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The Most Dangerous Number for Law Firms

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The Most Dangerous Number for Law Firms

Keeping your law firm resilient and prepared for change is critical for its long-term success. This resiliency relies, in part, on your ability to pivot and stay agile in the face of change. But how can you achieve this resiliency in practical terms? Start by avoiding the number one.

 

The most dangerous number in business

What is the average client worth to your firm? If you take into account not one case but the lifetime revenue each client represents to your firm, it might be a lot.

The problem arises when one client represents so much of your firm’s earnings, that their departure would be catastrophic. This is known as single-client dependency, and it is one of the most critical factors that can affect your law firm’s valuation. For example, if you’re considering selling your company, banks will inquire whether you have any clients worth more than 5% of your revenue.

That is why marketing author Dan Kennedy used to say, “The most dangerous number in business is ONE.” When an entire business depends on just one market, client, or partnership, it is always one stroke of bad luck away from failure. With so many circumstances beyond your law firm’s control, it is better to set your business to be resilient from the start and avoid single-client dependency.

 

How to keep your law firm agile and profitable in the face of change

The world is changing fast and, in order to adapt, modern law firms require a better model that allows them to grow with peace of mind. This means having flexible expenses that can scale up and down as your law firm grows, in order to maintain profitability regardless of the circumstances.

This is the model Amata is proud to provide. Our scalable solutions help modern law firms access everything that they need to support their growth — virtual assistants, trained paralegals, professional offices, and networking spaces — but without the rigidity that can undermine your law firm’s resiliency.

Law firms should be able to evolve as the needs and expectations of their clients change. Take, for example, the size of the average law office. In the past 20 years the average space allocated per attorney has gone from 1,400 sq. ft. to 700 sq. ft. today, and that number continues to shrink every passing year. Law firms are taking a hard look at their office costs and would prefer to allocate those funds to technology, automation tools and compensation.

The extreme are the law firms who opted for a fully remote environment. No dress code, no commute, and flexible hours. But while remote work can have some perks, some recent studies are finding that going “fully remote” can create new problems such as feelings of isolation and decreased productivity. Many of our clients have come to the conclusion that working from home simply didn’t work for them – personally or professionally.

So, is there a balance? How can law firms remain flexible in their costs, while keeping a professional image that leads to increased clientele?

 

A new model for growth

When a law firm loses a significant client, the immediate challenge is maintaining cash flow. This is where the importance of flexible office plans becomes evident. In an industry where expenses can quickly pile up, having flexible arrangements can be a lifeline.

This is what happened with one law firm serving the Chicago area since 1997. The team was forced to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and started to question the necessity of a high-maintenance lease they had been paying for the past 13 years.

When this firm contacted Amata’s team in 2021, they were ready to try a new approach. They hired virtual office services, including phone answering, call forward and automated receptionist features. This allowed them to enjoy the benefits of a brick-and-mortar office, such as reliable customer service and confidential lines for client calls, without the need for an in-house physical presence.

As a result, this firm was able to drop its monthly expenses from over $21,000/month to about $550/month. And they did it while maintaining a professional office space, receptionist services, and the ability to add or drop offices without penalty. 

Flexible office plans provide law firms with the agility to adjust their expenses according to fluctuations in their client portfolio. This law firm is an example of how flexible solutions can reduce costs, cut operational inefficiencies, and unlock growth without the risks of fixed costs.

Amata gives law firms everything they need to grow in today’s changing landscape. We provide a range of solutions, from phone answering and virtual office management to document filing and legal research. Our objective is to free up your time, resources, and staff so you can focus on doing what you do best – winning cases!

Inquire here about our tailor-made solutions that can ensure profitability, even in the face of change.

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Achieving True Office Flexibility — An Underlooked Factor for Growing Your Law Firm

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Achieving True Office Flexibility — An Underlooked Factor for Growing Your Law Firm

 

Growing a business of any size can be hard. You need to generate new clients, serve the ones you already have, and constantly control your costs in order to ensure a profitable operation.

And when it comes to growing your law firm, the challenge can be even harder. Take, for example, an office. Most lawyers know the importance of having a professional office. The problem is that, according to a study conducted by BCG Attorney Search, Office Spaces can represent up to 50% of the expenses a small to medium-sized law firm has to incur.

