12 Tasks To Outsource In Your Law Practice
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As a law firm owner, we have a lot of hats to wear and it can be difficult to get it all done. One of the most difficult things I’ve had to manage during my solo journey is learning to delegate and outsource things that I don’t personally need to do.
Outsourcing can bring about a myriad of benefits for small firms. Some of which include:
Greater work life balance by managing work overflow.
Reduced costs.
Enhancing the quality of services you provide.
Freeing up time that can be spent on other more important tasks.
Here are 12 Task To Outsource in Your Law Practice
Daily administrative tasks
These do not involve any of your core business activities, meaning it is taking time away from improving your work productivity. Scheduling meetings, data entry, sending invoices, answering phone calls, etc. fall under this category. Although these tasks are crucial in your business functions, they can be outsourced to a virtual assistant, allowing you to save time and money in the long run.
Accounting & bookkeeping services
Accounting firms and freelance individuals can perform these tasks for you remotely. This includes keeping track of your accounts receivables, financial reporting and analysis, and other finance related tasks. If you have decided to outsource these tasks, remember to verify with certifying organizations such as the American Institute of CPAs or American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers to ensure the trustworthiness of these individuals.
Tax preparation and filing
Preparing tax returns require time and expertise. Tax consultants can easily take this burden away from you. Over the years, tax preparation services have been standardized such that firms can easily outsource VAT, Service Tax and TDS return preparations.
Human resource related tasks
Basic employee acquisition, compensation, payroll processing and other human resource functions can easily be outsourced to recruitment firms. These firms are more skilled and have greater resources available to screen applicants, cross check their profile and match their skillsets and expertise to the job scope. Moreover, these firms are constantly updated about the latest amendments made to employment laws and standards, ensuring that your employee benefits are always relevant to the current workforce.
Marketing
Some aspects of marketing that you can outsource includes social media marketing, SEO optimization, content writing, email and marketing campaigns, website design, brand development, etc. Freelance writers can produce higher quality content to support your marketing campaigns. Additionally, marketing consultants can provide you with industry perspectives that internal marketing staff may lack. They are also more familiar with the marketing trends and are able to craft more targeted campaigns for you to increase your conversion rates.
IT services
As a small firm, you may not have the resources to handle IT operations in house. Moreover, if IT is not part of your core business activities, it will certainly not be high on your priority list. However, with the growth of the 4th industrial revolution, technology and digitization has been growing and a greater emphasis should be placed on data and cyber security.
Hence, outsourcing your IT functions such as information security, hardware and software procurement, information migration and storage, etc. would be extremely beneficial for smaller businesses.
Legal research services
Associates spend about 15 hours per week conducting legal research, but for newer associates, that number is higher. Outsourcing your legal research will help you avoid burnout and stress related to overworking, and free up time for you to focus on non-billable tasks. Moreover, if you find yourself doing more paralegal and clerical work than you should and find it hard to make time and focus on your clients, it is time for you to seek help via outsourcing.
Legal processes
Examples of legal processes that you can outsource include court appearance services, document reviews, writing case summaries, demanding letters of correspondence, etc. There are many contract attorneys and service providers who will gladly take on your work for you, such that you can focus on completing more work and providing value to your customers.
Creative tasks
With many freelance portals sprouting out, tasks involving graphic design, presentation design, infographics to educate your customers, business cards, slide decks, etc. can easily be outsourced to freelance individuals. Sites like Fiverr and Upwork connects you to an abundance of global designers, where you can choose the style that suits you best.
Customer relationship management (CRM)
Choosing to automate your CRM process with software allows you to easily scale your business. Moreover, with client info stored in a centralized platform, it is easier for you to keep updated with everything going on within your business. Moreover, many CRM tools come with an in-built intuitive dashboard, allowing you to view trends and analytics at a glance.
Lead generation
There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to lead generation. Hence, it poses as a challenge to many businesses. Outsourcing lead generation makes sense especially when:
Your business has limited resources available.
Your lead generation methods require tons of cold calling and scheduling of appointments.
The benefits here outweigh its costs as you can save time on prospecting and identifying quality leads and tap on the network and expertise of third-party service providers.
Medical record retrieval
Medical records could be vital evidence to support your case. However, they are often difficult to collect and manage. In cases like these, it would be more convenient to outsource this service to a document retrieval service provider. These services also provide document organization and security as an added feature. Hence, this saves your employees time, for them to focus on their cases.
Choosing to outsource can enable your business to become more efficient and productive. Removing the mundane and tedious tasks from of your attorney’s plate allows them to be more client focused. Moreover, with outsourcing, you can leverage on a pool of talented individuals to grow your business.
