Largest Criminal Defense Firm in Fort Worth Scales with Software
Fort Worth, Texas
A Bit of Backstory
After leaving the DA’s office, Benson Varghese and Anna Summersett founded Varghese Summersett PLLC with one mission: to remember that each client who comes to them is coming to them with the biggest problem in their life. To that end, approaching each of their clients with understanding and empathy plays a pivotal role in representing them. It didn’t take long for this client-centric approach to make Varghese Summersett PLLC the largest criminal defense firm in Fort Worth.
A Partnership with MyCase
To keep up with the demands of hundreds of cases at any given time, Varghese Summersett PLLC chose MyCase to enable excellent client service, coordinate with their staff, and to bring clarity to the billing cycle from client intake to case closed. We spoke with Benson Varghese, Founding Partner, and other key members of the firm to learn how MyCase helps them accomplish their mission and maintain their rank as the most 5-star reviewed Texas criminal defense firm on Google.
Why did you choose MyCase?
Before I started the firm, I spent a considerable amount of time thinking about out how we should use technology. I wanted to give clients a central place to come, where they could see what’s going on with their case, get updates, and find their next court date.
We chose MyCase as our practice management software because it gave us constant availability and a way for clients to contact us at any time during their case.– Benson Varghese, Managing Partner
What really distinguishes our firm—and has allowed us to grow— is our ability to give our clients “white glove” treatment. We chose MyCase as our practice management software because it gave us constant availability and a way for clients to contact us at any time during their case.
How do you manage leads (prospective clients) in MyCase?
We have a high incoming call volume, so being able to manage our leads in MyCase is a game-changer for us. We can track everything related to that lead: how the person found our firm, whether or not they’ve been contacted recently, if they’ve scheduled a consultation, or even whether they are a good fit for our firm at this moment.
We have a high incoming call volume, so being able to manage our leads in MyCase is a game-changer for us.– Benson Varghese, Managing Partner
When that lead becomes a client, we can convert it into a case in one click; it’s a huge time saver for us. The client gets a notification that we’ve set them up in MyCase and their invoice is waiting for them.
As the firm’s managing partner, how do you use MyCase for firm oversight?
The first way I use it is to understand the firm’s finances. The ability to run reports on the firm’s cashflow and see outstanding invoices is important to me.
Secondly, it’s helpful for delegation and coordination. We’re a team of attorneys, so every evening, we use the calendar in MyCase to make sure every court appearance is covered for the next day. Our client base sprawls across a number of counties and it’s not uncommon for our attorneys to travel across the state. Oversight into everyone’s calendar helps us manage the entirety of our staff and their time, even when they’re traveling.
MyCase helps when it comes to oversight of client communication as well. When I’m in trial or in court all day and a client has sent me a message via MyCase, I don’t want to ignore them or wait a week until I get out of trial to respond. It’s so easy for me to pull down the name of another partner or attorney and tag them into the message. That ensures that our clients will get a response as quickly as humanly possible.
How does MyCase equip your firm to handle billing at a high volume?
From the outset, MyCase has allowed us to pick what type of billing arrangement we need — whether it’s flat fee, mixed, or hourly. The fact that invoices from MyCase contain a thorough breakdown of all time billed is incredibly helpful when reconciling our billing.
On the collections side, I never want to worry about whether or not a client has paid. Recently, MyCase came out with a feature that allows us to send automatic payment reminders via text. That feature makes it easy for us to keep up with which clients have paid and what they owe, and helps us get paid faster as well.
Tell us about your experience with MyCase support.
One thing I can say about MyCase is that if we send feedback, we will get a response. That is a big factor for us. The MyCase team is always listening and has followed through on implementing new feature requests from our firm time and time again.
We would have to adopt four or five other platforms to replace MyCase.– Benson Varghese, Managing Partner
Without MyCase, how would your office operations change?
We would have to adopt four or five other platforms to replace MyCase. There’s no way we could have scaled a criminal defense firm to 10 people working towards a common goal if we didn’t have MyCase.
Learn more about Varghese Summersett PLLC here.