That is why today we want to share what has helped more than 800 of our clients save money and achieve what we call Office Flexibility. You will understand how to access professional offices that adapt to your needs as a business owner, and that scale up and down with your operations.

 

The Support You Need, on Your Own Terms

Most lawyers started their own firm for one reason: Freedom. Freedom to work on meaningful cases, with clients they enjoy working with, controlling their hours, and at rates that truly compensate for the long hours they invest into providing an exceptional service.

The problem is that working in a small to medium-sized firm might come with the freedom, but at the expense of stability. This means that many of the support mechanisms that large firms take for granted are now impossible to afford, including:

  • Administrative assistants to delegate tasks to
  • Receptionists to take calls
  • Paralegals to assign law tasks to
  • A physical office space

So law firm founders find themselves in a conundrum: Should they sacrifice the quality of life they started their firm for in the first place, by trying to do all of the work themselves? Or should they hire other professionals to support them, but at the risk of facing a low cash flow month with high fixed expenses?

That’s where Office Flexibility comes in. Forget about having to choose between a professional, fully-staffed office AND labor costs so high that they erode your profitability.

Because if there’s a recurring trend in the legal world, it’s flexibility. From outsourced legal services to Fractional General Counsels, companies demand more flexibility in their costs to meet their exact growth needs. And having served the legal industry for 21+ years, Amata brings the flexibility you need to the office.

 

Professional Offices With the Flexibility You Need

At Amata Law Office Suites, we offer agreements that allow clients to drop or add offices during the term of the contract, without penalty, resulting in true office flexibility.

Whether you just started your law firm, have a team of 10-20, or are ready to expand your big law firm with the flexibility to scale up or down, we are here for you. No more letting long-term leases or a small staff hinder your ability to make the scalable impact you envision.

Our flexible support services mean more impact and less stress. Paralegal assistants can go to City Hall, the Recorders Office and deliver courtesy copies to judges for you. Live receptionists can screen your calls, handle new client in-take, and greet your guests. Our senior paralegals can research local court procedures, investigate cases, and draft motions on your behalf.

Our team acts as an extension of your law firm and scales up and down as you need to, so you never have to pay for under-utilized staff.

Besides these on-demand, professional support services, Amata provides you with a physical or virtual office that grows with you. Some of our clients have described their Amata office spaces as untouchable, pristine, and “a place for relationships worth its weight in gold.”

In today’s economic environment, the ability to add or remove office spaces without penalty is paramount. That is why our plans provide flexible pricing, short-term agreements with options to adjust, and conference rooms that can accommodate every need, including live depositions, in-person meetings combined with video meetings, in-person client lunches and after-hour gatherings.

Most lawyers do not need to come into the office on a regular basis, nor do they need a large office with a lavish library. You can strategically grow your firm by allocating your resources to technology and talent, while still having a professional office that establishes your professionalism and provides all the support needed to thrive.

Because for most law firms, the two largest expenses are office space and compensation. Amata helps you reduce both with a fresh solution that scales as you do, without penalizing you for changes along the way.

After all, flexibility in your costs means more ability to serve clients, build a thriving firm, and enjoy the quality of life you started your business for in the first place.

Inquire today to learn how our flexible solutions can help your law firm reduce costs, simplify your growth, and scale.

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Protecting Your Greatest Asset: The Lifesaving Power of Employee Benefits

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Protecting Your Greatest Asset: The Lifesaving Power of Employee Benefits


Your company performs when your people do. A competitive benefits package can not only be good for your employees, but also a lifesaver for your law firm. In this article we’ll explore two out of many examples where putting employees first is paramount, and why you should think of insurance and benefits as an investment, not an expense.

September is National Life Insurance Awareness Month, so we invited insurance expert and our good friend Shannon Hahn to lend her expertise on this subject. Let’s dive right in!

 

A Benefits Package To Protect Your Greatest Asset: People

For years, I didn’t give much thought to short-and long-term disability. Amata was young and so were most of our employees, including myself.

