Starting a Law Firm | Hiring an Assistant
If you read the last post, then you know it was time for me to get some help. I didn't realize that more than today when my law clerk came in and helped me out. I gave her a bunch of stuff I'd usually be doing and for a fraction of what I can make an hour she did it all and did it well. So I'm moving forward hiring an assistant. And I'm going tell you exactly what I did (and what I'm doing) to get there.First things first, I posted an ad on craigslist. Here's the ad:
When running a small business it is critical to have a wide range of skills, and a willingness to perform both menial and advanced tasks. When a small business is poised for growth, hiring someone with a similar skill set is critical. This role is a combination of executive admin, marketing expert, technical assistant, and more. If you're interested in helping to grow a small criminal defense law firm dedicated to protecting its clients, this may be a good fit for you. The optimal candidate will have a passion for these subjects, but will be willing to "pay their dues" in order to help grow a business. In other words, the pay may not be great to start with, but you'll have the opportunity to focus your efforts on growing the business, and will be rewarded with pay that is commensurate to your efforts.In about a day and a half I got around 150 responses. And a large majority of them were qualified. I had several things in mind that I was looking for for my particular situation, used those to cut the list down to 5 or 6, and then scheduled them each for individual half hour interviews (at least I gave them half hour time slots). After that I will probably have a follow up interview with the two or three best candidates and choose the best one. I'll let you know how it goes.
To be considered, a candidate must offer the following:
- Fast learner
- Conscientious
- Honest
- Hard-working
- Entrepreneurial spirit
- Strong attention to detail
- Focus on exceptional customer service
- Ability to prioritize tasks
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office suite of applications
Even better, the ideal candidate will offer the following:
- Bachelor's Degree
- Strong grammar and spelling skills
- Strong customer service skills
- Ability to work independently
- Strong organizational skills
- Comfortable and familiar with technology
In short, someone willing to act as an executive admin but interested in marketing and working to grow a business to mutual benefit would be the ideal candidate.
Typical tasks for this job will include:
- Answering the phones - scheduling client meetings
- Managing the office calendar
- Preparing and filing court and other required documents
- Assisting in firm marketing efforts
- Handle incoming and outgoing mail
- Responding to client inquiries
- Managing schedules for travel and deadlines
- Being the "go-to" person for all manner of work related to managing and growing the business
The reality is that the right candidate will be a very unique individual, who will stand out from the crowd. Quite likely, the best candidate will be someone who is worth a big paycheck, but who is willing to work for a small paycheck in recognition of strong upside potential. In other words, the right candidate will have confidence that they're able to assist in creating growth for a business to the extent that they'll be rewarded financially in the process. That also means that someone who is looking for an easy ride shouldn't bother applying.
In the interest of helping you succeed, a small hint is offered: The best candidate will submit their resume with a note explaining something about them. If you are going to simply submit saying "attached is my resume" and nothing else, you probably shouldn't bother applying.
Interviews will begin next week.
This is a part-time job, 8-noon, Monday through Friday, with the opportunity for full time work when it presents itself.
I must admit, however, that I'm a little bit nervous. I've never really interviewed anyone for a job (though I've interviewed many witnesses and clients) and I want to make sure I pick the right person. So if you have any good advice, let me know.
Norton Internet Security 2011
I think one of the things lawyers are most concerned about when they open their practice and think about using technology to leverage their time and money is security. Maybe it's just my generation, maybe it's just me, but I was never really too concerned about it. For one thing, I think people who are stealing things that might be stolen from my firm (client files, etc.) aren't really snooping around for people like me. They've got bigger fish to fry. And for another, the security that's set up automatically by the web browsers and your operating system is not too bad.But I finally caved (or wised up, depending on who you ask) and bought some security for the computer. I think a little bit of it had to do with having the additional staff come in. I know that I wouldn't be dumb enough to open suspect emails or go to suspect websites, but I don't know that about them (yet). So I bought Norton Internet Security 2011. I didn't really buy it because of anything in particular. It just looked like it would provide the protection I needed, which is help against things that come at me over the internet. So I've got it, and it seems to be working. If it doesn't I'll be sure to let you know.
MasterMind and Law Firm Marketing
If you haven't realized it yet, a key ingredient of a successful law firm is having clients. And the way you get clients is through law firm marketing. This includes internet advertising, website conversions, referrals, and everything else you can think of. In some way, shape, and form it's all advertising.When I wrote down my three biggest problems with my firm, one of the problems was getting more consistent phone calls. So we talked about that for a long time. One of the things we discovered was that my website wasn't converting as well as it should have (this is the DUI site we're talking about primarily). We started talking about what the site looked like and how it could be made better. And this is what I learned, when you are doing law firm internet marketing, particularly on your website, it is important to know who your ideal client is and let them know how you can help them.
What this meant for me was not only having a DUI only site, but breaking it up further into 1st DUI, 2nd DUI, and 3rd DUI information (because the strategies for each are so different). And then within those deviations make sure that I am appealing to my target audience and answering their questions. Another thing RJon encouraged me to do was put up videos discussing each of the categories.
My plan, then, is to incorporate this into my next round of website updates (coming soon). I'm going to create some videos and put them on the site. I'm going to tell people how I can help them. I am going to market my law firm in a way that increases calls. And I'm going to let you know how it turns out.
Remember, if you have any questions or comments about starting a law firm, let me know!
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