Intelligent Office UK: Top five operational trends that successful law firms are embracing
In the lead up to a post-pandemic world, law firms are thinking about the best ways to respond to the most urgent operational questions that would improve firm profits and fee earner efficiency in the most cost-efficient manner.
Choosing an operational approach that works for your law firm is often a daunting task. There is a lot of noise in the market about what law firms should or shouldn’t be doing, and less insights on what is actually working in 2021. As the leading provider of support solutions for many of the UK’s top law firms, we are in a privileged position to observe 5 successful operational trends in 2021 that are helping law firms better prepare for the future:
#1 Right tasks to the right teams
The tasks and responsibilities of secretarial and administrative staff have changed rapidly as law firms continue to challenge traditional support roles. The new-normal has brought with it the need for new and rapidly changing specialised skillsets. It is crucial, now more than ever, to place emphasis on skill and ensure that non-chargeable tasks are completed by the most appropriately skilled and cost-effective team.
#2 Restructured secretarial cohort
The new optimised model we are seeing in the market and helping clients move towards is favouring a smaller number of knowledgeable Executive Assistants delivering dedicated, high value support to partners with responsibilities including client-facing relationships and business development. The EAs are supported by paralegals, document production and general administration teams and other specialist roles such as in billing and client and matter inception. Larger numbers of firms are adopting the idea of centralising support teams for specific practice groups in order to ensure they have a flexible and cost-effective access to support.
#3 Digital transformation
The terms agile working and digital transformation have been given renewed focus in the wake of the pandemic. But key to making them a success is understanding that it is not just about the technology; their implications touch every business process and the entire organisation’s culture. For law firms, it means ensuring processes are optimised to allow fee earners to be productive in new ‘work anywhere’ environments through digitised workflows and effective usage of technology.
Intelligent Office’s COO, Alison Bilgin reasserts that effective agile working means technology must be applied alongside the right processes and people: “As firms grapple with the disruption brought about by Covid-19, they are going to want to make their operations as effective as possible. People, process and technology are all fundamental to giving lawyers the support they need to do their jobs well,” she says.
#4 Protecting billable hours with easily accessible support
The pandemic has given rise to increased fee earner self-sufficiency and firms are keeping a close focus on the impact this could have on billable hours. Getting the balance right between administrative self-service and effective delegation to support resources is a key focus. Which is why, firms are refocusing their efforts to ensure their legal support services are accessible, easy to engage with and work efficiently, so that fee earners are able to achieve high productivity levels in the hybrid working world.
#5 Agile real estate
Clarity on the role of the office for fee earners, for clients and for support staff will lead to rationalisation but is also facilitating other changes in operational structure and process. As a managing partner at Eversheds Sutherland recently commented in The Times, whilst there might be reductions in space requirements, the office will remain an important element of the working environment, but it will be used in a different way going forward.
With so many decisions to make regarding future law firm operations, management teams will benefit from a partner who can do much of the hard work for them. Intelligent Office has delivered transformative legal support solutions for many of the UK’s top law firms for over 20 years and have gained first-hand understanding of the strategic and operational challenges law firms face. We believe there is no substitute for analysis and interpretation of an individual client firm’s situation and needs. However, this insight, when combined with our significant experience implementing change in the sector, provides a powerful springboard from which to deliver highly effective transformative operational change and competitive advantage.
To find out how we partner with our law firm clients to deliver these benefits, please contact Sam Nicholls, Head of Business Development. Further, click here to read more about how our offerings can help you achieve operational success in 2021.