After a key employee suffered a heart attack and went through a very lengthy recovery process, my mindset changed and I can’t express how thankful I am that Shannon helped me understand the advantages of providing these benefits to employees. Without them, Amata would not have been able to support this employee during the recovery, causing severe hardship for the employee and their family.

As business owners, it is normal to want to protect our profitability and think of disability benefits as just another bill to pay. But what we don’t realize is that, as the saying goes, “insurance is like a parachute. The time to get one is before you need it.”

When unforeseen illness or accident strikes, proactively speaking with Shannon helps me prevent financial hardships from affecting our employees and bottom line. This year alone, three of our employees experienced a major illness forcing them to go on short-term disability. Our program covers 60% of their salary for 13-weeks and then, if needed, activates our long-term policy.

Once again, these were long-term employees that our clients rely on and trust will be there to support them year in and year out. Without the benefits of a comprehensive benefits package that supports employees when they are forced to miss work for extended periods of time, Amata would not be able to provide the employee stability our clients require. 

Attracting and retaining great talent today is no small feat. According to Shannon, for specialized service businesses such as Amata and professional service firms, employee retention is the single greatest investment in their long-term success. Providing benefits employees can count on can make all the difference between cultivating 15-year employees and having a revolving door of employees who stay with your firm for less than two years.

The latter situation keeps you, your clients, and your bottom line stuck in neutral or constant decline.’

We value our employees above all else. This means providing them with the best benefits package the company can.

Can You Afford Not to Buy Insurance?

Offering dependable benefits can mean the world to your employees, and cost less than you would think. Core benefits start with medical insurance and income replacement benefits, which provide monthly income when a person cannot physically work. This becomes invaluable during a crisis or life event like the delivery of a baby.

After working with 100’s of employees, Shannon sees how acutely aware employees are of the need for both medical and financial protections. That is why additional supplemental benefits have been created: to cover expenses like accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity not provided by traditional medical insurance. 

Purchasing these voluntary benefits through an employer can offer some significant discounts and provide coverage in cases where employees may not qualify independently. Employees can select which benefits suit their situation, and employers can choose whether voluntary benefits are fully employee-funded or a shared expense between the employer and employee.

Insurance buys protection against life’s unforeseen events, and provides peace of mind in times of need. Taking a fresh look at your benefits program is also critical to employee retention and may be more cost-effective than you think.

Amata knows its greatest asset is its people. That is why we recommend Shannon Hahn’s expertise to prepare your company for the unexpected by offering a curated menu of life and health benefits. Take your firm to the next level and contact Shannon Hahn at [email protected] or (312) 415-6107 for a complimentary benefit analysis today.

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Litigation Firm Gives Up Office Lease And Doesn’t Look Back

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Litigation Firm Gives Up Office Lease And Doesn’t Look Back

Welcome to the second profile in our series of success stories from law firms that have chosen Amata Law Office Suites to house their practice’s operations. Covering only eight of the more than 800 law firms that have leveraged our services in Chicago, Illinois, each month we’ll feature the successes of a few firms and how they’ve used Amata to their advantage.

Can office solutions save lives? Maybe not. But at Amata, we’ve certainly seen ours make others’ easier. Case in point this story about a Chicago-area litigation firm that started with us in 2021. Their journey from suppressed potential to unbound growth is just one example of the real-life impact that the right office space provider can have.

Starting With the Basics

Founded in 1997, this practice was a revered name in Chicago’s insurance, real estate and commercial litigation scene long before it started working with Amata. It had grown steadily over the years, finding success through several high-profile cases while expanding its operations not only throughout Illinois, but also Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. The HQ team back in Chicago worked out of the same office space for 13 years before their lease went into limbo in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During this time, the firm – like everyone else – had been forced to take an unconventional approach to business as usual. The three principal partners, six lawyers and additional staff members on the team rarely visited the office space they had and were instead handling most matters remotely.

Taking a New Approach to Work

Of course prior to the pandemic, there wouldn’t have been a question about whether this type of “old school”, self-managed arrangement was the smartest move to make. For many, it was the only way. Business owners had come to accept the sky-high costs of maintaining exclusive office space and assumed it was unavoidable. But remote work changed things overnight to quickly reveal just how much more can be done with less.

