Is client service a lost art?  Inherent in the very existence of a law firm is its practice; however, there is no practice without a client and service (quality service).  At the root of any law firm must be its ability to effectively serve the client; that must be the primary focus.  Client service should be one of the top goals of every law firm.  In their book, “The Firm of the Future,” Paul Dunn and Ron Baker provide the following quote from Sam Walton:

“There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

Sounds a bit like if I don’t get the service or value I want, I’m going elsewhere.  In Set Your Law Firm Apart with a Formal Client Service Standard Policy Janet Ellen Raasch states, “If your firm offers outstanding service, clients are likely to use you again – and to refer you to others. If your firm offers mediocre or poor service, clients are less likely to use you again or refer you to others – especially when there are so many options available.  Research shows that unhappy clients will rarely complain, but they will look elsewhere.”  There should be no doubt that client service should be all about serving and keeping the client.

What Is Client Service?

Client service is a complete and total focus on the client. It is about getting to know your client’s business as intimately as possible and then delivering superior service.  Knowing your client’s business involves not only understanding the results of what the client is trying to accomplish, but also knowing and having an awareness or understanding of the business your client is in.  How can you focus on your client to gain awareness of his business?  Listed below are some ways to focus on your client in order to gain awareness of his business:

• researching your client’s industry;
• sitting in on client meetings other than those related to the legal issue at hand;
• subscribing to industry magazines and/or subscribing to RSS feeds pertaining to your client’s industry;
• assigning one, two or more attorneys to provide updates about the business of your client;
• attending industry-related seminars;
• visiting your client; and
• learning about your client’s competition.

It is important to stay in contact with your client even if it is just to say hello.  It is also equally important to follow up on what you say you’re going to do and to keep the client informed at all times.

Communication is a key factor in client service, and you must communicate with the client regularly.  Returning all calls in an expeditious manner as well as keeping the client informed of the case is a must.  Focus on the client.  Client service is all about the client and not you. Get over yourself.

Just as important as it is to maintain communication with the client, you will gain valuable and useful information by simply asking the client what he thinks about the service you’re providing and what you can do better.  Who better to provide you with the information you need to improve your service?  Imagine just for a moment if you listened and then acted upon the feedback.  You might just improve your service and reap the benefits of a healthier long-term client relationship.  Client service isn’t a lost art, but you definitely have to pay attention.  It really is about the client.

Holland & Knight is going through another round of layoffs.  The firm experienced layoffs last year in February laying off about 240 employees, including 70 lawyers. As large law firms continue to experience layoffs, what happens next? If the large firms seem to be struggling to survive, can the small  firms make it?

Every business should be interested in lowering costs and increasing productivity.  Right? Right. 

Over the last two years law firms cut costs by eliminating or laying off employees (i.e., attorneys, marketing personnel, paralegals, legal secretaries and other support services personnel).  The firms did so to reduce costs as a result of an economic downturn or slow and declining business – revenue. 

Earlier this month, Law.com reported that the law firm Mayer Brown laid off 75 of its employees, including 28 attorneys.  A week or so earlier the firm laid off 135 staff members, including lawyers.  The layoffs at Mayer Brown were nationwide. Lawshucks.com tracks law firm layoffs and indicates on its website that as of April 8, 2010, 14,696 jobs were eliminated at major law firms (5,772 lawyers / 8,924 staff) since January 2008. This data shows a higher percentage of staff layoffs (~61%) compared to that of attorney layoffs – 39%. Lawshucks.com further indicates that there have been 485 layoffs this year (186 attorneys/299 staff); this number also represents a higher percentage of staff layoffs (62%) compared to attorney layoffs of 38%. A decline in revenue and a slow recovery have prompted law firms to eliminate attorney and staff/support services position.

Law firms can get the support services they need by engaging the services of a virtual assistant.  A virtual assistant (also referred to as a VA) is a highly skilled entrepreneur that typically works from his/her home-based business providing business and/or legal support services through the effective use of technology. 

The advent of the Internet and the endless progression and availability of technology enable VAs to work remotely for clients virtually anywhere in the world. VAs have been providing support services to businesses for many years.  The phrase virtual assistant came into being in the ‘90s, and the VA industry has seen tremendous growth.  Support and networking organizations such as The International Virtual Assistants Association provide assistance and support to VAs worldwide.  VAs provide valuable services worldwide to businesses of all types.

