I was on the phone with one of my consulting clients the other day, reviewing some of his office practices so that I could begin to work on my recommendations. We were talking about his intake procedures and, during the course of our conversation, it came out that he spends approximately three hours on the intake alone.
OK, I reasoned, maybe that’s all the time it takes to put together a Chapter 7 case. If so, that’s probably not so bad. Not great, but not bad.
Deeper digging ensued, and my client revealed to me that this marathon intake session was only the tip of the iceberg. In fact, his office spends upwards of six hours on a Chapter 7 case – and that doesn’t include the meeting of creditors!
My client couldn’t understand why I was dumbfounded and befuddled. He also couldn’t understand why he felt like he was working too hard for too little money.
You bet I could, though. And to illustrate my point, I asked him to pull out a calculator and join me in some math.
By the end of our conversation my client realized that he is currently making approximately $18 an hour. All because he spends too much time running around in circles, chasing his clients and spending too much time doing work that could easily be performed by others.
Bear in mind, I’m not suggesting that client intakes should be done by non-lawyers. What I am suggesting, however, is that each job be done by the person who can be best trained to handle the task. After all, does the lawyer need to be the one getting the documents from the client? Can a legal assistant enter creditors into Schedules D, E and F?
Look around your office and think about all the things you do that can be done by someone else. Better yet, think about how technology can replace a person entirely.
As for my client, the goal is to give him a raise without raising his legal fees. Should be fun.