In the latter half of 2021, Amata’s team received a call from one of the firm’s partners with questions about how managed virtual offices work. They were particularly interested in phone services, call forwarding and automated receptionist features. These options had the potential to provide all of the advantages of a brick-and-mortar office – reliable customer service and confidential lines for client calls – without actually having an in-house physical presence.

While devastating in other respects, the pandemic presented this firm the opportunity to try out a new approach, and in doing so, reduce its fixed expenses, risk, and partner liability on a short-term basis.

Reaping the Benefits of a Smarter Approach

Within days of signing onto an agreement with Amata, this once-taxed litigation firm was able to drop its monthly expenses of over $21,000/month (including a full-time receptionist) to about $550/month. For context, that’s less than a third of the average rent price for an apartment in Chicago. But they were getting so much more value – not only professionally maintained and managed office space, but also receptionist services and freedom from constraining lease arrangements.

While Amata’s services had initially been sought out in response to the pandemic, the litigation firm moved to transform its partnership into a long-term endeavor. Decision makers found that staff were just as productive in their new flex arrangement and that the cost-savings of adopting it permanently could only pay dividends. This proved true later on in 2022, when the practice added two more associates to its team. They took two additional offices with Amata so that these new partners could work with existing associates in person two to four days each week. Beyond that, no other physical space has been needed to maintain the firm’s productivity and broader operations. Flexible solutions from Amata allow them to drastically increase their monthly cost-savings for reinvestment in company growth.

How Amata’s Solutions Tailor to the Needs of Individual Law Firms

The law firm we’re discussing today is no different from others in Chicago in the sense that it had a problem with operational inefficiency that needed to be tackled. But at the same time, none in the city are identical. Each and every practice has its own story and areas of expertise. Factors like team size, client base, and funding all play into how any given law firm operates. Enhancing efficiency requires case-specific support, and that’s exactly what Amata provides.

Amata gives law firms everything they need – and nothing they don’t. We want to equip your practice to succeed in today’s changing yet competitive landscape. Our innovative services are specifically designed for budding ventures that need a cost-effective way of delivering value to their clients.

We provide a range of solutions, from phone answering and virtual office management to document filing and legal research. As-needed office space is also available so that you can scale up or down as needed. Amata frees up your time, resources, and staff so they can focus on doing what they do best – winning cases. Inquire today!

Discover our virtual offices in Chicago.

From Small Business Incubator To Thriving Law Practice

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From Small Business Incubator To Thriving Law Practice


Starting a business of any kind can be hard. Recent law graduates face an even bigger challenge in getting new ventures off the ground due to the highly competitive nature of their field. It takes a lot of upfront capital to start something, and even more hard work and commitment to see it though to success. At Amata Law Office Suites, we understand that not every aspiring lawyer begins their career with such a level of support. That’s why our company is proudly partnered with the Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Solo and Small Practice Incubator program. Providing participants office space free of charge, as well as discounted support services, this initiative is intended to spur graduates’ prospects as they leave law school and pursue the creation of their very own practice. 

Today, we’re going to tell you the story of just one of our many successes. 

A participant in the Solo and Small Practice Incubator program, this civil rights law firm has worked with Amata since 2017. Limited resources and small staff hindered their ability to make a big impact, but with help from Amata they were able to find just the right arrangement to thrive. The firm was immediately able to expand its services upon moving into their new space – leveraging our amenities to engage with more clients and serve the Chicago community to the scale at which they do today. 

Read below to learn more about this specific law practice and what Amata did to help it succeed. 

Growing Through Strategic Resource Allocation and Staffing 

Any new business, whether it’s in the legal industry or not, will face high start-up costs in the beginning. It’s an inevitable part of the process that, although difficult, can be minimized through careful resource allocation. This firm, like so many others before them, faced this challenge and would have found it difficult to overcome without guidance. 

The Solo and Small Practice Incubator provided the platform for our team to connect the firm with resources, including staffing options. Our flexible support services provided cost-effective assistance in the areas of call handling, message taking, and appointment scheduling when the founders needed it most. At an on-demand cost, they were able to drastically cut the amount of money they’d need to otherwise spend on full-time in-house employees. This strategic use of limited resources would prove beneficial as the venture scaled over time and sought to enhance the quality and breadth of its offerings in Chicago. 

