What is Legal Administration?
In the legal sector, the concept of legal administration is defined as the process of supporting the key functions of legal professionals and their overall operations. The legal administrative professional provides valued administrative services to keep the law firm or company, or government agency running smoothly. For all those that apply the term, legal administration ranges from the use of admin best practice to specific management information systems and data analysis. Legal administration also includes a diverse range of administrative functions such as: reception, facilities, file management, and even accounting and HR functions . It is pivotal to keeping a law firm running as it is the driving force behind maintaining firm resources, maximizing productivity, and creating a better client experience. When a legal administrator supports management and staff through legal administration tools, activities are more organized and efficient overall. This may include leveraging tools that assist in managing administrative and business functions, suggesting and implementing operational improvements, and assisting human resource and development functions. All of these activities fall under the umbrella of legal administration, and it is one of the key drivers of a well-performing law firm or department.
Primary Duties of Legal Administration
The realm of legal administration comprises a diverse spectrum of functions crucial to the seamless operation of a law firm. At its core, legal administration ensures the prudent management of a law firm’s administrative resources, thereby allowing legal professionals to focus on their core responsibilities of providing legal advice and representation.
Among the core administrative functions in legal administration is the management of legal documents. This includes the generation, tracking, and storage of numerous types of documents such as pleadings, contracts, and correspondence. Legal administrators are often tasked with organizing these documents, maintaining an efficient filing system, and ensuring that all necessary records are readily accessible for their lawyers.
Scheduling is another crucial aspect of legal administration. This role entails coordinating appointments, hearings, and other important dates. Keeping track of extensive schedules and making adjustments as necessary is vital to the smooth functioning of a law firm. A well-organized legal administrator coordinates schedules efficiently, ensuring that opportunities for legal representation are not lost due to scheduling conflicts.
Client management and communications also play a significant role within legal administration. Attorneys rely on their administrators to communicate with clients about their cases, keep clients updated on important proceedings, and on occasion, discuss billing matters with them. Strong people skills and an inviting demeanor are essential for legal administrators who are the primary point of contact for clients in many instances.
For law firms, legal administration also includes the handling of financial tasks and billing matters. Legal administrators assist with billing operations, tracking billable time, preparing invoices, and ensuring prompt payment by clients in accordance with the law firm’s billing policies.
In a nutshell, the various functions related to legal administration involves managing and organizing a wealth of paperwork, scheduling the lawyer’s appointments and most importantly, keeping lines of communications open between lawyers, clients and relevant third parties.
Legal Administration Occupations
The roles and responsibilities for legal administration can vary depending on the needs of the law firm or firm department. On a very basic level, legal administration generally includes clerical and administrative duties related to case management, time and billing, scheduling, document preparation and organization, and communication with clients, witnesses, other attorneys, and court personnel. Depending on the size and facilities of the firm, these tasks may be performed by the legal administrator alone, or by several individuals reporting to an office manager or legal administrator. A law firm secretarial staff may include:
Law Firm Secretaries
Law firm secretaries typically are experienced professionals whose duties may include preparing documentation such as pleadings and petitions, correspondence, trial preparation materials, and discovery documents such as requests for production of documents. In some smaller firms, legal secretaries may keep the calendar for attorneys in addition to their other responsibilities.
Paralegals
Paralegals are often called legal assistants. They are often certified through an accredited paralegal program. In addition to assisting attorneys, assisting law firm clients, conducting research and performing a wide array of administrative tasks, paralegals may produce legal documents such as responses to discovery requests and notices and conduct title searches for real estate transactions. Legal assistants may perform more administrative duties than paralegals, but there are many firms that use the terms interchangeably. In order to ensure clear expectations regarding the responsibilities of each role, the firm should either have both positions report to the legal administrator and share a job description, or the lawyer may prefer to give the paralegal his or her own job description. At larger firms, the legal administrator would likely oversee the secretarial staff. At smaller firms, the law firm administrator may not have that duty.
Office Managers
An office manager is typically responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the firm. The chief executive officer or managing partner will delegate specific duties to the office manager regarding the office space, equipment and property within the law firm or firm department. The office manager will create, implement and maintain office policies and procedures and evaluate new technology and equipment, hiring and training staff, scheduling professional development opportunities, and maintaining office supplies. Office managers may also perform functions related to the firm’s time and billing software and manage the firm’s accounting and bookkeeping. Law firm administrators may also fulfill the office manager role. Depending on the size of the firm and the workload, office manager functions and the legal administrator duties may be shared, performed jointly, or executed by one individual. In a large law firm, the office manager may also supervise the human resources manager and/or human resource staff when such a position exists within a firm.
The Role of Legal Administration in a Law Firm
Legal administration plays a vital role in the efficient operation of law firms. It serves as the backbone of legal support services, ensuring that attorneys can focus on providing top-notch legal counsel to clients. Legal administrators are responsible for managing the inner workings of a law practice, from tracking billable hours to managing files and performing conflict checks. By outsourcing legal administration to support staff, attorneys can concentrate on their core responsibilities: serving clients and growing their practice.
