The competitive environment today oftentimes finds small firms across the country attempting to do more with less. An inordinately small budget, coupled with a tight schedule and ever-increasing workload, combine to make the going really tough for a small business. One of the ways by which the gap between ambition and resources can be satisfactorily bridged is through the use of paralegals and secretaries. These professionals contribute to substantial improvements in the functioning and, consequently, growth of such firms through increased productivity.
Strategic Value of Paralegal and Secretary Support
Paralegals and secretaries are anything but administrative personnel-highly strategic enablers who bring specialized knowledge and competencies to the table to facilitate enabling small firms to actually work on core business activities.
- Here is how: A small firm cannot afford to hire professionals full-time for every function. Many times paraprofessionals and secretaries are hired part-time or on a contract basis. These provide relatively inexpensive highly skilled support. This provides the firm with access to expertise without the full-time salary, benefit, and training costs.
- Smooth operations: Precisely trained in legal research and document preparation, not forgetting keeping compliant, paralegals are a big help in scheduling, correspondence, and record-keeping. Thus, both make sure that the day-to-day business is running smoothly, with uncluttered slates of the owners/managers’ schedule to then attend to strategic matters.
- Improved Customer Satisfaction: Good administration means good service for the client. The paralegal will have the legal documents complete and corrected in good time as the secretaries ensure that communications are clearly relayed and meetings flow as they should. This in turn, will translate to a good reputation being built for the firm with loyal clients.
Key Responsibilities
It is, consequently of paramount importance to realize the different yet complementary roles played by the paralegals and secretaries as the small firms seek to fully utilize their contributions to the firms:
- Paralegals: These are mainly legal assistants who draft contracts, conduct legal research, and also prepare case files. Many a time they prepare for the trial, hearings, or even conferences of clients on behalf of attorneys. Some states authorize paralegals to offer limited legal services on the guidance of an attorney with supervision.
- Secretaries: Secretaries deal with administrative issues that help the firm to be more organized. Ranging from maintaining calendars, answering telephone calls to preparing reports and records maintenance, a secretary is crucial in maintaining efficiency and order within the firm.
Benefits to Small Firms
Small firms which benefit from support by utilizing paralegals and secretaries have the following benefits:
- Scalability: the extent of scaling is that as the firm starts to grow so does the need for administration, this hiring of flexible supporting staff makes scaling easier and does not over-stretch the budget.
- Time Management: time of the business owners which was utilized for the routine tasks given to paralegals and secretaries could be better utilized in strategic thinking and acquiring clients and the servicing of clients.
- Risk Aversion: Mistakes in legal and administration matters are costly. The role of paralegals helps firms stay in compliance with current requirements, and secretaries’ record-keeping competencies can prevent many instances when oversight and mistakes may lead to any damage to the firms.
Tips for Small Firms to Hire Paralegal and Secretary Support
Following are ways by which small firms may have leverage through paralegal and secretary supports productively:
- Clearly outline the roles: Before hiring a professional, understand what the job that needs performance, along with the roles which the employee will have to play. This understanding makes sure that you find workers whose skills fit the bill of what your firms want.
- Make use of technology: This might include virtual assistants along cloud software that complement the service of paralegals along with secretaries.
- Invest in training: Even veterans need to be trained to get attuned to certain workflows and goals of your firm. Provide initial onboarding and follow-through development to maximize their effect.
- Consider remote options: Today, this is an absolute reality as one considers virtual paralegals and secretaries that have the same level of expertise but help reduce overhead related to office space and office equipment.
Real Success Stories
Add such support to a myriad of small firms and this powerhouse is unleashed in the form of exponential growth. For example, a. A law firm of eight attorneys doubled its client load in one year by adding a part-time paralegal who better managed the cases and a part-time secretary who vastly improved communications with clients. Another good example is a Texas real estate agency unclogging operational bottlenecks with a virtual secretary. With that, the agents could finally focus on what really mattered: closing deals.
End Note
This will in turn enable the small U.S. firm to give quality support at less cost with the relatively low-cost expertise through paralegal and secretary support. This will ultimately enable them to work smarter, give better service, and expand the business in a more sustainable manner. Well-defined roles, judicious use of technology, and flexibility in working arrangements are important for releasing the true potential of the administrative support team for the longer-term prospects at the small firm.
Reach out to Legal Practice Solutions, LLC to learn more.
