Law Practice Management
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 0046 |
| Citation | Vol. 27 No. 4 Pg. 0046 |
Building a Team in 2022?
Building a team is an important milestone for your growing law practice. This article discusses how to build a team by design.
NKOYO-ENE R. EFFIONG
"The most important decisions that business people make are not what decisions, but who decisions." —Jim Collins, author of "Good to Great"
This article is for you if growing your practice (without increasing your working hours) is one of your 2022 goals. In this issue, we are discussing how to build a team by design. If that is you, keep reading.
Have you ever wondered whether it is time to hire? Do you stare at your to-do list, wishing you could clone yourself so everything can get done? Are you wondering whether you have enough work to justify building a team?
You are not alone.
Like many law firm owners, you know you need to build the right team to help you scale your practice. If you have never built a team, the whole process of interviewing, hiring and onboarding team members might seem overwhelming and risky. If you have built a team before, you already know that this investment of time and money is not something you want to take lightly.
Nor should you.
Building a team is an important milestone for your law practice. Not only does it free you from being the admin, bookkeeper, marketing manager, receptionist, you-name-it, for your practice, but it also
affords you more time to practice law. According to the 2021 Clio Trends Report, the average lawyer bills 2.5 hours of an 8 hour day.[1] Yikes. If your firm runs on the billable hour, you must figure out a[n ethical] way to increase your billables. Building a team can help. It can also become a major headache if you are not intentional about your process.
When should you start building your team?
Before you think you are ready.
Most people wait until they are in a bind to build their team. This. Is. Not. A. Good. Idea. When you are already at capacity and stressed, you often are not the best at making decisions. Your immediate need for help may overshadow an orderly and strategic hiring process that sets you up for long-term success—leaving you with a less than stellar team member.
Here are three red flags that signal it is time to hire:
● You are turning down work because you are too busy to handle it ... well. How it manifests: missing deadlines, errors, rushed research.
● Your...
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