For law firms looking to innovative and improve efficiencies there are a number of legal technologies which can drive business outcomes. But what are the top legal software trends for 2022 and beyond?

Late payments are an increasing problem for UK businesses, local councils and government authorities. But with the advent of digital technology, debt collections can now be modernised via a multitude of methods. Here we outline 5 top ways to modernise collections process and improve your overall credit control.

Matter management software (also known as legal matter management software) is software which manages all activities that relate to legal practice. Matter management software brings its users automation and control throughout a legal matter’s full life cycle, and it’s managed from a central dashboard via workflows. Matter management solutions support all legal matters and their benefits of increased efficiency and boosting profits are well reported. But what other hidden benefits can matter management software provide? Let’s take a look at the top five.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It’s a form of technology which empowers its users to manage interactions with their customers and potential customers. The CRM system serves to increase profitability and improve customer service through streamlining operations. It’s a powerful tool that helps businesses build stronger relationships. But what are the top 5 essential elements of a thriving CRM system?

An estimated 3.5 million people in the UK are in council tax arrears – 51% of them as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s this incredible level of debt which is impacting local councils in the UK as they endeavour to climb out of the black themselves. In fact, with economists predicting that council tax debt could rise to £6.5bn by 2025, it’s vitally important that local councils institute data management strategies to navigate the challenging times ahead.

If you want to improve your credit control procedures then effective Key Performance Indicators (KPI) metrics can help you reach your goals. For business owners, local councils and law firms, measuring the right KPIs can lead to actionable strategies and an improved cash flow management. The fact is, you need your customers to pay on time, so here are our top 5 best KPIs for measuring credit control.

Our understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved considerably since John McCarthy, the father of AI, coined the term in 1955. With the growing emergence and visibility of machine learning, deep learning and numerous other AI terms, understanding how to harness the power of AI for your law firm can be challenging. But AI is a critical technology for the legal professional, and here we provide an introduction to its many applications.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy. SMEs constitute 99.9% of all private businesses in the UK and they employ 14.4 million people. With an annual turnover of £1.6 billion (18% of total turnover in the UK), their financial health impacts the whole economy. During the pandemic half of the UK’s SMEs took out some form of Covid-19 related loan, leaving them with an average additional debt of £173,000 each. And now small businesses need revenue to repay these loans. So how can they improve their own credit control and cash flow? Here are five top debt recovery tips for small business owners!

On 4 May 2021 the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) comes into force. This important legislation means individuals can have “breathing space” from their creditors. This scheme provides citizens with new and important procedural protection when it comes to their debts, but equally it may be challenging for landlords and local councils to implement. So here is our guide on the best practices for navigating breathing space.

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a remote working revolution. In fact in the UK three-quarters of employees now favour more flexible work. But how can you harness the benefits of working remotely? Here are some top tips to make sure you and your legal colleagues are operating efficiently.

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is technology which empowers businesses to cut their operating costs and increase profits by managing interactions with their customers and potential customers. Advanced CRM software provides its users with better knowledge of their customers, better segmentation, speedier communication and improved data privacy. It’s a vital tool for any organisation, so with that in mind here are our top 5 strategies to optimise your CRM.

Debtor Days are of paramount importance to the success of any company, and they’re a highly effective way to measure the health of your enterprise. Debtor days is a commonly-used term to measure how long your customers are taking to pay you on average. But to understand how you can reduce debtor days, we must first understand them in more detail.

With a large majority of business owners, local councils and government agencies experiencing budgetary and cash flow challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever that they can successfully recover their debts. So here are Lateral’s top 5 debt recovery activities.

Current debt collection processes and engagement strategies are becoming outdated. Today a single view of citizen debt empowers councils to take collections data from council tax, business rates, sundry debts, parking fines, and housing benefits systems and connect them in a single location, or ‘view’. This innovative approach to collections has many tangible benefits.

The cybersecurity landscape is constantly shifting and every law firm is at the risk of an attack. Protecting sensitive data pertaining to personal information, intellectual property and governmental and industry information systems from theft and damage is an important and challenging task. In fact cyber attacks cost the UK economy over £10 billion per year. With many law firms looking to implement cost effective yet robust security controls, here are Lateral Technology’s top 5 cybersecurity tips for law firms.

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is an integral part of software development. If your organisation is considering investing in a new software solution, then it’s more than likely that the term API has been thrown around. An API is best understood as a translator between software programs. It is the means by which one software program can communicate with another, and reap benefits, with neither program needing to perform the actions of the other.

Building a Single View of Debt (also known as a 360 degree view) is one of the most innovative and important ways for organisations to improve their collections processes. Simply defined, a single customer view (SCV) is an aggregated, consistent and holistic representation of all the data known by an organisation about its debtors. Local authorities, for example, can aggregate all data relating to rent arrears, housing benefit, council tax overpayments, parking fines, and other sundry debts. With an accurate and holistic single customer view and real-time, accurate insights into debt, organisations can reduce the duplication of debt collection activity and increase revenue. But before building a single view of debt, what five questions do you need to ask?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) form a vital part of the information required to determine and explain how a law firm can manage its organisational health. And whether you love them or hate them, they’re the backbone of your legal business. KPIs for every business are different, but here are the top 5 most important KPIs your law firm should be tracking when you’re wanting to know the true health and performance of your operations.

Strong credit control and debt collection procedures are essential to successful cash flow management within an organisation. But during challenging economic times, how do you know when the time is right to switch to debt collection software?

As local authorities endeavour to innovative their digital services and improve productivity, cybersecurity has shifted to the top of their agenda. Cyber incidents can be costly, disruptive and lead to a loss of data. And local authorities in the UK face an average of 19.5 million cyberattacks a year. So here are our top five tips to help local authorities protect themselves.