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from MinuteBox
Legal Entity Management
Legal entity management is really risk management. It refers to a set of tools and practices to help manage corporate risk. This is vital in the early stages where it is easier to control and get a handle on.
The management includes storing all information, documents, and all other corporate records. This means all ongoing business matters, calendars, reminders and keeping track of what information needs to go where.
Minute Book Management
A minute book is a safe place to keep all corporate records. This is minutes from meetings, register of all the directors, shareholders and officers involved with the corporation. It is necessary to keep these books.
Once, these records were all kept by hand and on paper. Now, technology advancement allows corporations to keep all their minute books information digitally. All forms, notes and certificates can all be entered digitally.
A minute book contains all and any information the corporation needs or uses. Meetings, notices, register of transfers and whatever else is pertinent to your corporation.
Digital Transformation
More and more, corporations are moving to digital transformation. This is more than just putting documentation on digital files. It encompasses a lot more.
It means all corporations and other associated organizations can access any information they need. By using cloud storage, it not only opens up a great deal of office space, but it also allows the corporation to sort and store all their information.
Much easier to store and access, items deemed personal or sensitive are secured in a password-needed file. Others can be made open for easy access to whoever needs them.
Anytime records need to be updated, they can easily be accessed from anywhere and updated regularly when needed. The entire book doesn’t need to be accessed. Now, you can just access the portion you need to add new notes, add meeting minutes or any news about the board of directors.
Keeping these records is important, not just for your own records and security, but in case anyone ever needs to see past information. This could be:
- An audit
- Getting a loan
- Selling the business
- Allowing your accountant in to file income tax returns
- Sharing decisions made with other shareholders
Any time any legal issue arises, whether small or significant, your minute book will serve as a legal representative for the organization. If you don’t keep these records, there can be penalties, like fines for the corporation and individuals, as well.
This can also cause delays for taxes, or other business matters. If there are legal complications, then that will ultimately cost the corporation time and money. It can mean a lot of headaches for a lot of people, even those who have since moved on.
Minute Book Importance
It’s vital the minute book be kept up-to-date and maintained regularly. It should be done by a lawyer or someone who is in a position of authority and security. It needs to be stored safely and with limited access, to ensure it’s contents are secure.
Putting your minute book on a digital file is a secure way to store it and much easier to maintain and manage. Files can be added, accessed and updated in seconds, so there is never a delay or concern.
Beginning in 2020, remote and hybrid workplaces became more acceptable in most office cultures. Advancements in modern technology have enabled collaboration between teammates regardless of their geographic locations. Over the past three years, the use of technology to facilitate remote or hybrid work has continued to accelerate.
Many law firms in the legal industry have followed suit, embracing modern technology to provide more flexible options for remote work. Advancements in cloud-based legal technology have enabled legal professionals to manage minute books and conduct client meetings from the convenience of any location.
Modern legal technology reduced the need for office space
This isn’t a trend that’s unique to the legal community. Global companies are downsizing their corporate offices as they accept that remote and hybrid work is the new norm.
However, let’s consolidate the global embrace of remote or hybrid work and analyze how the legal industry has adopted these trends.
Frequency that law office space was used in 2019
The 2022 Clio Legal Trends Report looks specifically at how modern technology has impacted the way legal teams use their law firm office spaces. The Clio research team used data from their own customers to compare how many legal professionals worked from the same IP address in 2019, 2020, 2021, and finally 2022.
The numbers from 2019 were used as a baseline for comparison. According to those numbers, professional lawyers spent an average of 13 days per month in their firm’s office space in 2019. Additionally, 40% of lawyers and 70% of non-lawyers — paralegals, clerks, and administrative assistants — worked exclusively in their firm’s offices.
Frequency that law office space was used in 2022
Fast forward to 2022, and those in-office numbers have changed, though, in some cases, the change is negligible. In 2022, lawyers worked in the office for an average of 12 days per month, more or less consistent with in-office usage from 2019. What has changed is the number of lawyers who work exclusively out of the office. That number declined to 23% in 2022, a sizable difference from the average rate three years prior.
Interestingly, the biggest change in how law firm offices are used lies with the non-lawyer side of the workforce. In 2019, paralegals, clerks, and administrative assistants worked out of law firm offices for an average of 17 days per month. Three years later, that number has declined to 13 days per month, a much bigger rate of change than amongst their lawyer counterparts.
