Running any small business — particularly a law firm — can be fraught with challenges and stress. Ensure you have hired the appropriate staff, and you’ll be poised for success.
If you are starting a new law firm or simply expanding an existing practice, hiring staff is likely the biggest challenge you will face. You may feel like you’ve hired a strong team, but is there anyone you are missing? Here are some ideas of people you should hire to keep things running smoothly.
1. Associates
No matter the size of your law firm, it is wise to hire an associate or two to help the named partners handle the caseload. These employees can deal with new or lower-profile customers so that the partners can focus on more pressing tasks. Of course, if the associate performs well, they always have the potential of moving up the ladder and becoming a named partner. While they are associate level, however, they can handle more menial tasks such as taking smaller cases off the partners’ plates and dealing with court reporters Portland.
2. An IT Team
You may not be a very technical office, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t need at least some IT staff to help keep your servers and computers running. If you have a server failure or a computer crash, it gives you peace of mind knowing that you have a team that can get it fixed, so you don’t lose productivity. It is also wise to have a web presence for your firm, and your IT team can help to develop a website for your practice so you can be found online.
3. A Good Office Manager
A good office manager is more than just a receptionist who answers phones and greets visitors. This person is also responsible for hiring and firing associates and other staff and performs day-to-day tasks so the partners can focus on practicing law. The perfect office manager can also act as an HR person — handling employee questions or problems that would otherwise be the responsibility of the firm owners. This job exists to make the partners’ lives easier, so be sure to vet anyone you are hiring to fill this position to ensure they have what it takes.
4. Law Clerks
You and your partners don’t have the time to do research for every case and pore through thousands of pages of discovery. Hiring law clerks — typically college students or law students who have not yet passed the bar — is a great way to ensure this work is being done without having to lift a finger. Many can even be hired as interns for internship hours instead of payment, which helps, especially if you are a small firm that lacks funding. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a clerk or two who you like and can potentially hire as associates once they have completed all of the prerequisites for becoming a lawyer.
5. A Legal Secretary
Even if you have a great office manager, consider hiring a legal secretary to make your life easier. Many attorneys have their own secretaries instead of having one who reports to all of the partners. A secretary can keep you organized and ensure that your calendar is always up to date. They can make appointments, perform all scheduling, and even send and receive paperwork and files so you can focus on your client. You may be an amazing lawyer, but some people simply aren’t organized. Why bother with organizational tasks that take you away from working directly with your clients when you can hire a great secretary to help streamline your workday?
Final Thoughts
Running any small business — particularly a law firm — can be fraught with challenges and stress. Ensure you have hired the appropriate staff, and you’ll be poised for success.
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