In the case of small firms, it may be anything from a shoestring budget to a heavy workload. Through effective utilization of paralegals and secretaries, it can prove to be an extraordinary advantage in adding efficiency to improving client satisfaction. Paralegals and secretaries are unsung heroes for most legal practices. Their availability for specific support emancipates attorneys to give valuable time to high-value tasks.

The Distinct Roles of Paralegals and Secretaries

The most effective use of the different roles of paralegals and secretaries entails an understanding of their respective role. Even though both of their respective roles sometimes cross over into specific activities, both have a unique contribution to be given to a law firm:

• Paralegal Specially trained legal professional qualified to perform substantive legal work. They can prepare legal documents, conduct legal research and prepare attorneys for trials. Since paralegals can bill clients for their time, this is a very cost-effective method of handling many tasks.
• Legal Secretaries do the various administrative matters in arranging and setting meetings scheduling along with drafting letters and filing. They ensure the smoothness of the working office.

This way, the workload is divided between the smaller law firms so they don’t have to duplicate the efforts and hence are able to give their fullest.

Increase Efficiency by Outsourcing

One of the biggest advantages of having experienced paralegals and secretaries is delegation. Many lawyers fritter away a lot of their time on work which can be easily delegated to these people. For instance:

• Documentation: The pleadings, contracts and other legal documents can easily be prepared by the paralegals with much more accuracy and in conformation with the requirements of the law.
• Scheduling and Communication: Appointments, client queries and follow-ups are to be done by the secretaries to make sure that the due tasks are timely performed.
• Case Management: This would include maintenance of the case files, deadlines, communications with clients and with the witnesses.

Since these support activities free up lawyers time and at the same time provide assurance that every activity has been handled by a person of specialized knowledge and expertise such activities need to be outsourced. 

Cost-effective Options for Small Firms

The reason that small law firms will not often hire additional attorneys is not because of poor revenue but because this outlay is not always possible. Besides, employing paralegals and secretaries is less expensive. According to the industry studies, an average billing rate for paralegals is roughly one-third of what the attorneys are billing thus being much more economical in processing everyday legal work without sacrificing its quality.

Also, some economies of scale are realized with the integration of technology and human judgment. While the case management software performs the routine tasks, the secretaries and the paralegals review the data and handle the exceptions.

Establishing Better Rapport with Clients

Small law firms entirely rely on the goodwill of the clients. More often than not, the initial contact is with a paralegal or a secretary, and in such cases, professionalism and efficiency are the ways to win confidence. They can:

• Inform the clients about the status of the case at the appropriate time.
• Answer routine questions put by the clients without much delay.
• Communicate with clients and attorneys with ease.

By improving the clients’ experience, the paralegals and secretaries are retaining clients and positive word of mouth referrals. Both are critical to any small law firm that desires to grow.

Training and Professional Development

The training and professional development of the paralegals and secretaries is a key investment. On-going education keeps them current regarding changes in the legal arena as well as technical areas. Consider the:

• Legal seminars and workshops for them.
• Prefer a Certification of CP or PLS.
• Many areas of cross-training are available for them in order to maximize versatility.

A well-trained staff helps build the productivity and professionalism reputation of the firm.

Team Oriented Work Environment

This would necessitate teamplay so it enlivens the participation of paralegal and the secretaries. The flow should, must be spontaneous; recognition to a job well executed vis – a – vis your assistant be he a paralegal or secretary. Having meetings and various other team briefing sessions might help bring to light a couple of grey areas of concern of one issue that someone would wish some acknowledgement.

Case Study: Success by Using Effectively

Take, for instance, a small law firm with lawyers who specialize in family law. They add one experienced paralegal competent to undertake the work of composing custody agreements and other court pleadings, legal research. Add to this an able-bodied secretary with client communications and a consult-setting program. In cases such as these, strategic subcontracting sets free attorneys to do courtroom advocacy, expanding the number of cases that can be managed by as much as 30%, while improving customer satisfaction dramatically.

Conclusion

The paralegals and the secretaries are unsung heroes in case of any small law firm. Knowing their respective roles, how actually to allocate work in the workforce, invests in growth, and pays dividends to improve the productivity of the firm by reducing some of the unnecessary costs and establishing good rapport with the clients. With increasing competition soaring intra-legally these days, knowing how to utilize such pros is not only a bright idea but quite indispensable as well. Reach out to Legal Practice Solutions, LLC to learn more about paralegal services.