Many attorneys feel a sense of loyalty to staff members, especially if they’ve been with the firm for a long time. This can be a problem; unfortunately, just because they’ve been with you for a long time doesn’t mean they’re the right person for the job. Your staff represents you as an attorney each time they interact with a client or potential client. If it’s a poor experience, that person isn’t going to want to work with you and it may lead them to go somewhere else. Your competitor, for example, who may have better staff.

Your staff should be excited to work for you and should show that excitement when they interact with whomever comes into the office or calls your phones. A lack of enthusiasm is a very quick turn-off for someone and a simple five minute conversation could be the difference between getting a big case and sending a big case out the door. Call the receptionist desk yourself and see how the phones are being handled. If you have a poor experience, so is everyone else who is calling you and that’s a very poor reflection on you.

Your staff should make sure that you know what you need to know without you having to ask them all the time. They should be trained well enough to understand what information they need to relay to you immediately. If they can’t discern between important and unimportant, take the time to train them and make sure they understand. If you’re having to reach out to them more than once a day, there should be some changes. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice your time to remind someone else to do their job.

There needs to be an organization system. If whomever it is that handles your papers isn’t organized, guess what? There’s a good chance you’re missing some really important documents. If there isn’t a system, sit down with that staff member and create one. Remember, the reason your staff reflects on you is because it’s your responsibility to train them to be the staff you want them to be.

Lastly, you must be able to trust your staff. Say you and your staff were going on a sky-diving expedition but you had an important meeting so you couldn’t arrive until later. For safety reasons, the instructor asked each member of your staff to pack an extra parachute. By the time you got there, there was no time to pack your own so each member of your staff said “Here! Take mine!” Who is the one employee that you immediately respond with, “I’ll take my chances jumping.”?
They need to be let go. You must be able to trust your staff to take care of what needs to be done. This is your life and your livelihood; don’t place it in the hands of someone you wouldn’t take a parachute from.