Last week I visited a client of mine and invited him to lunch. Now, I know my Coaching clients might at first cringe if they heard that I invited someone to lunch since I am of the opinion that taking a prospective client to lunch to make a Sales Call is generally a bad idea. But it wasn’t a Sales Call with a prospect and my client and I didn’t have anything confidential on the agenda so privacy was not an issue.

In fact we were having lunch at this particular restaurant for educational purposes, to study its operations and learn how we could bring greater predictability to the operations of my client’s solo practice in order for him to take a whole month off this year. The first step to having this kind of freedom is the focus of this article.

Is Your Staff Over-Qualified?

I can still remember how proud my parents were when they attended my law school graduation. My family and friends probably had images of me arguing a worthy cause before a jury, sticking up for the rights of deserving clients and other lawyerly things. I am pretty sure no-one at my graduation dinner imagined me chasing down (my own) deadbeat clients, comparison shopping office supplies or circling the block looking for a parking space so I could run into the courthouse and deliver my pearls of wisdom to the clerk of court. No, these are not the jobs of a lawyer. That’s what the staff is for, right?

Every one of the dozens, hundreds and thousands of lawyers I have visited, conducted seminars & workshops for and spoken with over the telephone, has shared the following positions on their staff: Receptionist, Secretary, Paralegal, Associate, Rainmaker, Manager and Owner. You do too, I’m sure of it. When I first opened my own law firm, every member of the staff looked just like me and greeted me every morning in the bathroom mirror. Problem was, my legal education only prepared me for two of these jobs: Paralegal and Associate. No wonder I was frustrated and unable to produce a gazillion billable hours like my friends at the large firms!

Large Firm Economics 101

In a large law firm, there are clearly defined boundaries concerning each job description. Receptionists answer the phone, Secretaries organize files and Paralegals do preliminary research and draft legal documents for a lawyer’s review and signature. The Associates are the workhorses of a law firm. You can tell you are in Associate territory when you are touching the actual saleable product or service. If it can’t be billed to a client, the Associate has no business doing it. Rainmakers venture out into the world to send work back to the firm and Managers make sure it all gets done, billed and collected. Atop this whole edifice is the Owner or Owners whose needs are served by everyone below.

Small Firm Economics 101

In a small law firm there are also boundaries though usually not as clearly defined. In small firms, Associates often fill in for Secretaries and Paralegals frequently fill the Office Manager’s job. Rainmakers rarely get out to play as often as they should and the needs of the Owner or Owners may or may not be adequately served. Solo practitioners, who make up the majority of lawyers in this country, too often find themselves functioning as "over-qualified" support staff.

The First Step To Freedom Is To Document Job Boundaries

A job boundary is different than a job description. The reality of small law firms is that there is rarely sufficient infrastructure to allow the luxury of saying anything is “not my job.” Everyone pitches in to get all the jobs done. This is the sign of a cohesive team & that’s a good thing. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing though. A good sign that a bad thing is happening in a law firm is when staff members wander too far, too often beyond the boundaries defined for them. When this occurs and valuable Associate hours are spent in Support Staff territory, revenues are sure to suffer.

How To Document Job Boundaries

List all of the things that everyone in the firm does on a weekly or monthly basis. Then go through the list and categorize whether the task is best performed by someone with skills and credentials of a Receptionist, Secretary, Paralegal, Associate, Rainmaker, Manager or Owner.

Here are a couple of hints to get you started: Receptionists communicate with clients; Secretaries organize files, draft correspondence and prepare routine documents and pleadings; Paralegals perform initial or complex research, draft more complex documents and can often sell some of these services to clients; Associates sell everything they do to clients; Rainmakers make the phones ring for Receptionists, create files for Secretaries, issues for Paralegals and billable hours for Associates to work on. Managers coordinate everything, pay vendors, send out bills, monitor the budget and make sure everyone shows up for work each week. The Owner’s job is to provide the capital to fund all of these activities and to identify and communicate his or her personal needs which the firm must satisfy in order to justify its existence.

So, Is Your Staff Over-Qualified?

For most of the lawyers I work with, the answer is “yes.” At the same time though, staying within the lines can be pretty boring sometimes so don’t beat yourself up about it the next time you find yourself functioning as an over-qualified Runner. Just be sure to account for all of your hours each week, remain cognizant of how you invest your time and make sure everyone on your staff shows up to work.

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