Simplified Client Intake 

The great thing about working with Amata is that there’s no end to the volume or nature of support you can receive. This particular civil rights practice continues to leverage our services in a number of ways, most recently to simplify client intake. 

It’s no secret that the onboarding process can be long, arduous, and even counterproductive when done the traditional way. In the past, the firm would solely rely on hand-written notes made by receptionists as leads came in over the phone. That had the potential to create several problems, with miscommunication, lost information, and an inability to accurately track month-to-month numbers being among the most damaging to operational efficiency.  

Amata was able to address these issues with a streamlined approach. Now, when potential new clients call in, a receptionist takes down the caller’s name, contact information, and a brief description of their situation. This information is shared with attorneys via email. When the attorney wishes to pursue the matter, Amata’s staff calls the potential new client and, using a 25-question in-take form, qualifies their case for legal services. Once complete, the Amata team member schedules an appointment for the attorney to meet with the potential client either in-person or by video call. This hands-free assistance – as well as Spanish translation support – has enabled the firm to take on a more diverse breadth of clients in less time. 

Putting Profitability First With the Power of Flexibility 

If you were to ask the firm’s owners, they would surely tell you that rectifying injustices through the practice of civil rights law is why they do what they do every day. But no matter how passionate someone may be, there’s no overcoming the fact that every business needs capital and profit to grow. Amata helped in this domain by providing uniquely scalable solutions. 

With our help, the firm is able to scale expenses up and down with workloads, maximizing profitability while keeping costs affordable for clients. In one instance when the firm had two cases going to trial at the same time, Amata’s team was engaged for 12 hours of work. The client was billed $1,020 for this work and invoiced their client $2,040. 

Amata Support Services Can Help Your Business Grow 

The Chicago-area law firm we’ve discussed here is nowhere near alone in the wealth of budding practices that Amata has had the pleasure of supporting over the years. Our attorney support services are designed to provide just as much value to the small and new as they are the old and well-established. 

Inquire today to learn more about how we can help take your operations to the next level.

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.

Increasing Revenues with Existing Legal Clients

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By Ron Bockstahler

Increasing Revenues with Existing Clients

Revenues can come from net new business and from expanding services to existing clients. Most of a firms marketing efforts go towards net new business. Let’s discuss how we can increase revenues with existing clients. This is “low-hanging fruit” that can take a business from break-even to profitability with little financial investment. To take advantage of some of this low-hanging fruit we need to increase our value to existing clients and measure existing clients level of satisfaction.

“EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE” MINDSET

We spend years building firms that provide outstanding services and products to our clients. Most of us have client testimonials prominently displayed on our websites and throughout our marketing materials. These are satisfied clients, so let’s put some resources into winning more of their business. The first resource is your firms people. Happy employees create a culture of “Exceptional Customer Service”. Increase employee satisfaction by offering perks that motivate your staff.

Everyone in the organization must approach existing clients the same way they approach prospective clients. Think about how you treat a potential client the week you are expecting them to sign a $1 million contract with your firm. Providing them a little extra attention. Making sure they have everything they need. If we showing existing clients this same type of attention, maybe they too will be signing an agreement for an additional $1 million in annual revenue.

CUSTOMER SURVEYS TO CREATE RAVING FANS

Before we approach existing clients to use more of our services, we first need to measure their satisfaction with existing services. One way to do this is the Net Promoter System, created by Fred Reichheld in 2003. The Net Promoter Score is the percentage of customers who are promoters (those who rate your services a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10) minus the percentage who are detractors (those who score your services 1 to6). To obtain a score from a client you will need to conduct regularly scheduled client surveys.

CLIENT SURVEYS IN ACTION

Two recent incidents led me to write this article and both involve customer surveys. The first is a vendor Amata uses and the other was an unhappy Amata client. Let’s start with the vendor. For 2 months Amata requested to have an ice maker installed. The assigned representative was aloof and uncooperative. This vendor sent out a random customer survey and our manager used this survey to report our dissatisfaction with the delayed install. The companies quick response was amazing. The ice maker was installed within a week after the survey was submitted. Amata went from a customer looking to leave the company to a happy client, willing to consider this company for the next installation.

