By Guest Blogger, Melanie Fischer
Are you at the point in your career as a solo attorney where you can no longer manage your firm’s accounts payable, accounts receivable, marketing, filing, and miscellaneous administrative duties – – all while attempting to get your legal work completed effectively and on time? Owning and managing a solo law firm can be time-consuming and challenging. All of the duties required to run an effective and successful solo practice are often too much for a solo attorney to handle alone.
If you have reached the point in which managing your firm, in addition to your workload, has become overwhelming, it might be time to start looking for a legal assistant and/or office manager. In many cases, a solo attorney’s support staff is the key to the success of the firm.
Solo attorneys often put off hiring an assistant or office manager because finding the right person for the job can be a daunting task. When the time is right to hire someone, every solo attorney hopes to find a bright, competent, approachable assistant who works effectively with clients and has the initiative to handle complex issues – not to mention someone who meshes well with your personality and office environment. Essentially, finding the right person for the job can oftentimes prove to be more difficult than it first appears.
If you are contemplating hiring an assistant, make sure to consider the following:
Do your billable hours justify an assistant’s salary? If you are allocating your time to completing tasks that could be completed by someone else, and your current billable hours can support an assistant’s salary, it’s time to start think about hiring someone to help.
What do you need – an assistant or a paralegal? Whether you hire a legal assistant, a paralegal, an office manager, or someone to help with accounting or basic office duties, depends on your firm’s specific needs. But many solo attorneys opt to hire someone who has several skills and is willing to help in many different areas.
How much are you willing to pay? It’s important to remember that the job candidate who demands the highest salary is not necessarily the absolute best person for the job. Many solo attorneys say that you get what you pay for, but that’s not true in all situations. Essentially, you want to find someone who is the right fit for the job – and not get hung up on someone who wants $5,000 more or $5,000 less than another job candidate.
Where should you look for job candidates? You have a few choices, and there are pros and cons with all of them. There are several legal placement services that are happy to help – but this can be an expensive option for a solo attorney. Placing an ad on an online job board will likely generate responses from many qualified applicants, but sifting through resumes can be a time-consuming task. Asking for referrals from members of the legal community is another popular method for finding qualified candidates.
No matter how you answered the above questions, there are a few guidelines that all solo attorneys should follow prior to hiring an assistant, legal secretary or paralegal:
Make sure the job description you post is accurate. If you expect the person you hire to have certain skills, be specific and list the skills in your job posting.
Take time to personally interview the candidates. It’s important to spend more than five minutes with the individuals being interviewed for the job in your office. Besides ensuring the candidates are qualified for the job, it’s also important to make sure your personalities click.
Check references. It’s easy to avoid checking references because it can be a time-consuming process, but excellent references will help you make the right hiring decision.
Realize that there will be a learning curve. It’s practically impossible to hire an assistant who will show up on the first day of work and completely understand the organization of your office and your preferred work style. Make sure to give the adjustment a few days.
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