header-logo header-logo

Qualified success

04 June 2009 / John Stacey-hibbert
Issue: 7372 / Categories: Features , Profession , Employment
printer mail-detail

John Stacey-Hibbert believes staff are a firm's second greatest asset

Everyone knows that the greatest asset any law firm has is its clients. Client care therefore is, or should be, high on the business agenda. What, though, is a firm's second greatest asset? Arguably it is its staff. Without staff clients cannot be serviced and therefore the major asset is lost. However, investing and training in non-fee earners has never been high on the agenda of many law firms.

Efficiency

It is now some 12 years since the Research and Policy Planning Unit of The Law Society published its Research Study No 23—Paralegal Staff in Solicitors' Firms (which also covered legal secretaries as well as paralegal staff ) which concluded that paralegals can make a great contribution to the efficiency of solicitors' firms by helping to increase the efficiency of the legal profession and thereby command the confidence of its clients.

It is fair to say that, as a whole, the legal profession has not taken the conclusions of this report to heart, either

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Sports, education and charities practice welcomes senior associate

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Partner and head of commercial litigation joins in Chelmsford

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Firm strengthens Glasgow corporate practice with partner hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
back-to-top-scroll