For many small and mid-sized law firms, success doesn’t just hinge on legal expertise—it also depends on efficiency. Every extra hour spent formatting documents, chasing down time entries, or managing admin-heavy workflows is an hour lost from client service and revenue generation.

Smokeball has become a game-changer for firms seeking to automate activity capture and streamline matter management. But technology alone cannot eliminate every bottleneck. Firms still face significant demands in document prep, compliance, and routine admin. That’s where the SBA Away Team comes in. Together, Smokeball and SBA Away Team form a powerful combination—giving your firm more time for what matters most: serving your clients.

Where Firms Lose Time

Even with the robust automation that Smokeball offers, law firms still find themselves bogged down by repetitive, low-value tasks. Let’s explore the most common pain points:

1. Document Clean-Up and Formatting

Yes, Smokeball generates documents quickly—but that doesn’t mean they’re always ready for client delivery. Attorneys and paralegals spend countless hours fixing formatting issues, aligning styles, or ensuring compliance with firm branding. This type of work adds up and quietly eats into billable hours.

2. Matter Details and Client Correspondence

Smokeball makes matter data accessible, but entering and maintaining that data still takes time. From tracking client addresses to logging correspondence, someone has to make sure the records remain clean, accurate, and up to date. For busy firms, this responsibility often lands on fee-earners who should be focused on higher-value tasks.

3. Activity Capture and Time Recording

Smokeball tracks activity automatically, but human oversight is still essential. Time entries need reviewing, categorization, and reconciliation. Without consistent monitoring, firms risk inaccurate billing, potential write-offs, and client disputes.

4. Admin-Heavy Workflows

Finally, there are all the “non-legal” but unavoidable tasks: scheduling, data entry, filing, compliance checks, and more. They may be routine, but they are essential—and they often pull fee-earners away from direct client service.

How the SBA Away Team Fits In

The SBA Away Team exists to fill these gaps, providing the human layer that ensures Smokeball delivers maximum value. Think of it as adding horsepower to your existing system.

1. Document Perfectionists at Your Service

Instead of attorneys or paralegals spending hours reworking documents, the SBA Away Team ensures everything generated in Smokeball is client-ready. Formatting is standardized, branding is consistent, and compliance is built in. That means your clients receive polished work faster—and your firm protects its professional image.

2. Reliable Matter Data Management

Data integrity is key in any case management system. The Away Team supports your firm by handling matter updates, managing client correspondence, and ensuring every detail stays current. This not only saves time but also prevents the errors and oversights that can affect case outcomes.

3. Billing Accuracy through Time Monitoring

The Away Team actively monitors Smokeball’s time capture to confirm that every billable minute is recorded correctly. They help your firm minimize leakage, reduce write-offs, and ensure invoices are both accurate and defensible. The result: stronger financial performance and fewer billing disputes.

4. Handling the Admin Burden

The Away Team doesn’t shy away from the repetitive but necessary workflows that often bog down your practice. Whether it’s data entry, compliance tracking, or routine reporting, they take on these responsibilities—freeing up your legal staff to focus exclusively on client-facing work.

The Benefits to Your Firm

When you combine Smokeball’s automation with SBA Away Team’s human support, your firm operates at a whole new level of efficiency. Let’s break down the benefits:

Faster Turnaround Times

With the Away Team managing document preparation, correspondence, and admin, your firm delivers client work faster. That means shorter response times, quicker resolutions, and happier clients.

More Accurate Billing

Smokeball ensures time is tracked, but the Away Team ensures it’s billed correctly. This partnership reduces the risk of underbilling, prevents unnecessary write-offs, and improves revenue capture. Accuracy builds trust, both internally with your finance team and externally with your clients.

Lower Overhead Costs

Hiring in-house staff for every admin or formatting task is expensive. The Away Team provides a scalable, cost-effective alternative. You gain professional support without adding permanent headcount—reducing payroll costs while maintaining quality.

Scalability for Growth

Perhaps the most powerful benefit: scalability. As your firm grows, so does the workload. The Away Team scales with you, ensuring that your Smokeball system remains optimized and your fee-earners stay focused on high-value work. Growth doesn’t have to mean growing pains.

Real-World Scenarios: What This Looks Like in Practice

To bring this to life, let’s walk through some examples of how Smokeball + SBA Away Team transforms everyday workflows:

• Scenario 1: The Court Filing Crunch
  Your team generates a motion in Smokeball, but formatting takes hours to correct before filing. With the Away Team, those corrections happen seamlessly—your attorneys can focus on the legal argument, not Word styles.
• Scenario 2: The Missed Time Entry
  An attorney forgets to categorize an automatically captured activity. Without oversight, it could slip through the cracks. The Away Team flags and fixes it, ensuring the client is billed accurately.
• Scenario 3: Scaling During a Big Case
  Your firm takes on a large litigation matter, doubling the administrative load overnight. Instead of overwhelming your paralegals, the Away Team absorbs the spike in admin tasks—keeping everything running smoothly.

Why This Partnership Works

The relationship between Smokeball and the SBA Away Team isn’t about replacing technology with people or people with technology—it’s about synergy.

• Smokeball brings automation, activity tracking, and matter management.
• SBA Away Team brings human judgment, attention to detail, and scalable support.

Together, they create a seamless workflow where nothing slips through the cracks, and every piece of client work is delivered with speed and precision.

A Smarter Model for Modern Firms

The legal industry is evolving. Clients demand responsiveness, transparency, and value. Firms that rely solely on manual processes struggle to keep up. Firms that rely solely on technology risk overlooking the human element.

By combining Smokeball with SBA Away Team, your firm gains the best of both worlds. You’re not just keeping pace—you’re setting the pace.

• Efficiency becomes predictable.
• Admin becomes manageable.
• Growth becomes scalable.

Most importantly, your attorneys and paralegals get back the one resource they can never replace: time with clients.

Call to Action: Unlock More Efficiency Today

Your firm already uses Smokeball to capture time and manage matters. Now it’s time to take the next step. Let SBA’s Away Team help you unlock even more efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.

Reach out to us today to learn how the Away Team can support your Smokeball practice and give your firm more time for what truly matters—your clients.