Ch 3: Law Office Management

Question 1

a written organizational policy does these two things:

Answer 1

1) forces top management to delineate the duties, functions, and lines of supervision throughout the firm
2) informs employees of their duties, functions, and lines of supervision

Question 2

T/F: Each member of the support staff should know exactly which office functions are included in the support staff’s job.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Job description of Law office administration may include:

Answer 3

• a professional executive (in many instances not a lawyer) employed by the firm to enable it to function smoothly and economically.
• Hiring, firing, discipline staff
• Help develop budget
• studies and recommends changes in office procedures, policies, and systems or recommends procurement of outside assistance

Question 4

Job description of Human resources director may include:

Answer 4

• hiring, firing, training, and evaluating employees

- development, institution, and evaluation of policies relating to compensation and other conditions of employment

Question 5

“law office management”

Answer 5

Organizing and using employees to their fullest potential and productivity. Sound practices in managing the firm’s personnel result in reduced employee turnover and quality work product.

Question 6

Job description of Paralegal (or legal assistant) may include:

Answer 6

functions specifically assigned and supervised by a lawyer.
completing legal forms; drafting legal documents and correspondence; checking citations, Shepardizing, and doing legal research; developing and maintaining litigation databases; obtaining and organizing client medical and employment records; preparing trial notebooks; preparing summaries and indices; preparing standardized forms and form books for word processing use

Question 7

Job description of Financial manager/bookkeeper may include:

Answer 7

• Accurate and timely maintenance of all firm financial records.
• Post costs advanced/ payments to client ledger accounts
• Report weekly balances of checking and savings accounts
• Report monthly summary of billable and nonbillable hours per lawyer and paralegal
• Prepare quarterly local, state, and federal payroll reports

Question 8

Job description of Administrative Assistant may include:

Answer 8

• Telephone and reception duties
• Ensure that the reception area is staffed, including making appropriate arrangements for coverage when the receptionist is away from the front desk for breaks
• Open and close files in accordance with the firm’s files management procedure.

Question 9

Job description of Receptionist may include:

Answer 9

• monitoring stressful situations,
• maintaining client comfort
• provides an efficient atmosphere for the practice -Specialization may increase or decrease with the size of the firm.

Question 10

Why must all employees within a law firm be aware of established office hours, compensation, dress codes, work areas, absences, and personal use of computer/telephone?

Answer 10

Employers cannot expect employees to abide by rules and policies that are not clearly defined in writing and regularly followed. Employees must know what is expected of them and what they may expect in return.

Question 11

Best practices for office hours:

Answer 11

• The office should be staffed at all times, lunch/breaks staggered
• Occasional departures from the schedule require notification to the appropriate supervisor.
• should include disciplinary procedures for time issues such as excessive tardiness or absence

Question 12

Written policies must be developed regarding employee compensation which include:

Answer 12

• salary,
• holidays/vacations/ sick leave,
• bonuses/salary increases
• insurance programs
• overtime,
• pay periods

Question 13

Overtime should:

Answer 13

• be paid at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate for time worked over 40 hours per week if the overtime amounts to 15 minutes or more
• typically be only when an employee has been specifically requested

Question 14

What are two ways to resolve conflicts in employee vacation requests?

Answer 14

• based on seniority

- by granting only one popular holiday period per employee (i.e., days at Thanksgiving or Christmas, but not both)

Question 15

Employees should be responsible to protect the firm’s records and offices by doing the following:

Answer 15

• turning off lights and equipment
• returning files and documents to the proper filing or storage area
• locking all doors

Question 16

All work in a law office is confidential. Precautions staff should take:

Answer 16

• Never relay the legal business they see, hear, read, or do
• Documents should never be reproduced from files except with the express permission of the lawyer responsible for the file
• Documents and files being worked on should be kept out of view of visitors
• legal business should ONLY be discussed with those working on the matter

Question 17

Employees should not congregate and visit. If their work is complete, they should:

Answer 17

-Inquire as to where assistance may be needed

Question 18

Employees should avoid gathering in the lobby because:

Answer 18

-clients waiting to see a lawyer could hear office business, the business of other clients, office problems, or personal gossip

Question 19

A law firm’s plan for hiring and retaining employees should also include:

Answer 19

-training, evaluation, discipline, and discharge

Question 20

When there is a vacancy in the office, hiring personnel should take the following steps:

Answer 20

1) define the position
2) advertise it
3) interview and test applicants
4) hire the new employee

Question 21

Law firm job openings could be advertised in the following places:

Answer 21

• internal postings (bulletin board or email);
• directly contacting qualified individuals;
• advertising in the classified sections of local and legal newspapers;
• advertising on Internet employment sites;
• hiring a placement agency;
• contacting local professional association(s)

Question 22

“at-will employment”

Answer 22

employment has no specific time period or duration and can be terminated at any time by the firm or the employee (with or without reason)

Question 23

Two possible steps of interviewing

Answer 23

1) A senior lawyer’s assistant may conduct initial interviews and screening
2) The lawyer(s) for whom the applicant will work will then have a chance to interview before hiring

Question 24

Before hiring an applicant, many firms conduct skills testing including:

Answer 24

• typing speed
• computer skills assessment
• grammar and spelling tests

Question 25

New employee orientation may include:

Answer 25

• introductions to all personnel (except in very large firms)
• a tour of the office
• oral review of important personnel policies and office procedures (also provided in writing in the ‘policy and procedures manual’)

Question 26

The ‘policy and procedures manual’ may include descriptions of the following procedures:

Answer 26

• docket control system;
• information retrieval system;
• timekeeping and billing procedures;
• telephone procedures;
• charging for copies and long-distance telephone calls;
• operation of machines;
• handling of incoming and outgoing mail; and
• office formats for documents

Question 27

In regards to continuing education, firms may:

Answer 27

• provide in house training sessions,
• pay for seminars and workshops outside the office
• encourage membership in appropriate professional associations such as NALS

Question 28

Things employers should do to make performance evaluations more effective:

Answer 28

• provide regular input about job performance prior to the performance evaluation
• Develop evaluation criteria and forms with criteria tied to specific job duties and responsibilities
• Compile evaluations results from everyone an employee person works
• Discuss areas of excellence as well as areas that need improvement
• Utilize evaluations as a tool for job improvement, not only to determine raises

Question 29

Steps for Employee Discipline and Discharge (all of which are documented in personnel file)

Answer 29

1) Tell employee problem and consequences
2) Consequences can be probation (employee signs notice), another warning, reduction or withholding of a salary increase, reduction or withholding of a bonus, or discharge from employment.
3) If problem continues, promised action must occur

Question 30

Failing to take appropriate action when an employee is underperforming leads to these two problems:

Answer 30

• demoralizing good employees

- sending a poor message to other underperforming employees

Question 31

“Staff specialization”

Answer 31

A common trend in utilization of staff, when properly used lead to an efficient and productive staff.

Question 32

Job description of word processing staff may include:

Answer 32

Handling the production of large or complex documents and provide overflow document production when needed, includes typing support

Question 33

Some hazards of lawyers preparing documents themselves:

Answer 33

• tend not to know as much about sophisticated document structure and how to use styles
• they also often like to copy previous documents of a similar type, which can incorporate mistakes
• having only one set of eyes reduces the likelihood of a perfect product

Question 34

When a firm is looking to recruit paralegals or legal assistants, the first group they should consider is:

Answer 34

In-house legal secretaries. In-house promotion and training reduces training and hiring costs and encourages employees to stay with a firm that supports their professional growth.

Question 35

Since a law firm is a business entity, these two things must be followed:

Answer 35

• Sound business practices must be developed in the law office
• close attention must be paid to the financial side of the business

Question 36

Often a role held by an experienced legal professional, office manager, or law office administrator, the role of financial manager may include:

Answer 36

Developing sound procedures for:

• timekeeping
• billing
• preparation of management reports
• budgeting

Question 37

What is the product being sold in the law firm?

Answer 37

Time

Question 38

What is the approximate range of billable time annually from lawyers and paralegals that are often required by firms around the country?

Answer 38

anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 hours

Question 39

Each lawyer and paralegal should receive a monthly report comparing (so necessary adjustments can be made)

Answer 39

actual billable time to the budgeted hours

Question 40

Typical categories of nonbillable time in a law office are:

Answer 40

• Client Development. This is time spent developing legal business.
• Office Administration. Staff conferences; discussing, studying, or developing office systems and procedures; keeping time records and reviewing time for billing; interviewing prospective personnel, evaluating personnel, and the like.
• Professional Activities. Bar association activities and speaking to professional organizations or students.
• Continuing Legal Education. Time spent attending or presenting seminars and reading legal periodicals and advance sheets.
• Personal. Time spent during normal work hours on matters of a personal nature.
• Pro bono activities. Time spent typically on court-appointed cases for those unable to pay legal fees.
• Client Services. Time a lawyer spends on a client’s legal matter for which the lawyer does not want to bill.
• Lawyers and Staff. Time a lawyer spends handling a legal matter for a partner, associate, or staff member for which no fees will be billed.

Question 41

Recording time presents problems in many law firms. Two approaches that are preferable to disciplining are:

Answer 41

• setting regular deadlines for time entry—whether by the next business day or the next week
• hold a drawing for lawyers and legal assistants who turn in time or billing documents by a deadline, with a nice prize

Question 42

Why must time be recorded daily?

Answer 42

Trying to bring time up to date from memory results in loss of billable time, inaccurate records, and billing problems

Question 43

“engagement letters”

Answer 43

memorialize the understanding regarding the scope of work, terms and conditions that will apply, and details regarding billing and the handling of costs

Question 44

A common reason for disputes with clients is a lack of clarity with respect to fees and billing. The lawyer should:

Answer 44

• carefully explain policy on billing fees and costs at the initial interview and reinforced to repeat clients
• Clearly delineate what costs the firm will prepay on the client’s behalf and the fee to be charged

Question 45

The firm should establish billing procedures regarding:

Answer 45

-billing schedule, retainer requirements, the billing of costs, and other related matters

Question 46

List two best practices regarding billing procedure:

Answer 46

• No firm should have a billing schedule less frequent than monthly.
• Unpaid balances should be rebilled each month.

Question 47

“Yearly cap” (billing)

Answer 47

sets limits on the amount the client will have to pay for given services over a year’s time

Question 48

“flat fee” (billing)

Answer 48

set costs for particular services

Question 49

The law firm business requires information to function well. What is one system which can provide a wealth of information in a variety of formats to assist the firm management?

Answer 49

Automated accounting system including administrative reports