Results overview
22.5:1 secretary to attorney ratio
for 1st and 2nd year associates
$10+ million in savings
Significant improvement
in lawyer satisfaction
Story
A US law firm with over 850 lawyers worldwide and a large M&A practice needed to overhaul its administrative team structure to better serve its growing legal teams.
Challenges
The firm had a highly tenured secretarial and administrative team with myopic skill sets that could not keep up with its growing number of attorneys and service requirements. Along with the increasing costs, there was inadequate administrative support for junior associates. A fragmented and inefficient structure led to task duplication, inconsistent work quality, compromised deadlines and limited insight into staff productivity. Williams Lea was appointed to provide an efficient and cost-effective alternative solution.
Solution
Our team of experts conducted a thorough due diligence to identify common tasks and request patterns. Standard operating procedures and best practices were established for a remote team, providing secure, dedicated support to attorneys from our Wheeling, WV center of excellence. Through the Williams Lea administrative support team, the firm now has a secretary to attorney support ratio to 22.5:1 for first and second-year associates. Third-year lawyers are offered an in-office support option. To date, all have opted to keep their support with the Williams Lea team.
Relevant Services
Secretarial Support
Document and Word Processing
Billing and Collections Support
Improve secretary-to-attorney ratios
Optimizing staff structure through centralized secretarial support
Connect virtual and onsite teams
Enabling a hybrid workforce through rightshore support models
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