The second incident involved an Amata client. The client completed a survey 60-days after joining Amata. In the survey the client expressed dissatisfaction with a billing issue and a couple other items. Amata’s management team immediately met to plan a course of action. A response was sent to this client, addressing each of the concerns, the following day. The client’s follow up response was to praise Amata’s team for addressing the concerns. The client also commended the Amata staff for their professionalism. In both incidents, an unhappy client was turned into a raving fan, with potential for additional services in the future. These are two excellent examples of how the use of surveys help take the pulse of your clients, identify unhappy clients, and turn them into raving fans for your firm.

If you’re interested in hearing more about how you can add more flexibility to your office expenses, contact us and let’s talk.

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Selecting The Best Virtual Office

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How do you select the best virtual office program? There has been a big increase in the demand for these programs recently. With the increased demand  many new players, looking to make a quick buck, have entered the playing field. Some are marketing companies, with no direct responsibility for the services you are receiving.

Others have very limited resources and experience in providing clients the services they need. When selecting a virtual office provider be sure to look into their history and to make sure they will be accountable for providing the services you are paying for. The most successful companies survive on their reputation, so providing the best service possible is how they win new clients.

Amata Office Suites has been providing Virtual office services for more than 21 years. Understanding how to take care of our clients is what we do better than anyone in the industry.

WHO USES VIRTUAL OFFICE PROGRAMS

Large firms are using virtual office programs to open in new cities. Since the pandemic began many small firms have converted to virtual office programs to reduce costs. Midsize firms that have given up traditional office leases now maintain a combination of physical office space in a coworking office, with a virtual presence for those employees that do not come into the office on a regular basis. Almost every business, regardless of size or the nature of the business, can benefit from maintaining some type of virtual office program.

SECURITY PROTECTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL IMAGE

When selecting the best virtual office, it is important they provide adequate security protections. Providing a home address and personal phone number can expose an owner to unnecessary risk. By using a virtual address for the company, an owner is better able to insulate their private lives from that of their business. In much the same way, separating an owner’s personal cell phone number from the business phone number helps to keep personal information separate from that of the business.

For most businesses a professional image influences their pricing models. Businesses with positive images in the minds of their consumers have more pricing power than those with a negative or neutral image. Companies with a prestigious address in a desirable location, immediately create a positive impression with clients.

COST SAVINGS

Renting or buying a physical office space can be a significant expense for businesses, especially startups or small businesses. Virtual offices offer a cost-effective alternative as they allow businesses to have a prestigious business address at a fraction of what a traditional office space would cost.

Virtual offices enable businesses to operate remotely and have a distributed workforce. Employees can work from anywhere, and the business can have a presence in multiple locations, creating a global presence. Firms can have local addresses and phone numbers in various countries or cities, helping them establish credibility and connect with local customers. This flexibility allows for increased productivity, profitability, and work-life balance for employees.

SUPPORT SERVICES

Virtual office services can include mail handling, a prestigious address, and many additional services that are provided a’ la carte. Many providers specialize by industry. For example, Amata Office Suites provides call answering with client in-take for law firms and professional service companies. Using a provider that provides a phone and phone app eliminates the expense of sourcing a separate business phone provider.

Administrative support can include the use of professional administrative assistants, paralegals and virtual assistants. Taking advantage of these resources will reduce a company’s fixed expenses, reducing risk.

Access to conferencing facilities is another benefit to using a virtual office service. The most prestigious virtual office providers provide access to meeting rooms, with the latest conferencing technologies to host in-person and virtual meetings. This provides businesses access to prestigious meeting rooms when needed, without the need for a dedicated office space.

Speak with an Amata team member to find out how your firm can benefit with a virtual office program. Contact us today.

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Maximizing the Value of a Full-Time Employee

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Employee utilization rates may be the most ignored or misunderstood stat in small businesses and law firms. Instead of using quantifiable data, many small businesses rely on emotions or intuition to determine when it is time to hire a new employee.

What metrics is your company using to ensure an employees’ time is effectively utilized. Is there accurate data available to help determine when to make a new hire?

