For solo and small firm owners, fluctuating caseloads are a way of life. Whether it’s seasonal or due to varying client needs, balancing your workforce to stay lean, yet responsive, can be tricky.
Hiring full-time staff is costly – especially during slower periods. You’re forced to carry unnecessary overhead until the work ramps back up. Doing it all yourself isn’t an option either. So what’s the solution?
That’s where freelance legal support comes in. By strategically tapping into this resource, your firm can manage these surges in volume without committing to long-term hires.
Here’s how to leverage freelance support to optimize workload management in your firm:
1. Assess Your Firm’s Needs and Identify Areas for Outsourcing
To find the right solution – you must first identify your specific challenges. What types of cases do you handle that fluctuate the most? Where do the productivity bottlenecks most frequently happen? Within those files, what work should you be focused on and what should be delegated to freelancers?
Action Step: Start by tracking your firm’s caseload over the past year. Identify peak times where the workload spikes and look for tasks that could be outsourced without compromising the quality of your service. For example, if you typically need help with discovery or legal research, these are excellent areas to consider outsourcing to experienced freelance attorneys.
Remember – this isn’t only about getting the additional work done, it’s also about identifying the work that should be delegated, allowing you to focus on the highest-priority work. This is especially important when it comes to administrative tasks and other work that can be handled by support staff. The more time you spend on higher-level work, the more revenue (and profit) you will generate for the practice.
2. Choose the Right Freelancers for the Job
Once you’ve identified the areas where freelance help is needed, the next step is selecting the right talent. This can be difficult because many firms don’t know where to start. There’s a vast pool of attorneys and paralegals out there with various backgrounds and expertise. The overall idea is to find those with the experience and know-how that will complement your firm’s existing strengths. But how do you find the right fit?
Action Step: Leverage services like The Freelance Firm that curate legal talent specifically for firms with this need. At The Freelance Firm, we manage a diverse network of experienced freelance attorneys and paralegals that are available for project-based, short-term and ongoing support. Our freelancers are required to complete a rigorous vetting process to ensure they meet the highest standards. We also provide our clients with the opportunity to assess and interview candidates on their own, to make sure they feel confident before getting underway.
All of our freelancers have a minimum of 5 years’ experience and are segmented by their top 2-3 practice areas. This means that your freelancers are ready to hit the ground running on day one – no training needed.
3. Create a Clear and Detailed Work Process
To ensure that freelancers integrate seamlessly with your team, it’s important to create a clear, efficient workflow. Outline expectations, timelines, and communication channels. Freelancers are often used to working independently – but providing them with the right structure will help avoid misunderstandings and ensure that tasks are completed on time and to your satisfaction.
Action Step: Develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) for working with freelancers. This might include guidelines on communication (e.g., weekly check-ins), document management (e.g., shared cloud storage), and task tracking (e.g., using project management software like Trello or Asana). By setting clear expectations upfront, you’ll prevent bottlenecks and make sure everyone stays on the same page.
At The Freelance Firm, we also have Delegation Consultants on our team that work with clients to onboard and integrate new freelancers with their existing team. They will walk you through a detailed process, identifying best practices and creating a tailored delegation strategy that will set you up for success.
4. Manage Costs by Using Freelancers During Peak Times
One of the key benefits of freelance legal talent is cost-efficiency. Instead of hiring a full-time employee, you can engage freelancers as needed, paying only for the hours you need. This is especially valuable during peak times when your caseload increases and additional help is needed.
Don’t forget – in many cases you can also bill a freelancers’ time to your clients with an added surcharge. So not only are you offsetting the cost, you’re actually generating additional revenue and profit by using freelancers.
Action Step: Establish a system for budgeting your freelance expenses. If you know that certain months tend to be busier, plan ahead by allocating funds for freelance support. For example, during the holiday season when cases like family law and estate planning increase, you may need extra hands for client meetings or paperwork. Freelancers can provide support on a per-case or hourly basis, keeping your overhead lower.
Similarly, when identifying the right work for freelancers – be sure to delegate as much billable work as possible using the support to create a new profit center for your practice.
The ability to manage changing workloads doesn’t have to lead to stress or burnout for you and your team. By integrating freelance legal support, you can instantly scale productivity, making sure your firm can respond to any demands.
Following these actionable steps – assessing your specific needs, choosing the right freelancers, creating a structure for success and managing costs (and profits!) – will enable your firm to leverage freelance support as a valuable resource that will exceed your clients’ expectations.
To learn how The Freelance Firm can help you achieve all of this with freelance support – schedule a call with us here.
