publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/973671
79 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER LITIGATION AND PRACTICE SUPPORT Organizing and Modernizing Legal Support Services In today's competitive legal market, law firms face pressures to decrease costs and increase efficiency while offering new levels of flexibility and innovation to remain competitive. No one-size-fits-all solution will accomplish all these goals, but there is a lot of potential benefit to rethinking the structure of your legal support services. As a top three cost center within law firms, it is critical to understand, manage and control expenses associated with legal support. While delivering quality legal services will always be most important, the customer service aspects of your representation are deeply appreciated by clients. Having their calls returned promptly and knowing they have a trusted relationship with their outside counsel may resonate even more than hearing a brilliant legal argument. This means that efficiency in your legal support services and back office functions is as integral to client satisfaction as the legal work itself. Your firm needs to serve clients efficiently, respond quickly to inquiries, meet deadlines and give an overall service experience that differentiates your firm from competitors. Key to accomplishing this is taking a critical look at how your firm manages support functions and determining how you can ensure that the right work is geing to the right people, and that your most competent, client-facing staff have the bandwidth to support your most important client relationships. Secretarial Services in the Modern Law Firm Legal support services have always been a crucial part of conducting business. While law firms traditionally operated under a one-to- one or two-to-one lawyer-to-legal secretary ratio, the trend today is toward a more streamlined and centralized structure focused on cost, discrete tasks and competence rather than departments, historical by Eric Wangler of BigHand Organizing and Modernizing Legal Support Services