We are a boutique practice providing specialist wills and estates legal advice to everyone from savvy young professionals through to active globe trotting retirees. Our clients expect innovative, but realistic advice, outstanding customer service and cost effective solutions tailored to their personal circumstances - and we deliver....constantly.
I established Hayward & Co in 2008 – For a sole practitioner some might say I had some pretty lofty ideals on a smallish budget. Firstly – I wanted to be paperless. Secondly – I wanted the freedom of mobility. Mobility means you can be more accessible to clients and to your family. I’ve been able to break the legal profession’s tradition of being tied to your desk for upwards of 12 hours a day.
My firm is a boutique wills and estates legal practice. I offer services in estate planning, estate litigation and estate administration. What keeps me motivated is my desire to help people and ensure they receive accurate legal advice as early as possible to prevent unnecessary anguish later on. I probably enjoy the area of estate administration the most – helping clients through what is usually one of the most difficult times of their life coping with the loss of a loved one.
My practice is referral based – mainly from other professionals – solicitors, accountants and financial planners. I also use social media and find that it drives a lot of traffic to our website. I am on Twitter @Haywardco, Facebook and Linkedin and I am just establishing my Google+ profile. I notice our enquiries always significantly increase when I consistently follow our social media strategy.
Daylite manages the front end of my practice – it records client contact details, supplier details and other business contacts. It keeps track of client conversations, emails and key dates. I also use Daylite to manage client matters (projects). Our safe custody services are also managed through Daylite.
I converted my office to Mac after a particularly unstable and unreliable windows system that was costing a small fortune to manage. I needed a practice management system that would offer secure storage of client details and client files as well as something that could accommodate my needs for mobility. Whilst there are many alternate apps, it was the level of support offered. The ease of use once the initial set up is done and the community groups that ultimately “sold me” on Daylite.
I love the ability to record emails directly from Apple Mail to a client’s matter and also creating a task directly from Mail. About 80% of our communications would be via email so it is an important feature. Daylite lets me manage a client’s matter efficiently with Activity Sets, Pipelines and Tasks. I can also manage key dates through tasks and a series of email reminders to ensure no key date is missed – this is an important risk management tool for all lawyers.
In the office I use the iPad during client appointments – to check details, update client records. It’s my goal to increase my use of the iPad app over the coming 12 months. I use the iPhone app when I am out and about – it is great as I can quickly check what tasks need completing for the day, schedule new tasks or call a client.
There are many different programs for the legal profession to enable them to manage their practices. However, there are not so many programs designed for Macs – whilst some Windows programs have a Mac version they often compromise on functionality or require you to run Windows on your Mac. Daylite is the complete package – particularly when coupled with Billings Pro. It is simple to use, yet it is such a powerful business tool. Many of my colleagues are only just now using phone apps to access their practice management systems – I’ve had an advantage of having this technology available to me for a long time now. The price point of Daylite licences also helps me keep my practice costs contained.
I am an early adopter so I am always keen to try new apps. In Daylite 5 I really like the at-a-glance reports and the ability to add repeating tasks to a client’s matter (project). I also like the streamlined look of the new app.
Billings Pro is simple to use and produces invoices and reports of an exceptional quality and design. I recommend it for any business running Mac OS.