Efficient legal administration helps minimize operational risks. Legal admin professionals are in charge of safeguarding client information, ensuring regulatory compliance, and managing workflow. This reduces the costs associated with penalties, fines, and malpractice suits. Legal administrators play a key role in maintaining the law firm’s reputation for integrity and reliability.
Legal administration is also essential for managing communication and coordination. With firms often working with teams made up of both internal and external personnel, the organization of a law firm is crucial. A strong legal administration team will be able to manage correspondence, schedule appointments, and manage billing to ensure the smooth running of a firm.
Increasing efficiency is an indispensable element of a firm’s ability to provide quality service to clients. Administrative tasks take time away from more important functions, like networking with clients. Automating legal administration tasks allows attorneys to devote more time and energy to tasks that directly impact the firm’s bottom line. By outsourcing legal administration to support staff, your firm is able to run more efficiently.
Compliance with legal and ethical obligations is another important function of legal administration. Laws and regulations are constantly changing. Ensuring compliance with security, privacy, and financial regulations can save law firms thousands of dollars in penalties. Managing and controlling the risk factors for the firm is critical in ensuring the longevity of a law firm.
Legal administration is an essential part of ensuring the success of a law firm. A firm that cannot manage its administrative process ends up wasting precious time and money, damaging their relationship with clients, and creating unnecessary risk. Investing in a well-staffed legal administration division will pay off in both the long and short term.
Legal Administration vs. Paralegals
Legal administration efforts are often confused with paralegal work. While there is some overlap between the two positions, there are also key distinctions that set them apart.
On its surface, the legal administration position may look very similar to a paralegal. In fact, many firms employ a paralegal or several attorneys who also take on the duties of legal administration. However , this can become problematic for those who truly work in legal administration units. The legal administrator must have a firm grasp on what happens behind the scenes and how those functions connect with all aspects of the law firm and the administrative support provided to its clients and stakeholders.
A solid legal administration structure involves employees in support roles at all levels. True legal administrator positions are a step up from paralegal roles in the sense that they require an understanding of the business and professional principles that keep a law firm running and thriving.
The most important part of a healthy law firm organization lies in the distinction between legal administration and paralegal work. Even at small firms, it is critical to define roles and responsibilities. The law firm’s success hinges upon having a legal administrator who is focused on people rather than processes—and who can communicate the business of the firm upwards to leadership and downwards to the various support staff.
Common Issues Facing Legal Administration
Like most administrative positions, legal administration comes with its own unique set of challenges. These can include anything from dealing with hefty case loads to meeting tight deadlines to maintaining clients’ privacy and confidentiality. Here are some of the more common challenges faced by legal administrators: All law firms are different, but in many cases, case work in some form or another keeps a steady flow of paperwork coming through your door. Depending on the size of the firm, you could be easily overwhelmed, particularly during busy periods such as trial prep. To avoid falling behind, make it a point to organize and differentiate the incoming paperwork by category and urgency, like briefs, motions, depositions and filings. Use color-coded paper clips or sticky notes to help keep track of what needs to go out next, and sign up for online filing services that allow you to submit forms directly to the clerk’s office. Another major challenge in legal administration is meeting the deadlines set by the courts. While many timeframes are left up to the firm’s discretion, it’s important to understand the statutory deadlines set by statute and respond to discovery requests within the time periods outlined in the rules. Late filings, late responses to discovery requests or extension of deadlines can impact the case at hand and can even jeopardize your client’s right to pursue a legal remedy. Legal assistants, paralegals and lawyers hold privileged information and maintain confidences about clients, witnesses and opposing parties—whether they are current, new or former. One way to uphold clients’ confidentiality is to comply with your firm’s record retention policy. This includes destroying files that are no longer required by your state’s conduct rules and standards for lawyers and law firms.
Legal Administration Career Path
Individuals who are motivated to pursue a career in legal administration often begin as support staffers and then work their way up the ranks. Many departments have administrative support positions that require a strong command of technology, office procedures, and budgetary management. These support staff members read documents, recommend course of action, and draft correspondence. Some administrative professionals take on research projects, while others travel to attend meetings with legal administrators. Some DOD, for instance, travel extensively when providing administrative support for the attorneys and general counsels at each DOD component nationwide.
Legal departments also involve support staff members in project planning, budget reallocation, and vendor development. Along the career path, administrative staff begin leading others , managing budgets and overseeing the reward systems within the department. At the top of the ladder, legal administrators become experts in nearly every area, including women and minority business programs, information technology, office relocation planning, budget planning, and records management.
The qualifications for these positions depend on law firm or company needs in regard to individuals’ skill sets, knowledge and background. Some companies opt to hire attorneys for these positions so that they may lend expertise on legal matters and business strategies. An educational background that includes majoring in paralegal studies, labor relations, human resources, or business enables support staff to reach senior-level positions. Knowledge of employment laws, healthcare compliance, and risk management also helps propel individuals upward in legal administration.