Streamlining Legal Operations: Migrating from Keap to Lawmatics

A highly-rated estate planning law firm* based in Newport Beach, California approached us with a common problem: their current CRM, Keap, was no longer meeting their needs. The system was slow and cumbersome to use, lacking in critical features, and unable to serve as both a CRM and case management system. 

Their implementation of Keap had also grown overly complex over the years. When we started working with them, their system had over 200 custom fields, 300 tags, and a complex web of existing automations.

Because of the lack of capabilities in the system and lack of clarity in their workflow, they were still handling many tasks manually that could have been automated. 

They had one key workflow that all clients went through which was becoming outdated, but no-one knew how to update it.

This screenshot gives you an idea of why. Each node in this diagram expands into a sub-automation, with several emails and pieces of logic built in. It was, in short, a nightmare. 

After a thorough discovery process, we identified Lawmatics as the ideal system to address the law firm’s needs. The migration project included:

1. Data Migration and Refactoring: We didn’t just transfer data from one system to another. We took the opportunity to refactor and standardize the firm’s entire data structure, creating a coherent system they could rely on. Then, we migrated thousands of old cases and leads to the new system.
2. Custom Integrations: We set up integrations with essential tools like CallRail, DecisionVault, and WealthCounsel to ensure a seamless workflow across all platforms.
3. Automation Rebuild: We helped the firm sort through their existing automations, many of which were no longer fully understood or well-documented, and rebuilt them from scratch. Instead of trying to capture the entire customer journey in one massive automation, we split it into smaller, more focused workflows. This approach makes it easier to understand, maintain, and update specific parts of the process without affecting the entire workflow.
4. System Optimization: We transformed complex processes into streamlined operations, narrowing down on the details that mattered. They now have dashboards showing them key metrics that they couldn’t get visibility on in the past. 
5. Documentation and Knowledge Transfer: We’re creating comprehensive documentation for all new processes and automations. This ensures that the firm won’t find itself in the same position again, with critical systems that no one fully understands.

Some of the key systems we put in place are:

• Client Intake and Followup. Automations and tracking for new clients to make sure nobody fell through the cracks, and each lead’s source is clear. 
• Appointment Management. We set up a sequence of time-based emails to remind clients about appointments via email and text, and get them to complete the homework that is required for each meeting.
• Engagement Agreement Reminders. Many deals fall through at the point where a contract needs to be signed, so we designed automations to follow up with potential clients, as well as automatically cease follow-up emails once the document is signed.
• Case Management Tasks. We took the firm’s process and designed automations to automatically create tasks with the correct assignees and due dates based on the case’s stage in their process. 
• Team Notifications and Reminders. To keep the team informed of key events and avoid missing steps, we added email notifications when certain documents are uploaded or when specific appointments are booked, as well as reminders to complete tasks at specific points in the process. 

How we transformed data to work with Lawmatics

In Keap, the team was not using deals or pipelines to track cases. Instead, they would use tags to indicate what part of the process the contact had gone through.

There are a few problems with using tags for this purpose:

• It doesn’t catch the sequential nature of this case moving through a process.
• If the contact brings another case, you can’t separately track the progress of that case
• It becomes difficult to tell what the current status of a contact is

Instead, you want to have a separate concept (Matters) that you associate with a contact. A contact can have multiple matters, or cases. This is how Lawmatics is built, and it’s uniquely suited for this purpose. 

In Lawmatics, each matter has a field indicating its progress through the steps of the process.

To migrate data from the former data model to the latter we had to do a bit of work.

We downloaded the list of contacts and their tags. Then, we downloaded a report of when tags were applied. By marrying this data together, we could see the latest tag that was applied to each contact, which represents their latest status.

Then, we created matter records in Lawmatters with those statuses and associated them with the contacts.

There were other data mapping challenges, like preserving the relationships between contacts. A big part of the data collection process for estate planning firms is to gather all the contacts their client is related to (children, spouse, and more). This data was stored in Keap in one format, and needed to be transformed so we could preserve that data when importing into Lawmatics. 

Another important step was making sure alternate contact methods like second and third email addresses or phone numbers were preserved on the contact record. 

These are steps most firms would have been unable to accomplish on their own, but using Lawmatics’ API we were able to retain all the key information they had gathered over the years. 

The end result

The systems we set up work together to create a seamless experience for both the client and the law firm’s team. By automating routine tasks and follow-ups, the firm can ensure consistent communication, timely progression through their pipeline, and efficient use of staff time.

This project reinforced some crucial principles of effective system design and implementation:

1. Simplicity is Key: While complex automations can be powerful, they often become liabilities over time. Simpler, more focused automations with clear names are easier to understand, maintain, and update.
2. Documentation is Crucial: It’s not enough to build a fancy workflow. Every system needs clear, comprehensive documentation so that future team members can understand and modify it as needed.
3. Modular Design: Breaking large processes into smaller, interconnected pieces makes the overall system more flexible and easier to manage.
4. Process Mapping: Removing the ambiguity around processes makes it easier to create automations that handle the entire process. Without a clear process map, team members will have to make one-off judgments and results will vary from client to client.
5. Using the Right Tools: While many tools built for legal teams are not as good as their industry-agnostic counterparts, Lawmatics sticks out as a CRM with a great user experience and modern architecture. It’s so good that we wish they’d expand outside of legal tech.

If your business is struggling with an outdated CRM, an overflowing list of tasks for staff to keep up with, or an unclear process, consider reaching out to Datos. We can help you streamline your processes, implement the right solutions, and ensure that your systems remain manageable and effective for years to come.

*Client anonymized for privacy, but can be contacted directly as a referral source if requested