Posted in Law
December 2, 2009
As a rule, law firms are generally well-run and fiscally-conscious enterprises. Always concerned with maximizing billable hours, and getting the most out of every employee from partner down to paralegal, they are “time equals money” personified. It should come as no surprise then that law firms in the 21st century are trying to outsource as much of their business and administrative needs as possible.
Here’s a look at the types of tasks that law firms around the country are currently outsourcing:
Paralegal
Once the mainstay of every law firm in the country, tough times have exiled many paralegals out of the full-time role and into the “on demand” world of outsourcing. Now, many firms will bring on paralegals only as needed, on a project by project basis for document indexing, filing papers with the court and of course, legal research. The paralegals can still be billed out to the client at a generous rate, but without having to pay them an annual salary.
Operator/Front Desk
These days, attorneys are so busy that they don’t even have time to get the phone throughout the course of the day. So it’s no wonder that they are willing to outsource their phone operations to a virtual office company. Unless a firm needs a physical presence at the front desk, the virtual office services make great sense ‘ and cost much less than hiring a full time receptionist.
Court Reporting
File Clerk
Another one-time staple of law firms, file clerks are now more commonly brought in occasionally throughout the year to maintain large filing systems and make sure everything is accessible and well-organized. Once, not having a file clerk at a law firm would have seemed impossible, but the advent of the “paperless” law firm have pushed the bulk of the correspondence online ‘ making the flow of documents much easier to handle.
Other Attorneys
That’s right, lawyers are now saving money by outsourcing their own legal work. Why do they do it? When a clients comes in with a big case that is going to stretch resources to the limit, the firm can do one of two things ‘ they can hire additional attorneys at a tremendous cost, or outsource chunks of the work to other lawyers on a piece-by-piece basis. With the former, there is no guarantee that the full-time attorney will be needed after the case is over, but in the latter, the firm is only paying for the work they need done.
About the Author:
Mark Etinger is a business strategist at Ajax Union Marketing Ajax Union specializes in Business Development and Internet Marketing
Tags: court reporters, file clerks, operator/front desk, Paralegals
Lessons from Top Paralegals
LESSONS from the Top Paralegal Experts is a unique and much needed reference as there is nothing else like it for paralegal students and professionals on the market. It not only covers success stories about paralegal professionals but also shares their insights on how they do their work.
