Recently, I journeyed to San Diego to meet up with other legal innovators at the Clio Cloud Conference, an event that brings together tech forward legal entrepreneurs to discuss the industry, legal services, and how we can better address our clients' needs for representation. Not only was it a great experience, but it really showed me some interesting things about the future of legal representation:

1. The future is female. I was overwhelmed by the amount of women involved in this conference. When the awards for firm innovation were given, the state was full of women, with one lone male (he looked very happy, don't worry). Women are leaving traditional law firms in droves, wanting more freedom, flexibility, and more meaningful relationships with their clients and their craft. I am very excited about the transformation this will bring to the future of legal representation.

2. Lawyers are terrible at client services. The 2019 Clio Legal Trends Report showed that 60% of lawyers don't return phone calls from prospective clients. That is just plain nuts. Not only is communication with clients a priority at JLongtin Law, but it is easy to maintain with all of the technology tools available to the modern lawyer. Furthermore, people don't want traditional legal services all the time- they want menus, options, and self-directed choice. The legal services market has a long way to go in actually serving clients where they want to be served, in the way they want to be served.

3. Innovation is exciting, and there are great things on the horizon. I was so energized by the conversations I had at Clio, especially surrounding the delivery of pro se aid (help representing yourself on a case) and legal coaching programs. JLongtin Law is dedicated to bringing these services to our community, because it gives people knowledge and choice- two essential elements of owning your own representation. We will be bringing more robust Legal Coaching programs to market soon, and constantly striving to meet our clients where they really need help- and there is a wave of change in the industry right now for us to surf on towards those goals.

4. San Diego is really pretty. Seriously- you should go there.

As JLongtin Law grows, and works to serve our clients in both traditional and innovative ways, it is nice to know that there is a community of like-minded legal business owners pushing the industry forward together. Things are always better with friends.

Written by 
Jennifer Longtin
Dedicated to serving the mentally ill who are involved in the criminal justice system; Jen litigates issues of competency, sanity, and uses a client's situation and history to find treatment alternatives to incarceration.