Services Offered by a VA

Traditionally, VAs provided secretarial and administrative services; however, today VAs provide a wealth of services that include, but are not limited to, the following types of services:

• legal secretarial;
• word processing/document management;
• paralegal support;
• tape transcription;
• research and writing;
• travel / conference arrangements;
• marketing communications support;
• desktop publishing;
• website design;
• content management – website, blog, wiki;
• database management;
• computer/technical support;
• event management; and
• human resource management.

In this economic downtown, VAs can be a vital part of your business.  With law firms cutting costs and eliminating support services roles, it makes good sense to hire a qualified VA for your support needs or as an extension of your business.

Do you have a special project that doesn’t require a full-time employee?  Need to get a mass mailing out or holiday greeting cards or labels completed?  Are you converting documents from one application to another or need to scan tons of documents into PDF format?  Have projects been placed on hold because you don’t have adequate support staff on hand?  Need someone to answer your phone, check your e-mail or voice mail?  If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then you need a VA. 

The services that a VA can perform and provide are endless.  Lawyers looking to start their own practices will find the services of a VA indispensible.

Advantages of Utilizing a VA

Are you wondering what you gain by utilizing a VA?  Well, the benefits are plenty.  Imagine eliminating:

• costs associated with hiring a permanent employee (recruiting expenses, salary, taxes, benefits/vacations, pensions, insurance, space rental, and equipment (computer, software, furniture, telephone, etc.));
• downtime associated with an employee not showing up for work – lost productivity;
• costs associated with employee turnover;
• costs associated with training; and
• any number of other associated costs with hiring and maintaining permanent employees.

With a VA you pay only for the services performed – a very cost-effective solution.  Whether you need 2 hours, 4 hours or a full day, you’re not saddled with paying unnecessary expenses.  VAs typically have years of experience in their particular field or area of expertise.

You can’t do it all so what better time than now to hire a VA to assist you with meeting your business goals.  As a business owner you have specialized skills that enable you to generate income for your business, but if you spend time handling tasks that a VA could perform you lose income and decrease productivity.  That doesn’t have to be the case. Collaborate with a VA to keep costs down and still get the business support you need.

Hiring a VA

So you need a VA.  When looking to hire a VA check out the VA’s website to get a sense of the type of person she/he is.  The website should list at a minimum: 

• the services offered;
• professional and educational background of the VA;
• a method of contact; and
• rates charged – highly skilled VAs may charge anywhere from $40 to $100 per hour depending on the service (rates vary and in some instances can be higher). 

You should also e-mail or call the VA to get a sense of how responsive the VA is.  You might also be able to contact the VA via a form on the website.  The website should provide you with enough information to determine if the VA is someone you would like to do business with.  Once you have reviewed the website and like what you have seen, make contact with the VA.  The conversation(s) you experience with the VA will further determine if a business relationship is viable.

A VA may require:

• a minimum number of hour(s) to get started working with you,
• that you sign a contract for services, and
• a down payment before beginning any work. 

Don’t let this deter you since the VA is in business also.  Just as you’re checking out the VA, he/she is also checking you out.  For a VA, having these mechanisms in place usually weed out unsavory potential clients.  In the end, you need to be as diligent in your search for a highly skilled and competent VA as you would for a permanent employee.  You and your VA can enjoy a lasting long productive relationship.

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A version of this article (by Carmela Williams) was published in TLOMA Today (December 2009, pg 13), a newsletter of The Law Office Management Association.

As law firms downsized, not only were attorneys let go, but support staff were given their walking papers also.  The elimination of support staff meant many legal secretaries found themselves out of a job.

Legal secretaries are a valuable resource.  As more and more technically skilled lawyers enter the workforce, are legal secretaries becoming obsolete?  The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010 – 2011 Edition indicates that the projection for administrative assistants and secretaries is expected to increase by 11% between 2008 and 2018, and “moderate growth in legal services is projected to lead to faster than average growth in employment of legal secretaries.”  The BLS estimates a projected increase of 18% in legal secretaries (311,000 employment data) by the year 2018 from 2008 (262,600 employment data for legal secretaries).  Legal secretaries are highly beneficial.

Tap Into Your Legal Secretary’s Skills

To get the most out of your legal secretary (L.S.), as an employer, you must utilize the L.S. to his/her full potential and challenge your L.S.  A number of L.S. have a broad spectrum of experience, education and skills that the employer never really taps into.  Most L.S. have much more than the required skills for the job.  Probably more L.S., than not, want the opportunity to prove that they can do more than type, draft basic communication, enter attorney time, scan documents, answer the phone, make copies, etc. (These skills are highly valuable and useful.)

