responsive and engaged, coupled with the relentless stream of digital correspondence, takes a toll on mental health and work-life balance.
In response, there’s a push to find innovative solutions to restore us to homeostasis. The 2023 Smokeball State of Law Report confirms what many of us already know – the industry is making a massive push toward automation, and reducing manual tasks as much as possible.
We sat down with Keith Lipman, a recognized thought leader in the legal services industry and the co-founder and CEO of Belt Software, to discuss the solution he developed to overcome this communication overload. He has worked in law firms as both a lawyer and an administrative director and served as a legal technology consultant to firms.
“I’ve seen firsthand the toll that communication overload takes on legal professionals,” says Keith Lipman. “Over the past few years, I’ve spoken with countless other professionals in the industry and a common thread has emerged in these conversations: everyone is grappling with workload management, both in and out of the office.”
Legal practitioners invest considerable time and mental energy to prevent dropping the ball. Missing important communications from clients can be disastrous.
“While project management tools can be helpful, monitoring them on top of all the other communication channels can be cumbersome,” he said. “The industry needs a better solution, and I set out to solve it. My goal was to empower attorneys and other professionals to regain control of their workload, and that’s exactly what I did.”
It was this need for a collective solution that led Lipman to develop Belt Software, an AI-powered platform, meticulously designed to streamline communication workflows and alleviate the burden of communication – email and chat – overload.
Belt’s approach begins with monitoring communications to identify actionable requests from trusted contacts. By extracting and organizing this information into AI-suggested tasks, Belt enables attorneys to stay on top of critical requests without succumbing to email overwhelm. The platform’s centralized calendar provides a comprehensive view of tasks, meetings, and deadlines, facilitating better resource allocation and time management for legal teams.
“Understanding personal and team capacity is also crucial in maintaining productivity and keeping clients happy,” Lipman said. “What we’ve created goes beyond simple task management to provide comprehensive workload management indicators.”
One of Belt’s key features is its ability to provide partners with the ability to understand the work associates are doing on their matters. The platform’s enterprise integration capabilities enable law firms to tag and track tasks according to case projects or matters, providing invaluable insights into workload distribution and resource allocation.
Unlike generic calendar solutions, Belt recognizes that legal matters often involve complex timelines and dependencies, allowing attorneys to manage their workload with precision and accuracy. By providing intuitive workflows for task delegation, follow-up reminders, and workload management indicators, Belt enables law firms to optimize their productivity and efficiency.
And with Belt’s robust security model, attorneys can rest assured that sensitive client information is protected, further enhancing client trust and confidence.
“Adapting to the AI revolution is no longer a matter of ‘if’ for legal professionals, it’s a matter of ‘how.’ Embracing artificial intelligence is paramount for staying competitive and delivering exceptional client service,” Lipman said. “It also offers unprecedented opportunities to streamline legal processes, enhance efficiency, and mitigate risks.”
The problem is implementing AI solutions in a way that doesn’t contribute to the overload. Research underscores the idea that this has become an enduring challenge in the industry. It can be difficult to maintain an equilibrium between expanding technology and orchestrating a unified, efficient workflow.
“I believe Belt offers a partial solution to that problem,” Lipman said.
As legal practices grapple with the repercussions of communication overload, solutions like Belt offer a strategic advantage in maximizing productivity, enhancing client satisfaction, and achieving sustainable growth. By embracing innovation and adopting tools that streamline workflow processes, attorneys can position themselves for long-term success in an industry that’s changing at break-neck speed.
