Managing Risk

Work with Support Staff to Promote Quality

Balancing productivity with risk management in a law firm is one of the most challenging tasks a lawyer faces. Here are some suggestions.

By Ann Massie Nelson

Before you read any further, you should know that learning how to manage employees by reading a magazine column is like learning how to walk the tightrope by reading a book. You cannot fully appreciate the magnitude of the challenge until you take the first step.

"Successful lawyers filter work down to the lowest level at which it can be performed competently," said Gary Munneke, chair of the ABA's Law Practice Management Section and professor of law at Pace University, in a talk before the State Bar of Wisconsin earlier this year. Lawyers solve clients' complex legal problems and delegate essential administrative tasks - ones that don't require legal education and experience - to their staff.

Sounds simple; however, lawyers reluctantly delegate work to the lowest level of competency - and for good reason. Duties that lawyers have considered "ministerial" and delegated to staff have come back to bite them, according to Katja Kunzke, vice president-claims, Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co. Some examples of malpractice claims made against lawyers for staff errors include:

• a mortgage recorded in the wrong county, resulting in a loss of the creditor-client's security interest;

• an incorrect statute of limitation entered for out-of-state personal injury representation, resulting in the case being dismissed;

• a bill that erroneously referred to an unrepresented third party as a client, giving the third party an open door to argue that the attorney owed him a duty; and

• a zero left off of the amount secured in a mortgage, resulting in the security interest being a small percentage of the correct amount.

The responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the work is, in the final analysis, the lawyer's alone. To effect quality legal representation, law firms need to provide staff with training, a written office procedures manual, and opportunities for open and honest communication.

Provide Training

Part of the risk comes from placing too much confidence in competent, long-term employees. Over time, lawyers tend to give staff members more responsibility and less supervision and training. "Lawyers have a continuing education requirement, but we forget that our staff does not," Kunzke says.

Training in the rules of professional conduct, particularly the rules governing confidentiality, conflict of interest, and communication, should be lesson one. At Milwaukee-based Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., the training begins before the first day on the job.

"When a staff person who is coming from another law firm accepts a position, we require her or him to sign a confidentiality agreement. Further, we conduct a conflict screening with the former firm and, if appropriate, we set up an information barrier within the firm," says Andrew Bednall, the firm administrator. (See above for a sample confidentiality statement.) Staff members participate in quarterly training covering a wide range of topics, from professional conduct and ethics to technology and office procedures.

Staff members who assist with a particular area of practice will benefit from attending relevant continuing legal education seminars. (Tuition often is reduced for staff members.) The State Bar of Wisconsin also offers several videotapes for staff use. (See sidebar for information about staff training tapes.) "Being trained in the lawyer's duties helps staff understand the value of what they contribute to clients. They become more vested in client service," Kunzke notes.

Publish an Office Procedures Manual

Written office procedures simplify everyone's job by answering frequently asked questions and providing a basis for discussion and evaluation of firm procedures. The ABA Law Practice Management Section publishes (on disk and looseleaf paper) a model, Law Office Staff Manual for Solos and Small Law Firms.¹

In addition to personnel policies, an office procedures manual needs to address:

• confidentiality

• conflicts of interest

• client communication

• telephone and voice mail

• faxes

• mail distribution

• calendar and docket

• file opening

• records management

• standard forms and correspondence

• billing

• cash handling

• trust accounts

• reporting lawyer impairment

Bednall's firm continuously revises its office procedures manual to keep up to date with changing technology and methods.

Encourage Communication

Ann Massie Nelson is Communications Director at Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co.

The busier the law practice becomes, the more necessary it is to schedule regular, one-on-one time with support staff. Staff members are the law firm's eyes and ears, but they need a forum to voice their observations.

"Clients are often less inhibited with staff than with their lawyers in communicating dissatisfaction," Kunzke says. "In some firms, the climate does not allow or encourage staff to communicate that information."

Bednall agrees. "One of the most important qualities a staff member can have is the self confidence to raise an issue when he or she believes an error has been made, without feeling threatened about retaliation," he says.

Endnotes

¹ Demetrious Dimitriou, Law Office Staff Manual for Solos and Small Law Firms. Ordering information is available by calling the ABA at (800) 285-2221.

Wisconsin Lawyer