Manage Growth in Your Law Firm With These 5 Easy Tips

A rapidly growing law firm is the goal of countless attorneys, but it comes with its own set of challenges.

Poorly manage your firm’s growth, and you risk undoing all the hard work that landed you where you are today. But get it right, and you’ll be positioned to thrive.

How do you accommodate more clients and heavier workloads?

Though there are several approaches, we’ll cover some of the most tried-and-true methods below.

Maintain Standards of Quality Service

If your law firm is growing rapidly, then you’ve been doing something right.

The chances are good that you offer clients great results and exceptional service, and they are rewarding you with favorable reviews and recommending you to others.

It’s important that you identify what is fueling your growth, so you can be sure you maintain the same standards moving forward.

This isn’t as simple as it sounds. The more cases your firm accepts, the more challenging it will be for your team to make sure each client gets the same high level of service. The next few steps will help you stay on the right track.

Ensure the Health and Happiness of Team Members

As your firm becomes busier, it’s essential to make sure team members aren’t overextended.

Though an occasional white-knuckle week or a few late nights at the office are part of the job description in the legal field, consistently working long hours will inevitably lead to poor performance.

Distribute workloads as best as possible. Make sure team members have time to take vacations and get away from work.

Once the workload is so heavy that this is no longer a possibility, it’s time to expand your team.

Look for Help

When your firm is growing and financially capable of bringing on new team members, you can begin looking for qualified candidates. However, be strategic about the positions you create.

In some cases, you might need more attorneys. In others, you might need paralegals or a receptionist. But it’s often the case that a firm would benefit most from a position that doesn’t currently exist.

For example, an operations manager might alleviate some of the burden your other team members are facing. (We’ve also written about considerations for hiring an operations manager for your law firm to give you a clearer picture of what that role entails).

Think outside the box and take a close look at what type of team member would help your firm manage its current rate of growth.

Don’t Stop Optimizing

Just because you’re growing, that doesn’t mean you should stop looking for ways to improve your services. It’s possible you’re growing despite some of your firm’s limitations.

For example, let’s say your firm is bringing in twice the cases it did the year prior. You’ve doubled your caseload without one single dollar spent on marketing.

You could easily assume that you don’t need an advertising budget because you’re doing so well. That reasoning fails to account for all the ways you could target a specific case type through your marketing, for example.

Don’t stop looking for ways to improve your operations. A growing law firm should constantly look to optimize its processes.

Pick the Right Tools to Facilitate Growth

With the added strain of bigger caseloads, staying organized is key. One of the best ways to make your firm more efficient and capable of handling more work is through practice management systems.

The right practice management software can streamline workloads, dramatically improve communication, and automate processes that currently eat away your free time. Take the time to explore your options to find the right software for your firm.

Try backdocket to Manage Your Processes

At backdocket, we created a practice management system that facilitates the way small- to mid-size law firms work. Our software can make a significant impact on your processes right out of the box.

If you’d like a free demonstration, simply contact us today to learn more about how backdocket can help you grow your firm.