It is hard to imagine a law firm that generates revenue through billable hours hiring an additional lawyer if their current lawyers are only billing 10 hours each week.

EMPLOYEE UTILIZATION USING BILLABLE HOURS

We define employee utilization as the hours an employee is engaged in productive work divided by the total hours the employee is paid.

Generally, employees are paid for 2,080 hours annually (including vacation and sick time, excluding overtime). If you expect your employees to generate 1,352 billable hours each year, their utilization rate will be 65%.

Once an employee consistently reaches the utilization rate goal, it is time to hire an additional employee to continue growing your business. If the employee continuously fails to reach the utilization rate goal, it may be time to reevaluate if you have the best employee for the job.

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO MEASURE EMPLOYEE UTILIZATION

For employees that do not generate revenue through billable hours, such as my companies accounting team members, require them to maintain a work log each day detailing what they worked on and how long it took. A simple spreadsheet is easy to create for each employee to log into throughout the day. This is a valuable tool for employees that work remotely and those that work in the office.

Understanding how much time employees spend on productive work versus time spent surfing the internet, emailing friends, and shopping will help companies increase productivity. Just knowing accountability measures are in place will quickly increase productivity among team members. A Google search on office worker productivity statistics may surprise you. The average office worker is productive 31% of their workday. In an 8 hour day, employees are not doing productive work for 5.5 hours, yet companies are paying for those hours.

BEST PRACTICES

To maximize employee utilization, here are some best practices to consider:

  1. Effective Workforce Planning
    Analyze your business needs, forecast workloads, and plan your workforce accordingly. This involves understanding the demands of different projects, departments, or seasons and aligning your staff resources accordingly.
  2. Clear Communication and Goal Setting
    Ensure that employees have a clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations. Set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals with your employees.  This enables them to prioritize their tasks and utilize time effectively.
  3. Efficient Task Assignment
    Match employees’ skills, expertise, and interests with the tasks they handle. Assign tasks based on strengths and provide opportunities for growth and development.
  4. Optimize Work Processes
    Streamline workflows and eliminate unnecessary steps or bottlenecks that can hinder productivity. Encourage employees to provide input on process improvements and implement their suggestions when possible. This will lead to increased efficiency and reduce time wasting activities.
  5. Regular Performance Monitoring
    Implement a system to track and monitor employee performance, enabling management to identify areas where employees may be underutilized or overburdened. Provide constructive feedback and offer support to help them overcome challenges and improve performance.
  6. Training and Skill Development
    Invest in training programs and provide opportunities for employees to enhance their skills. This helps them become more versatile and capable of handling a broader range of tasks, improving their overall utilization.
  7. Flexibility and Cross-Functional Collaboration
    Promote a culture of flexibility and cross-functional collaboration. Encourage employees to share their skills, knowledge, and experiences with one another. Foster a dynamic and resourceful workforce that can adapt to changing needs and fill gaps in different areas.
  8. Effective Time Management
    Work with employees on how to set priorities, avoid multitasking, and minimize distractions. Encourage breaks to maintain a healthy work-life balance and avoid employee burnout.
  9. Technology and Automation
    Deploy tools to streamline repetitive tasks, minimize manual effort, and free up employees’ time. Implementing the right tools can significantly increase overall productivity and employee utilization.
  10. Recognition and Rewards
    Recognize and reward employees for their achievements and efforts. A positive and motivating work environment can boost employee morale, engagement, and overall productivity.

Remember, maximizing employee utilization is not synonymous with overworking employees. It is crucial employees are able to maintain a healthy work-life balance. An alternative to overworking employees or hiring new employees before revenues justify them is Amata’s on-demand virtual assistants, executive assistants and paralegals. Amata can assist with overflow work, back-up when a full-time staff member is out or on a temporary basis while the company is searching for a new full-time employee.

Would you like to speak with Amata team members to find someone that is a fit for you? Contact us today.

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.

