Amara Immigration Law, LLC
Boston, Massachusetts
A Bit of Backstory
Emily Amara Gordon approaches her law practice with pride and passion. For Gordon, her chosen career is both enjoyable and meaningful. “Practicing law is rewarding,” she explains. “But more importantly, it’s an honor to represent people in need and help bridge the gap between education and language barriers.” Gordon is the founder and principal attorney at Amara Immigration Law, LLC, located in Boston, Massachusetts. She hung her shingle the day after she obtained her law license and has no regrets. For Gordon, immigration law is a perfect fit.
For starters, she is uniquely suited to this area of practice because she speaks multiple languages, including English, Spanish and French. And, as an immigration lawyer, she is driven to provide a voice to those who “are afraid to be heard” and finds it to be incredibly rewarding to provide representation to individuals and immigrant families who desperately need her help.
In Search of Perfect Law Practice Management Software
Gordon knew that choosing the right law practice management software for her firm was a pivotal decision. She began her search by testing out a number of software programs suggested to her by her local bar association but found that they weren’t user-friendly: “They all seemed to be overly-complicated—and I consider myself a very tech-savvy person.” So, she broadened her search and shortly thereafter discovered MyCase. Gordon knew right away that it was the right law practice management software for her firm. MyCase offered a robust feature set and was simple to use: “Its interface was intuitive and MyCase offers a wide variety of features designed to streamline my workflow.”
Gordon has been using MyCase for many years now and is confident that she made the right choice. “MyCase has allowed my law firm to grow by increasing efficiency and lowering overhead. My caseload has grown exponentially because of MyCase.” she says. “Before MyCase I was only able to handle a small number of cases at a time, but now that my office runs more efficiently, I have 100-150 open cases at any given time.”
Increased Efficiency and Better Client Representation
The MyCase client portal is pivotal to managing her firm’s ever-increasing caseload. According to Gordon, it’s her favorite feature: “The client portal is revolutionary and completely ahead of its time. With MyCase, case-related emails never get lost and are easy to find since all messages are located in one place.” Not only is the secure portal convenient, it has also improved client communication. “I receive much quicker replies from my clients than I did when using more traditional communication methods like email or the phone,” she explains. “The efficiency gained from the MyCase client portal alone saves me at least 2 hours each day. My workday has decreased from 14 hours per day to 11 hours per day—all because of the more efficient client communication.”
70% of my clients use the portal—with the dream of 100%– Emily Amara Gordon
The improved client communication offered by the portal is one of the keys to the success of her busy immigration practice: “Immigration and the policies surrounding it change constantly. It’s a unique area of the legal field and is not always clear-cut. That’s why it’s important to be able to quickly and easily keep my clients up to speed on any case status changes.”
Another benefit of the portal is 24/7 access to information. “The instant access to case-related information in MyCase helps alleviate my clients’ anxieties,” she notes. “The ability to collaborate and share information online is also a time-saver. MyCase makes it easy to maintain a close relationship with my clients and their families.”
The Benefits of a Mobile Law Practice
Gordon appreciates that MyCase lets her take her legal practice everywhere she goes. For example, while sitting in court waiting for a case to be called, she reviews documents, which are securely stored in MyCase and easily accessed using her smartphone or tablet.
Recently, Gordon went on vacation to Italy for two weeks. At first, she was concerned how she would stay in touch with her office and clients given the distance and time difference. Then she remembered she had MyCase by her side and was instantly relieved. Similarly, when she’s able to fit in a summer vacation with her family in Maine, she’s able to manage her practice from afar. One of her favorite activities: peacefully sitting on the porch, overlooking the Maine scenery with her phone in hand, sending messages to her clients through MyCase. According to Gordon, “MyCase helps me stay organized and on top of my busy practice no matter where I am.”
When I’m in court, MyCase enables me to be really organized. I have my clients’ information at my fingertips if someone says, “Did you represent so-and-so 5 years ago?” I can pull up the case immediately and review the specifics.– Emily Amara Gordon
Her future plans? To expand her practice to include national and international clients. And when she does, she plans to use MyCase to manage her practice. MyCase is, and will continue to be, instrumental to her growing law firm’s success.
We asked Emily a few specific questions about MyCase. The following is what she said in her own words.
What functionality or feature has contributed most to your bottom line?
If I didn’t have MyCase, I would have had to have an assistant or paralegal from the beginning to keep up with client communication. Using the messaging feature has been so much more efficient than calling people back and playing phone tag. I’ve never reconsidered whether or not I’ve needed MyCase. In my biggest budget revamps, cancelling MyCase has never come across my mind.
Online payments also allows me to have a national immigration law practice, because clients can pay whether they’re across the country or down the street.– Emily Amara Gordon
Since signing up with MyCase, you’ve started accepting payments through the client portal. Tell us about that.
Well, I used to use a third party credit card service. I got frustrated with their customer service, and it was hard to continue doing business with them. As forward thinking as I am, I was about to give up on credit card payments altogether, but I saw that MyCase released an online payments feature. I got onboard right away.
By using MyCase, my clients can easily pay me and I don’t have to think about it. The less they have to think about it and the less I have to think about billing, the better. Online payments also allows me to have a national immigration law practice, because clients can pay whether they’re across the country or down the street. I don’t have to go to the bank, wait for checks, etc. I can start working on people’s cases instantaneously. It just allows me more time to be a lawyer and not be a bookkeeper.
I’m also able to tell clients that I know there are issues with attorneys storing credit card data and compliance, but I don’t have those issues with MyCase since I’m not handling their credit card. I also use the QuickBooks integration, which automatically reconciles with MyCase. At the end of the year I check it to make sure the numbers line up and they always do. I just present that information to my CPA. Taxes this year were a breeze!
What would you say to a firm that’s evaluating MyCase?
Whether you’re a sole practitioner or mid-sized firm, you have a limited or extensive budget, if you want to save money or be more organized, no matter the type of law you practice, one thing I can confidently say is that that MyCase will benefit your firm. It sets you apart from other attorneys and gives you an edge. It’s a magic tool– for my firm, it does everything and more, and I don’t need anything else.