An even bigger change was identified in the number of non-lawyers who work exclusively out of the office. Paralegals, clerks, and administrative assistants now work exclusively in the office about 50% of the time, a dramatic decrease from the 70% exclusivity rate in 2019.
How cloud-based legal software increased remote work rates
Part of this shift towards remote or hybrid work has been permissible thanks to advancements in cloud-based legal entity management technology. As cloud-based platforms, legal entity management technology enables lawyers, paralegals, and administrative assistants to manage minute book records for clients from virtual settings.
Paralegals, clerks, and administrative assistants are the principal beneficiaries of cloud-based legal entity management software. These platforms are built to automate clerical and administrative work, streamlining workflows and making entity management a more efficient process. The platforms are also protected by advanced security parameters, including biometric and hardware key authentication that restricts access to the accounts to an exclusive group.
Since the platform hosts all client data securely within the cloud, your legal clients can view their records from a location of their own choosing. This allows your paralegals and legal counterparts to conduct client meetings and minute book record reviews virtually anywhere.
Cloud-based legal entity management software eliminates the taxing financial and time management challenges to coordinate meetings amongst multiple stakeholders for minute book record reviews. Every legal stakeholder’s life is made easier by cloud-based legal entity management technology!
How to use legal technology as a talent acquisition competitive advantage
Industry-wide research supports the notion that millions of legal professionals are embracing remote or hybrid work models. If your firm wants to attract and retain the best legal talent in the industry, you need to give legal professionals a reason to join your firm.
The fact is that today’s legal professionals embrace innovation as an exciting shift in their industry. Both lawyers and paralegals want to work for innovative firms that fully embrace the competitive advantages of cloud-based legal entity management technology.
Invest in these platforms and give your firm a competitive advantage in the battle to acquire today’s top legal talent. Demonstrate to prospective hires that your firm encourages flexible work so that they feel empowered to set their own schedules. Show paralegals and clerks how you’ll save valuable hours in their days by onboarding them to use entity management software.
Cloud-based legal entity management technology is a valuable resource to streamline workflows and modernize minute book management. But it’s equally a valuable resource to acquire the top talent in the industry and expand the capabilities of your firm.
Give your firm a stronger edge in the competitive battle for the best legal talent in the industry. Use entity management software like MinuteBox and help your firm become one of the leading innovators in the legal industry.
The history of “corporations” is a long and colourful story.
Perhaps the most interesting and unique trait of a corporation amongst the different forms of carrying on business is that a corporation is a separate and distinct legal entity from its “owners”.
This means a corporation can own property, have debts and debtors and carry on business as a separate legal entity. A corporation can, of course, carry on business separate and apart from its owners. In fact, in law, a corporation is considered a “person”. This is not to be confused with an “individual”, i.e. a human individual or personhood, but to convey that a corporation has almost all of the same legal characteristics as legal persons.
Two very important characteristics of corporations follow from the fact that a corporation is a separate and distinct legal entity. 1) Corporations may sue or be sued in their own name and 2) Corporations enjoy perpetual existence.
Unlike other forms of carrying on business, a shareholders’ liability is limited only to the value of the assets the shareholder has transferred to the corporation.
Banking, financial, and legal industries have traditionally been slow to adopt innovative technologies. As other industries view modern technology as an innovative solution that streamlines workflows, several of these traditionally managed sectors have resisted efforts to modernize their operations.
However, the game is beginning to change. Corporate and transactional practices such as banking, finance, real estate, and litigation have increasingly explored the impact of innovative technologies on their respective practice areas.
Future of banking and finance is digital
As younger consumers demand more flexibility and convenience from banking services, the future of retail and mobile banking is growing more digitized. Insider Intelligence conducted their fourth Mobile Banking Competitive Edge Study, and the insights point to this growing trend towards digitized consumer banking.
In their findings, 45% of respondents say financial institutions that offer mobile app-based banking solutions are at the top of their list of preferred bank providers. Clearly, there’s a growing consumer demand for more innovation in these spaces, but the advantages of modern technology can also improve internal business processes at these institutions.
Banking executives see technology as a means to save costs
In the same report, 39% of banking executives say that incorporating technology into their own internal workflows can help lower costs for their businesses. The right solution can also deliver more autonomy and flexibility to how executives access important business records. Up to 77% of business leaders say they want the freedom to view business data from remote locations, continuing the hybrid workflows adopted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incorporating methods that innovate and streamline administrative and clerical processes can save valuable time and working capital for banking and financial institutions. Incurred labour costs to finalize important agreements between banks and their clients are dramatically slashed by adopting modern technology.
