Tag Archives: Hiring

Is “Diverse” Hiring Really What You Want?

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What does diversity mean to you?

Diversity is defined as “The fact or quality of being different; having a variety.” It can only be applied to a group of things or people in order to highlight the presence or absence or difference or variety.

The reality is that a roomful of black women is no more diverse than a roomful of white men. And yet, we tend to describe programs as being aimed at “diverse attorneys” and state that we would really like to make a “diversity hire” in this position. But when you stop to think about it, what do we really mean?

If a program is for diverse attorneys, it must be for all attorneys and hopefully the group will represent a large variety of people. Is that really what we mean? No, it isn’t. What we mean is that the program is for attorneys who are underrepresented or marginalized in the field of law. Why not say that? Or better yet, let’s actively state what we mean. Is the program really aimed at women and people of color? Then let’s just say so. Let’s not seek a diversity hire; let’s seek to create a diverse workforce. Or we can talk about diversifying our employees.

Thought provoking and to the point.  As lawyers, we know language matters.  Perhaps it is time to change ours.  Read more here: Is “Diverse” Really What You Mean? — NWSidebar.

The Ups and Downs of Staffing Your Law Firm

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If your practice is growing and you have more work than you can reasonably handle, it may be time to hire staff.  Oddly, what seems like a natural progression can also be stressful.  Among other things, you may be wondering:

  • Can I really afford to hire someone?
  • Should this person be a contractor or an employee?
  • How can I best use my staff person?
  • What issues do I need to be aware of when hiring?
  • What if I have to fire my employee?

Let’s tackle these one at a time.

Can I afford to hire someone?

More often than not, the answer is a resounding yes!

  • The typical Oregon lawyer can net a profit of $91 every time his or her highly paid paralegal bills one hour of time to a client.
  • If a highly paid paralegal bills just under 13 hours during the course of a 40 hour week, the lawyer paying the paralegal will break even.
  • If the same paralegal bills 15 hours per week for the entire month, the lawyer will earn a profit of $1,260.84 after the paralegal’s salary and benefits are paid.
  • In the meanwhile, the lawyer has successfully shifted 60 hours of billable work and approximately 100 hours of nonbillable work to an employee: paper filing, efiling, scanning documents, calendaring, running conflict checks, billing clients, banking, running errands, opening files, closing files, and answering the phone.

See this post for the details and mathematical breakdown.

Should this person be a contractor or employee?

While it is tempting to treat legal staff, a contract lawyer, or any kind of help as an independent contractor, you may find yourself regretting this decision later.  It is almost impossible to go wrong classifying someone as your employee.  In fact, I don’t know how you can.  But bad outcomes abound if you label someone an independent contractor when they aren’t under Oregon law.  So before you go down this path, please read Mission Impossible? Working as an Independent Contractor in Oregon and Are Contract Lawyers Automatically Independent Contractors?  And this is critical, please review Lisa Brown, “Independent Contractors or Employees?” In Brief (April 2016), available on the PLF website at Practice Management > Publications > In Brief.

How can I best use my staff person?

Other than avoiding the unauthorized practice of law, there aren’t any limitations on the type of tasks you choose to delegate to a staff person.  However, there are some things to avoid.  Check out these posts: Six Mistakes Lawyers Make with Staff, Part I and Six Mistakes Lawyers Make with Staff, Part II.  Also review the staffing resources available on the PLF website.  Select Practice Management, then Forms, and choose the “Staff” category.  For specific tips, Google “how to best use a legal secretary” or how to best use a paralegal.”

What issues do I need to be aware of when hiring?

On May 28, 2015, the Professional Liability Fund held a CLE on how to hire with confidence.  The program is available at no charge on the PLF website.  Select CLE, then Past CLE, and look for Employment Practices for Lawyers: Hiring with Confidence and Avoiding Trouble at Termination.  Download the materials or checkout the highlights here.  One resource you should take advantage of: the Technical Assistance Support Line through the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI).  Also see:

What if I have to fire my employee?

The CLE referenced above has you covered.  For the key takeaways on avoiding trouble at termination, check out this blog post.  Also see the “Checklist for Departing Staff,” available on the PLF website.  Select Practice Management, then Forms, and choose the “Staff” category.

Parting Thoughts

While it is more than possible to regret hiring a specific person, I’ve never met anyone who regretted the decision to add staff.  Once you hire an employee, you will probably wonder, how did I ever get along without help?

[All Rights Reserved Beverly Michaelis 2016]

Employment Practices for Lawyers – Avoiding Trouble at Termination

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Last week I shared the top tweets for hiring staff from our May 28, 2015 seminar, Employment Practices for Lawyers. This week we turn to avoiding trouble at termination.  Here are just a few of the tips our speaker shared.  All the tweets from the CLE can be viewed on Storify.

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Read all the tweets here. Oregon lawyers may order the CLE free of charge on the PLF website, http://www.osbplf.org.  Select CLE > Past, then Employment Practices for Lawyers: Hiring with Confidence and Avoiding Trouble at Termination.

