Enhance Your Lawyer's Case Successfully Through These Crucial Actions
Strengthening a Law Firm: Effective Support for Attorneys
Building a successful law firm relies on the effective support of attorneys by their teams. Jessica Henry, Team Lead and Medicare Paralegal at the Ard Law Firm, offers actionable insights to streamline operations and boost the firm's performance.
Supporting Your Attorney: The Key to Success
A strong legal team hinges on aligning behavior with the attorney's mindset. By approaching each client interaction and internal decision as the attorney would, you foster trust and cohesion within the legal team.
Here are some tactics to support your attorney:
- Show initiative: Go above and beyond by handling minor tasks proactively and ensuring your attorney's needs are met.
- Aim high: Constantly look for opportunities to surpass expectations instead of just meeting them.
- Respect time: Submit documents in the way your attorney prefers to review them, ensuring their time is not wasted.
- Offer solutions: Present challenges alongside potential solutions, demonstrating your proactive problem-solving abilities.
- Think ahead: Anticipate your attorney's needs before they arise, allowing them to focus on high-value work.
Creating a Strong Internal Alignment: Attorneys' Role
While it's essential for legal staff to support their attorneys, it's equally crucial for attorneys to establish a blueprint for success. Here are some essential practices for anchoring internal alignment:
- Clarify the mission: Be explicit about the firm's purpose, values, and vision, ensuring all team members are on the same page.
- Tell the firm's story: Help employees understand why clients choose your firm, emphasizing what sets you apart from competitors.
- Prepare team members: Explain the emotionally charged nature of clients and the energy required to support them effectively.
- Invest in training: Equip team members with the knowledge and skills to perform their roles confidently.
- Set clear goals: Define what success looks like for each position, providing a clear direction for team members.
- Implement review cycles: Regularly evaluate progress and identify performance gaps through 30-60-90 day check-ins.
- Be visual: Utilize charts during reviews to clearly illustrate performance and areas for improvement.
- Avoid dual roles: Attorneys should focus on their legal responsibilities, not management roles. designate a team lead to follow through and implement the firm's goals.
Understanding the Role of the Team Leader
To consistently support attorneys, the team leader role must be standardized and respected. A well-structured team lead can make a tremendous difference in daily operations and overall morale.
Here's how to do it:
- Create an Ideal Work Week template: Equip team leads with a blueprint for success, outlining specific recurring tasks and meeting times.
- Protect team lead time: Treat team lead time as non-negotiable, ensuring they have dedicated time for their responsibilities.
By implementing these strategies, you can create a high-functioning legal team where attorneys can focus on providing exceptional service while confidently relying on their support staff.
Explore more insights and resources to boost your law firm's performance at our website, read our blogs, and tune in to our weekly podcasts for practical solutions to implement today.
Written by Molly Hall McGrath
- To enhance business growth and careers, a legal team must align their behavior with the attorney's mindset, showing initiative, aiming high, respecting time, offering solutions, thinking ahead, and maintaining internal alignment through clarity of mission, storytelling, training, goal setting, performance evaluation, and visualization.
- For effective leadership, it's essential for team leads to establish an ideal work week template, protect their time, and regularly review progress, while attorneys focus on their legal responsibilities and delegate management roles to designated team leads.
