Meet deadlines reliably: How you, as a lawyer, can turn the phone into a tool
Meet deadlines as a lawyer securely and reduce stress. Learn how to use your call management to no longer jeopardize any procedural deadlines.
The Deadline: The Sharpest Sword in a Lawyer's Everyday Life
For you as a lawyer, there is hardly a word that carries more weight than "deadline". Complying with procedural deadlines is the backbone of your work. Missing a deadline can not only mean losing a mandate but also lead to serious liability consequences. Therefore, managing deadlines is one of your most sacred duties.
However, while deadline control is often secured by specialized software and four-eye principles, one of the largest dangers lies at the beginning of the chain: during the information intake. And one of the most unpredictable channels for this is the telephone.
The Telephone: A Critical Source of Information and the Biggest Disruptor
A call from the court, from the opposing party, or from the client themselves – often, crucial information about deadlines is conveyed verbally. The telephone is thus an indispensable source, but at the same time, it is an enormous disruptor for the focused work you must do to maintain those deadlines.
The actual risk arises in the hustle and bustle of everyday life:
Acoustic Misunderstandings: A date is misunderstood over the phone or only incompletely noted in a noisy environment.
Lost Notes: The hastily scribbled information on a piece of paper gets lost on the way from the phone to the desk.
Incomplete Documentation: It is noted that there is a deadline, but not what exact conditions it is linked to.
Each of these small errors during call acceptance can trigger an avalanche that ultimately jeopardizes the timely processing.
How Every Call Becomes a Comprehensive Record
Imagine each individual call being automatically converted into a reliable written record without you or your staff having to pick up a pen. That is exactly what modern communication systems accomplish.
Instead of relying on your memory or handwritten notes, you can automate and secure the process of information capture. Modern AI assistants for law firms, such as Safina, go far beyond just accepting calls. They become your personal deadline record keeper:
Comprehensive Transcription: Every call is transcribed word for word. Were there any uncertainties? A look at the written transcript provides you with the exact wording and ensures absolute clarity.
Intelligent Summarization: The AI extracts the key statements, names, file numbers, and especially dates from the conversation and creates a concise summary.
Derivable Tasks: From this summary, you can directly generate a task for your deadline management. The sentence "The response to the complaint must be received by September 20th" becomes a concrete entry in your calendar or law firm software.
This transforms the unstructured and error-prone information channel "telephone" into a reliable and automated data collection source. This way, you can fully concentrate on the legal work, with the assurance that the foundation of your deadline management is secure.
