Law Practice Management

• Publication year: 2020
• Pages: 0046
• Citation: Vol. 26 No. 3 Pg. 0046

Law Practice Management Vol. 26, No. 3 Pg. 46 Georgia Bar Journal December, 2020

Year-End Checklists for Law Offices During a Pandemic

BY NATALIE R. KELLY

With times being so uncertain, it is important to keep your business direction focused. While these checks are certainly not exhaustive, they should prove to be useful in evaluating how your business has performed during the pandemic.

It has certainly been a challenging year. Perhaps that is an understatement, but never has the need for firms to check for positive direction with their business been more important. The pandemic has created challenges that go beyond some of the other disastrous situations law firms have experienced in recent years. Review the following checklists covering some of the most important areas of business to help better manage your firm's direction in the coming year. We hope you find them useful in reevaluating your firm as you consider how to improve where your business is right now and where you plan to go in the future.

Office Management Checks

• Did you revisit your business plan to consider your firm's status and to make any changes needed due to the impact of the pandemic?

• Do you have a clear calendaring system that indicates who is available in your office, from where and for how long?

• Have staff been checked on and provided resources to effectively continue their work?

• Have you come up with creative ways to conduct staff meetings and online gatherings?

• What procedures do you have for returning to the office if you are still operating under a work from home (WFH) situation?

• Are your procedures for managing mail and packages adequate for your office?

• Do you need to consider using virtual assistants or other virtual services to help with your workload?

• Do you have a means of monitoring existing firm contracts and their status?

• Has your lease been reviewed and have you reached out to your landlord for any concessions being given due to the pandemic?

• Have you created action plans for the upcoming year?

Finance Checks

• Have you met with your bookkeeper or accountant to review your current budget for the new year?

• What is the status of your quarterly taxes?

• Have you reviewed your balance sheet?

• Did you check for year-end or Q4 bonuses or draws based on current firm cash flow?

• Did you review your associate and staff compensation plans to ensure they are appropriate for your...