How to improve efficiency in a small law firm

Key takeaways

Law firm efficiency in small practices is lost in intake, file opening, diary management, document chasing and billing admin, much of it done by fee earners. A structured enquiry intake, a file-opening checklist, a support team for routine admin and prompt billing return fee-earner time. Advice, judgement and client relationships stay with solicitors.

• Structured intake qualifies enquiries before a solicitor calls.
• A file-opening checklist stops matters stalling at the start.
• Support staff handle diary, document chasing and billing admin.
• Advice and client relationships stay with solicitors.

Where do small firms lose time?

Small firms lose time when solicitors take every enquiry call, open files themselves, chase clients for documents, manage their own diaries and prepare bills at month-end. Each task is small, but together they can take a large part of the week and push billable work into evenings.

• How outsourcing can improve business efficiency
• Outsourcing for professional services firms

How do you streamline intake?

Streamline intake with a set of qualifying questions for each practice area, asked by a support person or service before the enquiry reaches a solicitor. Collect the details needed for conflict checks and a quote. The solicitor then calls prepared, and enquiries outside your areas are referred politely and quickly.

• Lead qualification process: spend sales time on real buyers
• Lead routing: get every enquiry to the right person fast

What admin can a support team take on?

A support team can take on diary management, file opening to a checklist, collecting and checking client identity documents for the solicitor's review, chasing documents, preparing standard letters from templates and billing admin. The solicitor reviews and signs.

• Diary management and appointment booking.
• File opening to a checklist.
• Collecting documents for the solicitor's checks.
• Standard letters from templates.
• Time entry review and bill preparation.

• Outsourced diary management: is it worth it for owners?
• How to increase billable hours without longer days

What does the gain look like in numbers?

In an illustrative firm with five solicitors, each spends about six hours a week on intake calls, diary and admin. With a support team handling intake questions, diaries and billing admin, each regains about four hours. If half become billable at an illustrative £150 an hour, that is £300 per solicitor a week. Example figures only.

• Non-billable hours: how many is too many?
• What is your time worth as a business owner?

What about regulation and confidentiality?

Solicitors remain responsible for regulated work and client confidentiality when using support services. The Solicitors Regulation Authority's transparency rules also require certain price and service information on firms' websites. Use a written processor contract, limited access, a transfer safeguard for offshore support and keep any reserved or advice work with solicitors.

• GDPR and offshore outsourcing
• Data processing agreements for outsourcing

When is outsourcing not suitable?

It is not suitable for advice, judgement, reserved legal activities or highly sensitive matters that cannot be shared. It is also less useful where a firm's admin is already handled well by an in-house secretary or legal assistant.

• Core vs non-core activities: what to keep in-house

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: solicitors answer every enquiry call themselves, many of them outside the firm's practice areas. A short intake routine run by a support team means solicitors only speak to likely clients, prepared with the details they need.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Law firm efficiency checklist

Check these in your firm.

• Intake questions for each practice area.
• A file-opening checklist.
• Diaries managed by support staff.
• Standard letter templates.
• Time recorded daily and bills prepared promptly.

• Outsourcing efficiency checklist: 20 checks

Next step

Tell us your firm's size and practice areas. We will suggest which admin a support team could take on and what must stay with solicitors.