Legal Office

• Law firms are both complex and fast-moving, requiring firm leaders to be strategic with the creation and implementation of systems
• Different Types of Law Firms


  • The Large Firm
  • The Medium-sized Firm
  • The Small Firm
• The Large Firm


  • Has as many as several hundred to several thousand attorneys, with offices all over the country and even the world
  • Pays the highest wage to all employees and offers a wider range of benefits and perks
  • Requires at least one year of legal experience before being hired
• The Medium-sized Firm


  • Has anywhere from 50 to several hundred attorneys
  • Offers a lower starting salary and less comprehensive health benefits than larger firms, but may have perks like flexible work schedules, longer paid vacations, and generous bonuses
  • Offers opportunities for advancement and the chance to learn multiple types of law specialties
• The Small Firm


  • May be as small as two attorneys or as large as 40 or 50
  • Often the starting place for newly graduated law students, inexperienced paralegals, and new legal secretaries
  • Offers invaluable on-the-job-training, the opportunity to learn vital legal research skills, flexible working hours, a personal and more relaxed working environment, and generous holiday bonuses
  • Has drawbacks like lower starting salary, high employee contribution health benefits, lack of 401(k) plan, heavy workload, and inability to gain experience in a large variety of specialties
• Law Firm Systems and Procedures


  Processes and procedures that ensure easy location of contacts, tasks, emails, documents, and more associated with clients, and help use time and resources efficiently
• Paperless Workflow


  Dedicated process for scanning and filing documents, organizing files, and naming documents to reflect client, document type, and date
• What, Where & How of Client Files


  • Return documents to clients, get rid of unnecessary documents, have separate file location for closed files, track destroyed documents, decide when and how to shred scanned documents, date boxes of paper or digital files, communicate the process in the law office management procedure manual
• Productivity and Lawyer Time Management


  Set goals, capture all tasks, process tasks by scheduling them, make lists of matters/projects and other tasks, plan daily tasks and review priorities
• Tools, Equipment and Supplies in a Law Office


  • Copiers
  • Postage Machines
  • Fax Machines
  • Scanners
  • Computers
  • Printers
  • Telephones
  • Dictation Equipment
  • Binding Equipment
  • Shredders
  • Supplies
• Copiers


  • Medium-sized to large law offices have several large, multitask copiers in addition to several standard copiers, some also have color copiers
  • Familiarize with all available features, reset to zero copies and standard usage when finished
• Postage Machines


  • Allow large amounts of mail to be stacked and run through at one time, most medium-sized or larger law offices have one