All Rights Reserved [2015] Beverly Michaelis

Employment Practices for Lawyers – Hiring with Confidence

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Hiring staff can be an intimidating process – whether you are a new or seasoned employer.  Avoid the pitfalls by reading the top tweets cultivated on Storify from our
May 28, 2015 CLE, Employment Practices for Lawyers: Hiring with Confidence and Avoiding Trouble at Termination.  Here are few representative tweets from the presentation:

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Read all the tweets here.  Oregon lawyers may order the CLE free of charge on the PLF website, http://www.osbplf.org.  Select CLE > Past, then Employment Practices for Lawyers: Hiring with Confidence and Avoiding Trouble at Termination.

All Rights Reserved [2015] Beverly Michaelis

Why Hiring Staff Pays YOU

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money-treeLast week I blogged about client retention.  I ended that post with the following thought:

If we all know what to do to keep clients and cultivate referrals, why is it so hard?

Answer: because you’re trying to juggle too many cases without the proper resources.  Perhaps:

  • You are practicing beyond your areas of expertise
  • You know how to weed out bad clients or cases, but fail to do so
  • You are practicing within your abilities, but your overall caseload is too high
  • You are unwilling to invest in staff, technology, or other solutions to help your practice

The solution?  If the problem is too big of a caseload, and not enough help, hire somebody!  Both you and your clients will be happier because you won’t be struggling (or unable) to keep up with the work.

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

Making money isn’t easy.  As a result, many lawyers skimp.  Ninety-nine percent of the time when a lawyer is failing (or flailing) they are trying to get by without hiring someone despite the fact they have more work than they can handle.  This trap is referred to as “penny wise and pound foolish.”

In an effort to save pennies, you avoid hiring staff.  Because you aren’t spending money on staff, you assume you are making more money.

What is Your Tipping Point?

There is always a tipping point in every practice when hiring staff means more money in your pocket.  You’ve heard the old saying: you have to spend money to make money.  Guess what?  It applies to running a solo or small law practice.

Make More Money by Hiring Staff

When you spend money on staff, you can delegate away billable and non-billable work and focus on only what you as a lawyer can do for the client.

Do the math:

  • The average Oregon lawyer bills more than $200 per hour.
  • The most highly paid legal staff in the Portland metro area earn $32.56 per hour.
  • The most highly paid legal staff person can work 6.14 hours to every hour spent by a lawyer on a task.  ($200 per hour divided by $32.56 per hour.)
  • Many of the tasks performed by highly paid legal staff can be billed to clients.
  • The average paralegal in our region of the country bills $133 per hour.
  • Round up the high end paralegal’s salary to $33 per hour, add 26% to cover the cost of benefits, and the highly paid paralegal’s total compensation rounds up to $42 per hour.
  • The typical lawyer can net a profit of $91 every time his or her highly paid paralegal bills one hour of time to a client.  (Billable rate of $133 per hour – $42 per hour compensation paid to high end paralegal = profit of $91 for each hour billed.)
  • On a weekly basis, a highly paid paralegal receives $1,680.  ($42 per hour x 40 hours per week.)  If that highly paid paralegal bills 12.63 hours during the course of a 40 hour week, the lawyer paying the paralegal breaks even.  ($133 per hour billed to clients x 12.63 hours = $1679.79.)
  • Any hours the paralegal bills beyond 12.63 is pure profit for the lawyer.  Even with a modest rate of 15 hours billed per week, the lawyer will net $315.21 on  a weekly basis.
  • If the lawyer’s paralegal sustains a billable rate of 15 hours per week for the entire month (60 hours by month-end), the lawyer will completely cover the paralegal’s salary and benefits PLUS MAKE A PROFIT OF $1,260.84 BEYOND THE PARALEGAL’S COMPENSATION.
  • In the meanwhile, the lawyer has relieved him or herself of 60 hours of billable work and approximately 100 hours of nonbillable work: paper filing, efiling, scanning documents, calendaring, running conflict checks, billing clients, banking, running errands, opening files, closing files, and answering the phone.

Your Numbers Will Vary, But the Math Still Adds Up

Obviously the numbers will vary – depending on the type of staff you hire, how you bill staff time, and your staff’s billable hours. But the underlying math is undeniable – staff need only bill a relatively modest amount of time to cover their cost.  Bill just a bit more, and you have a profit center.

So the next time you are evaluating the profitability of your firm, crunch the numbers.  In all likelihood, you will net more profit by hiring staff than not.

All Rights Reserved [2015] Beverly Michaelis

*The most highly compensated staff in Oregon are paralegals, with wages topping out at $5,666 per month.  On the average, there are 174 working hours in a month. A high-end monthly wage of $5,666 divided by 174 hours equates to $32.56 per hour.  Nationally, the average pay for a paralegal is slightly more, $36 per hour.