Once the attorney becomes aware or knowledgeable about the added skills the L.S. can provide, he/she should challenge the L.S. by assigning more meaningful (and challenging) responsibilities.  (Be sure to communicate with your L.S. since this presumably means more work probably at the same level of pay – until raise time, of course.) 

Law firms should cross train its L.S. in other capacities – paralegal work, I.T. support, word processing support, project coordinator, content management, litigation support, etc.  Having other avenues in which to effectively utilize the L.S. helps to increase productivity and enables the firm to get the most out of its L.S.  Even though firms have moved to a 2:1, 3:1 or even 4:1 attorney to secretary ratio, that may not be enough or be productive. 

Increased Attorney to Secretary Ratios Can be Counterproductive

In cases where a L.S. may support one or two partners and an associate or two, associates may feel that the L.S. doesn’t have the time to handle their work, and the associate ends up doing the work.  Assigning several attorneys to one secretary can present an impression (in the mind of other attorneys) that the secretary won’t get to my work (at least in the timeframe that the attorney needs it). Having attorney to secretary ratios of 3:1, 4:1 or even 5:1 can prove counterproductive.  Secretaries may either be too busy to handle the workload of all the assigned attorneys or sit idle waiting on something to do.  When you have an associate with a billable rate of $175, and he/she has to constantly make the copies (or perform other duties that the L.S. should be handling) because the L.S. can’t get to it – that’s counterproductive; when the L.S. sits idle (because the associate doesn’t give him/her work) that’s counterproductive.

A L.S. can provide legal and administrative support in a number of ways.  It is up to the firm to make the most of the resources it has.

Everywhere I turn, or at least almost every website I visit nowadays, the word “collaboration” is found.

What exactly does collaboration mean for a law firm?  Merriam-Webster online describes collaboration as “to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor.”  For a law firm, collaboration is essential for:

• building client relationships;
• accomplishing projects or objectives (on a firm level or client level) – with the use of teams;
• managing vendor relationships; and
• forging positive employee relations.

Any disconnect in the relationship, and you have a failed one, and perhaps the makings for a failed law firm also.  With that said, what can firms do to ensure successful collaboration with its stakeholders?  Some factors to ensure successful collaboration with stakeholders include:

• communication – open and ongoing  communication;
• vision – that is clearly communicated and shared among the stakeholders;
• transparency – allowing for trust and respect to be built between the parties;
• benefit/reward – stakeholders need a real sense of what they’re gaining (the receiving and giving party have to receive a benefit);
• fostering a collaborative environment – where individual can readily draw upon the knowledge and expertise of others;
• establishing a plan;
• acknowledgement that a joint effort usually works best; and
• recognizing that each individual makes a contribution – no matter how small or big – or brings something to the table.

Putting these factors into play will enable firms to begin a journey towards a collaborative environment, and one that enjoys beneficial and long-term relationships with its stakeholders.

I jumped right into knowledge management and collaborative work systems in my last post.  But, let’s back up some and take a look at the service industry (and more specifically – the law firm).

Whether the law firm is small, medium or large, the focus should be the client, and providing a valuable service to the client in the most efficient way.  Now more than ever, attorneys (and law firms) are recognizing the need to serve the client in the best possible way – building strong client relationships.  

Firms are going to great lengths to satisfy its clients, even to the point of reducing fees and/or restructuring the way clients are billed – not simply billing at an hourly rate – reducing the number of associates that work on a case, and using fixed fee billing.  Clients are demanding it, and law firms are listening.

Law firms are definitely paying more attention to their clients’ needs, and going all out to serve the client in the best possible way.  Maintaining client relations has become much more important especially in this economy.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ve taken a project on KM: Collaborative Work Systems that I did while attending the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and placed the materials on my website at this link – KM: Collaborative Work Systems.  Once there, you will find links for the following pages:

CWS;
Goal of CWS;
Types of CWS;
Critical Success Factors;
Strategy for CWS;
Technology and Techniques;
Benefits;
ROI;
Lessons Learned; and
Resources.

You can also access the KM: CWS web pages by clicking the link to the right in the section entitled Blogroll.

Should you find links and/or information that are obsolete. let me know as I originally did this project in 2008.  Over time, I will get around to updating and removing obsolete information.

Welcome to my blog, Law Firm Matters.  This blog will focus on basically all things related to the matters of a law firm. Topics will include any and everything from office support services – marketing – help desk/technical support – administration – project management – recruiting. Occasionally, legal issues will also surface.

A more meaty post on the subject of knowledge management coming soon. 

I am looking for writers with law firm experience that would like to contribute to this blog.  Hope you enjoy taking the ride with me and evoking interesting posts on law firm matters.