A Washington, D.C. administrator has set up an operations manual that covers every imaginable item of managing the firm. It holds the basics of everything so that when she is out, the firm “can be on autopilot and keep the trains running on time,” says Jill D. Hirsch, chief operating officer of Slevin & Hart. And, she says, “it’s for me as well as for someone stepping in … [Read more...] about A manual that covers the entire administration
Purchasing & leasing
How document automation can save you thousands
Does your firm use document automation tools? If not, you’re not alone. According to a survey conducted in 2013 by the International Legal Technology Association, a whopping 62% of law firms surveyed reported not using a document automation system. But when you think about how much time your team spends assembling variations of the same documents every day, automating the … [Read more...] about How document automation can save you thousands
Don’t put your vendor contracts on auto-pilot
It's easy, to say nothing of convenient, to get comfortable with business relationships and not to question what the vendors are doing. But in the meantime those vendors have every ability to slip in added costs the administrator does not notice. Don't just renew vendor contracts automatically. The firm can often save money and get better service by putting those contracts … [Read more...] about Don’t put your vendor contracts on auto-pilot
How to make 2018 the year you improve value, cut costs, and increase profits
Are you prepared to handle the competition of 2016? Do you know who's elbowing in on your firm's share of the legal market? Are your firm's partners even aware that there's a risk? Ron Friedmann, a consultant with the legal industry-focused management consulting firm Fireman & Company, has spent over two decades improving law practice and legal business operations with … [Read more...] about How to make 2018 the year you improve value, cut costs, and increase profits
Model Policy: Copyright compliance
Why you need this policy: Copyright infringement has become a serious liability risk for law firms: * In 1991, a mid-sized Washington, DC, law firm was sued for $14 million by a publisher. The case was eventually settled but not until after the firm incurred over $1 million in legal fees; * In 1999, a large Wall Street firm settled a … [Read more...] about Model Policy: Copyright compliance
Use long-term vendor contacts to win long-term savings
Regular meetings with the vendors have led to significant savings for a North Carolina firm. Tracy Cook, administrator with Gailor, Wallis Hunt, an eight-attorney firm in Raleigh, NC, started the meetings when she came to the firm several years ago. One of her first actions as administrator was to go through the vendor files to see which vendors had contracts or did regular … [Read more...] about Use long-term vendor contacts to win long-term savings
How long should you keep client and practice records?
A lot of questions come up about the most basic elements of maintaining and destroying client records. And that's because to many of those questions "there's no hard and fast answer," says Washington, DC, attorney and record management consultant Teresa Schoch is also a past member of the Michigan Bar Association's ethics committee. Here are seven such issues. The 10-year … [Read more...] about How long should you keep client and practice records?