Why document automation solutions drastically cut costs
Document automation is one such solution designed to innovate industries and reduce operating costs. Document automation refers to the design of systems and workflows that streamline the creation of electronic documents.
Since banking and finance industries conduct daily transactional practices, document automation can make checklists or virtual closing lists more efficient for the institution. Many of the documents involved in these processes are virtually identical, except for specific information about the client in service.
With document automation technology, most of the workflows to create those deals are consistent from client to client. Once the templates are created, they can be cookie-cuttered, duplicated, and customized to each client experience.
How document automation improves B2B client relationships
When documentation is completed more efficiently, the deals attached to those documents can be finalized with more speed and precision. If large deals are being conducted between one large banking institution and another corporate entity, the speed and efficiency delivered through document automation solutions generates more revenue at faster rates for both entities.
As a banking institution, client satisfaction is essential to earning repeat business. Providing clients with faster models to finalize important business documents makes the process more efficient for the end client. Fast precise completion of their business deals means those satisfied clients are far more likely to come back to your institution when they require financing for another important deal.
Entity management platforms automate documentation
When banking and financial institutions are ready to modernize their workflows with automated solutions, it’s important they select the right solution to support their needs. Entity management software is one of the best solutions on the market.
Entity management platforms are cloud-based solutions, which means users can access all information stored within the platform from a location of their own choosing. This flexibility perfectly aligns with what banking executives are looking for in a document automation solution. They can view the records remotely, secure with the knowledge that their documents and business records are protected in the cloud using biometric and hardware key authentications.
Entity management platforms have pre-built document templates. Any legal documents to finalize a major banking transaction can be duplicated and modified in a matter of minutes.
Once an initial template of that document is created, the platform allows users to quickly duplicate those documents. Minor edits and revisions can be implemented to customize the documents from client to client or use case to use case. It’s a much faster process that simplifies everyone’s lives!
Privacy protection and corporate security have never been so important to an organization’s well-being. Privacy protection laws like GDPR, CCPA, or PIPEDA impose significant financial penalties on companies that abuse or lose their customers’ personal data. Fines can be as large as 2 percent of all global annual revenue from the previous fiscal year.
As more personal and business data is stored on digital servers, enterprise security is paramount for companies to remain compliant with privacy protection laws. Enterprise security not only protects the personal information of individual customers, but it also provides internal and proprietary protection of business secrets and trademarks.
How COVID-19 accelerated the need for enterprise security
The movement towards greater privacy protection and corporate security has been ongoing for many years. Those movements have been further accelerated by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise in remote or work from home policies.
COVID-19 changed the way that people operate in their day to day lives, and more workers, including business owners or executives, are opting to work away from the office. Up to 77 percent of business owners admit they want to access more files remotely, increasing the demand for solutions that support enterprise security on a global scale.
As a result of work from home, more people are using personal computers, tablets, and smartphones to view corporate records and secure documents. Unfortunately, in some cases, people use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access these records, which are easier for hackers to penetrate. Should hackers be able to steal these documents or expose information that compromises the security of a business, that business could be liable for significant financial penalties.
How to use technology to ace enterprise security
As a law firm, your business is responsible for the corporate security of potentially hundreds of different clients. It’s imperative that you provide the convenience and quality of service that business owners expect (i.e., the ability to access files remotely) while still remaining compliant with privacy protection laws.
Entity management software is your best solution to address these growing demands. Cloud-based entity management platforms simplify the way law firms or corporate counsels manage their records and minute books.
They promote greater collaboration, efficiency, and ease of access to important corporate information. Most importantly, they provide end-to-end client security, including unlimited shares of corporate records and minute books as well as integrated e-signature capabilities. With these solutions, you can easily send and receive important documents for review or approvals.
Other benefits of cloud-based entity management solutions
The ability to send and receive minute books in a secure digital environment is the bedrock of what makes entity management platforms so compelling. But there are other benefits that will help your firm continue to provide exceptional service to clients.
Many firms only have a small group of cybersecurity experts at their disposal. Maintaining on-premise servers to protect client data and minute books is not only time consuming, but potentially dangerous.
In a survey of 450 companies early in the COVID-19 pandemic, two thirds admitted their on-premise servers were targeted by cyber hackers that risked exposing corporate information to the public. If your firm was one of those companies, are you confident that you have the cybersecurity experts who have bandwidth to maintain a protective barrier around client data?
