With the Delhi High Court and High Court of Bombay cancelling the summer vacation, it won’t be completely incorrect to treat the current pandemic lockdown as a summer vacation. While a vacation with social distancing is not something we look for, but now that we’re left with no option, all of us should work towards making the best use of such unprecedented time. With correct approach and focus, we can accomplish far more than we would have thought, and still make the lockdown productive.
ENHANCE KNOWLEDGE
The most common way to fill your void days is by increasing your knowledge base. Take out time and attend webinars hosted by illustrious personalities of the fraternity. If at all you are planning to manoeuvre your firm’s direction by augmenting another area to your practice, this is the best time to hone your skills by attending training sessions pertaining to that specific area of practice. There are also webinars and online trainings being conducted for soft-skills, business development, brand enhancement, etc., which add value to a lawyer’s personality holistically.
EXPLORE E-WORLD
The lockdown has brought an inevitable slowdown of office practice and court dockets, but there are still many ways to make wise use of the present situation which will benefit the firm and get you ready to end the year on a successful and profitable note. This is the correct time to test the use of digitized files, e-docketing and moving your functioning online. When normal functioning resumes, your commitment to clients may not permit you to do hit and trial on these aspects, which can be creased out at present.
BRAND-BUILDING
Marking your presence and sustaining in the market is the need of the hour. Most of us have an apprehension that the firm’s presence is at stake during this challenging time. The best way is to stay in touch with your clients, giving them the comfort that even during tough times you are still present and are all prepared and equipped to perform tasks. Use this “stay home” time to explore options that gel with your overall personality. If you’re good at writing, write an informative article, get it published on relevant platforms and maintain firm’s presence on digital media. If you have the gift of the gab, hosting a webinar is again not a bad idea. With the correct audience you never know when your visual presence can make a prospective client notice you.
BUDGETING & FINANCIAL PLANNING
As we conclude a financial year and enter the new one, this is also a good time to assess your firm’s financial progress and create conservative projections for the new year. With an awareness of the profit and losses for the preceding year, chances of tapping repeat work and realistic estimates of possible dropouts in client mandates, you can predict your revenues and work backwards to ascertain the efforts required for business development. This is also a good time to allocate preliminary budgets for expenses and costs under different heads for the current financial year.
MANAGING YOUR RESOURCES
There are times when you might think that your colleagues may not be meeting the required billable hours, or there are pockets of resources who are overworked, while others may be underworked. Setting up an evaluation system that is based on determining the billable hours clocked in by each resource is another task you may want to revisit during the lockdown period. As the financial year has just started, it is better to address any critical issue while at the commencement of the year, rather than pointing it out during the annual performance evaluation procedure where everyone looks for a positive assessment.
CATCH-UP ON PREPARING FOR FORTHCOMING WORK
You must also utilize this time to catch up on preparation of any upcoming matter or transaction or trial, which may require extensive reading, research and drafting. Once normal functioning is resumed, there may be a surge of work. Therefore, get your facts and substantive knowledge augmented, before the procedural aspects take over.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Lastly, there are several housekeeping aspects to practice that are often ignored. Beefing up your online and print profiles, developing your ‘Statements of Capability’ and working towards enhancing your visibility on the editorial publications will add weight to your service offerings and preparedness for future. Look for platforms online that will help you engage, network and build relationships with like-minded people. Make your ‘staying home’ period productive by collaborating with fellow members. Most importantly, connect with your clients and understand their thinking, their challenges and their business decisions, so that you can revise your service offerings based on what they seek now.
