By Cheryl J. Leone and David W. Favor
The Daily Record Newswire
We find that most people in law firm management at small to medium-size firms came up through the ranks. They started out handling simple things and slowly took over more and more of the daily duties that were handled by the owner.
When lawyers are building firms, it is hard to justify the cost of a business manager when the goal is to get the work out the door. Thus, it is easier to spread these duties among several people.
There is no magical time to decide that someone in management will help your firm. It is our experience that, unfortunately, lawyers wait until their staff’s ability to generate work product is so inhibited with management duties that the work suffers and, if the work suffers, the income suffers.
Hiring one person to handle all the business duties can be a wise decision because it allows the owner to focus on not only the art of the practice of law but the art of the business of law. It also provides a clean distinction between staff who are hired for their skills to perform legal tasks and a person who is focused solely on the business.
The question is not when you hire but why should you hire. Growth in a law firm is directly related to the amount of time you spend on making good business decisions and implementing best business practices.
For example, a good business manager will maintain cost control on supplies and other products and thus free up money to spend on other things. Good managers do the day-to-day supervision of staff and can maintain a flow of work when task-oriented staff is hired.
We have one great business manager we work with in a fairly small firm who we are convinced has improved the lawyer’s business to the point it has increased profit.
She trains her people well. She has measurements in place to make sure things are done. She is constantly one step ahead of the lawyer in problems within the firm. She is an ambassador for the firm and she goes out and networks.
The lawyer told me he estimates that she has freed up almost half of his time just by doing what she does. This allows him to generate fees. Her firm has three attorneys and six regular staff. This is a small firm.
What is more interesting is the fact that the staff values this individual. She keeps an objective viewpoint and is quick to recognize the staff’s needs.
She has a secure place of trust with her lawyer-owner and is able to resolve issues before they bring down the firm. The staff trusts her because she is fair. They know she is making decisions that are in the best interests of the firm.
She has created work-culture magic.
This favorite business manager is total management. She handles everything and because she creates such a clear pipeline for work, she now has an administrative assistant so she is has more time to free to up the log jams.
She sees this as her job and she is right. She interfaces with all the vendors and makes all recommendations on what the firm needs are. It is a thing of joy to see her prepare her annual budget and then bring it in within budget each year.
Justification for payment of a good management person is simple. You hire people to do what they do best. Paralegals make great paralegals. Business managers make great business managers. Each has their own training, education and experience. Each has a value.
A well-run firm creates a profitable firm. And a profitable firm is what the results of best business practices delivers.
Leone and Favor are principals of Catalyst Group, Inc., a national professional development company in Raleigh, with emphasis on law firms through values-based management and high-performance training. You can get more practice tips by going to www.lawfirmcoachblog.com or visit their Web site at www.catalystgroupinc.com.