Rather than take that risk, you can invest in a cloud-based entity management platform that stores all client data safely in the cloud behind password protected barriers of entry. Not only can your firm increase the security around your clients’ corporate records, but you’ll also improve your bottom line, streamline operations, and create economies of scale that help all legal professionals at your firm contribute to growth.
Ready to make the leap into cloud-based enterprise security? Join the MinuteBox revolution so that you can adapt to changing corporate demands and still provide the highest quality service to all of your clients.
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how global entities operate. Repetitive work tasks are being automated with AI solutions, creating more efficient ways for businesses to complete work in pursuit of growth. At the same time, there’s growing concern about how AI may push hard-working people out of their jobs due to a misguided sense of redundancy.
In the legal industry, these growing fears are not unwarranted. As outlined in an economic research report, co-authored by four leading analysts at Goldman Sachs, the legal industry will be heavily impacted by AI advancements. Tasks that are completed by paralegal professionals will become more automated as solutions like ChatGPT become more mainstream, placing paralegal job security at tremendous risk.
How will AI impact paralegal productivity?
According to the Goldman Sachs report, 44% of current work tasks in the US legal industry could be automated and supplemented by AI technology. Only office and administrative support jobs, at 46%, have greater exposure to AI automation. However, at many law firms, paralegals also serve as office managers, significantly increasing their potential exposure to the AI effect.
Data analysis of the European market suggests a similar pattern. According to the numbers, 45% of clerical support workers will be exposed to AI automation across Europe.
What common legal tasks will AI help automate?
The report provides a synopsis of how AI will be used to automate tasks in various industries. In regards to the legal community, the paralegal task at most risk of AI automation is the evaluation of minute book data to maintain compliance with regulatory standards.
Paralegals are often tasked with filing, sorting, reviewing, and administering minute book records for legal clients. The purpose behind the review and administration of those records is to ensure any actions undertaken by corporate clients are in compliance with legal, regulatory, and corporate standards.
The working theory put forward by Goldman Sachs is that AI will automate much of the work to maintain compliance. AI solutions will accelerate:
- The review of minute book data for accuracy
- Evaluate complex legal claims to maintain compliance
- Assist with the creation of legal motions to submit to officers of the court
What are the limitations of AI automation?
As much as there are proponents for AI automation, there are just as many people who challenge its effectiveness. The biggest criticism towards AI is the fact that the technology is incapable of being creative.
Anu Madgavkar, a partner with McKinsey Global Institute, says AI should never be considered as a full replacement for human intelligence. She encourages business entities, in the legal community or otherwise, to treat AI as a tool to improve human productivity. AI can automate data entry and summarization, but a human mind is still necessary to correctly interpret what the data is articulating.
“[Minute book] data is actually quite structured, very language-oriented, and therefore quite amenable to generative AI,” says Madgavkar. “It’s almost like a bit of a productivity boost that some of these occupations might get, because you can use tools that actually do this better.”
How entity management software rivals AI automation
The data suggests that the AI revolution is happening, and there are understandable concerns about the impact of this technology on job security. So what can paralegals do to ease their own concerns and stabilize their employment prospects?
One effective solution is to join a firm that embraces a different form of legal automation technology. Entity management software is designed to automate clerical and administrative tasks to help firms and their clients maintain compliance with the laws.
Similar to Madgavkar’s assessment of AI as a productivity tool, entity management software helps paralegals reduce the time they spend on clerical or administrative work. At most law firms, legal professionals spend only 2.5 hours in an 8 hour workday servicing clients. This is primarily because the amount of clerical work to accurately process client case files takes up such an abundance of valuable time.
Using entity management software, inputting and organizing minute book data can be completed in only a few minutes of time. Suddenly, several hours in each workday are open to billable time that’s used to serve clients and help grow the interests of the firm.
Entity management software helps paralegals grow revenue
By minimizing time spent on clerical and administrative tasks, paralegals can directly contribute to increasing billable hours invoiced by the firm. Their hourly rates will be less than trained legal professionals, but it’s still contributing a new stream of revenue to grow the firm.
As paralegals navigate through the AI impact on the legal industry, they would be wise to hitch their professional wagons to firms that embrace different forms of legal automation technology. By using those solutions to the best of their abilities, paralegals can prove their employment is an asset to the firm by directly contributing to Legal Recurring Revenue.
