Two laptops.
Two laptops were all that prevented Hickey Hauck Bishoff Jeffers & Seabolt PLLC (HHBJS) from continuing business as usual when Michigan’s COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were announced in March 2020.
“With the exception of two assistants, everyone in the firm was laptop-based as opposed to desktop-based,” said Patrick Hickey, Partner, HHBJS. “We quickly purchased laptops and got them completely set up so that they could be effectively sitting at their desks in the office.”
HHBJS is a Detroit-based law firm specializing in business litigation, counseling and mediation services — and being nimble. The firm proudly merges top-flight legal talent with cutting-edge technology to deliver outstanding results for its clients.
“The combination of our cloud-based technology plus the fact that everyone is equipped with laptops means our team members have an office anywhere they go — and I think that gave us a significant advantage,” Hickey said. “Because of our firm’s set up, we were able to transition with ease to a virtual environment in accordance with the state’s stay-at-home orders.”
Laying The Foundation
In 2016, lawyers Patrick Hickey, Mark Hauck, Thomas Bishoff and Benjamin Jeffers dreamt of starting new chapters in their careers and forming their own firm, one where they could be more adaptable to their clients’ expectations and needs to, ultimately, better serve them. Notably, to fully embrace available and emerging technologies, they wanted their firm to be virtually paperless.
The partners knew they would need to invest in secure cloud-based storage and management software to accomplish this. But first, the firm needed to identify a business service provider that could deliver a seamless high-speed connection backed by a top-quality customer support team.
Eventually, HHBJS determined they needed a fiber service provider. The decision has proven beneficial, as the firm has enjoyed uninterrupted network services for several years with fiber-based internet.
“It’s absolutely lightning-fast service and an outstanding product. We’ve never been down once unexpectedly,” Bishoff said. “Any interruption is problematic when you’re filing online, accessing courts online, reviewing documents online and managing your firm online.”
Flexibility Proves Crucial During Pandemic
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, HHBJS implemented a guiding principle to keep its team safe while delivering for its clients — namely, to the extent that you can work from home, you should.
“If you feel that going into the office would allow the work to be done more effectively or efficiently or in order to ensure the quality that our clients have come to expect, then you should go into the office,” Hickey said. “Otherwise, if you can be effective, efficient and maintain that quality at home, you should work from home.”
HHBJS leans heavily on cloud-based computing to access documents and software programs — and network reliability makes all the difference. The firm utilizes a 100 Mbps Dedicated Internet Access connection with Everstream, its fiber network service provider.
“A loss of connectivity in the middle of a business day is simply not acceptable,” Hauck said. “If our internet goes down, we lose access to our cloud-based applications and our telephones. We can’t have that — and have not had to worry about it either.”
HHBJS maintains everything electronically by utilizing Amazon’s AWS cloud-computing service coupled with NetDocuments, a document management software designed specifically for law firms. As a result, the team can work from anywhere knowing they have full access to any file or application they may need while remaining confident their data security is intact. The software’s end-to-end encryption ensures that every file is highly protected, backed up and, most importantly, accessible from any computer or terminal with the appropriate credentials and passwords.
Connectivity Builds a Better Practice
Regardless of the pandemic, connectivity remains a core component of HHBJS’s operations, given the firm’s growth.
In September 2020, Hickey, Hauck, Bishoff & Jeffers combined forces with Seabolt Law Firm to form HHBJS — and required a robust connectivity solution to fully integrate the offices of Scott Seabolt and his team. Everstream worked closely with HHBJS’s technology provider to get the combined law firms up and running in a matter of days.
For HHBJS, choosing the right network connection proved invaluable for the firm’s success pre- and, one day, post-pandemic.
By not having to manage servers, the firm can use more modern software technology, which is friendlier to working remotely. After all, flexibility and adaptability are critical cornerstones of success in today’s “always-on” business climate.
“If you’re going to base your practice on cloud-based computing, the most important thing you can do is find a reliable internet provider,” advised Bishoff. “And everything from there will flow.”