A Look at Hybrid Work for Small and Midsized Law Firms

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By Ron Bockstahler

We are going on our third year living with Covid-19 and some of the early predictions about a hybrid work/office model are starting to become reality. But the truth is, this reality looks different for almost every law firm and is heavily influenced by personal preference, type of law practiced, and individual situations. When it comes to creating the perfect hybrid work environment, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Over the past 30 days, I have worked with five law firms helping them to create a hybrid work environment that will allow them to optimize resources, maximize profitability, and maintain firm culture. All these firms were successful prior to the pandemic and their work volume has been consistently increasing since the pandemic began. Their challenges include maintaining firm culture, developing new associates, coordinating work projects, and keeping their work force from leaving for new opportunities. I will even add my own company, Amata Law Office Suites, into the discussion since we too have experienced similar challenges during the pandemic and are now wrestling with how we move forward. Let’s look at a couple of these firms, their situation and how, at least for now, they are moving forward with hybrid work/office solutions.

Let’s start by talking about the largest of the five firms I’ve recently worked with. Since the project is ongoing, I will not mention the firm name for confidentiality purposes. The firm is based in Florida, with locations in several other states. In Chicago they have 38 attorneys and occupy two adjacent floors in the Chicago loop, about 35,000 sq. ft. in total.  I started talking with this firm about a year ago, late in 2021, as they were considering the best way to move forward with their office space. Like most of us, they wanted to see how the pandemic would play out and how their lawyers and staff would adjust to remote work before making any big decisions on their office space. With enough experience working remote and a lot of input from their lawyers, they are now ready to move forward with a hybrid work/office model they believe will work well for their firm. Their model involves giving up both floors at their Chicago office in a partnership with Amata Law Office Suites, with the firm maintaining twelve offices for lawyers and staff who have elected to come into the office regularly and four offices for hoteling among lawyers and staff that come into the office only occasionally. The firm is signing a licensing agreement with Amata and will use the common areas and conference rooms in the same way as other Amata client. The lawyers and staff without offices have elected to work remotely, only coming into the office for firm meetings or to occasionally meet with clients. By giving up their permanent office space the firm can reduce expenses by just under $800,000 each year.

Next is a three-attorney law firm with two staff members. For the partners of this firm, the remote work model did not suit their work preference. In fact, since the beginning of the pandemic, they have been coming into the office every day. It is common to see the partners meeting serendipitously to discuss a client or case they are involved in. They are all old enough to be empty nesters, so they can work at home without interruptions. Instead, they enjoy the camaraderie the office provides. If I were to rank the reasons lawyers give me for coming into the office, camaraderie and the social aspects would be at the top of the list. For years one of my favorite sayings when talking with my managers has been, busy makes busy. Create a busy environment and people will gravitate to that environment.

Want to learn more about how Amata helps law firms leverage hybrid work? We can help you find the right fit – start a conversation with us here.

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Five Things to Look for in Shared Office Space (Revised)

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By Ron Bockstahler

Recent events in the shared office space realm compel me to update this article with a couple of very important points that were not mentioned originally. Today I met with an attorney who was originally introduced to me more than three years ago when he was considering changing his office space. At the time, my company didn’t win his business because he wasn’t unhappy with his space and the perceived hassle of changing addresses for active cases just didn’t seem like it was worth it at that time. Two days ago, the shared office this attorney runs his law firm out of, a large international shared office company, provided a 13-day notice that they are closing the center and all tenants will have to relocate to one of their other locations or find new office space on their own. Now anyone that has ever looked for new office space knows that 13 days is hardly enough time to secure new office space and coordinate a move, especially if your firm has a large active caseload.

Last night I was reminded of another operator that closed their offices and gave their tenants less than two weeks notice to vacate. Many tenants believe that there is little chance of this happening if they join a large national or international co-working company or hared office provider. But almost all the large providers set up each of their locations as individual LLC’s, making it very easy for them to close the non-performing centers with little to no recourse to their parent company. When they do close a center, they provide a very short notice to force their clients to move to another one of their centers that are remaining open.

It’s impossible to eliminate the risk of a center closing, but here are a few questions to ask that will help minimize the risk of going through this very difficult experience. First, inquire about the remaining lease term at the center you are considering. If the co-working operator owns the building, ask them about future plans, what their building-hold strategy is and if the co-working operation has a lease with the building, even if both have the same owners. The next question is to find out what the current occupancy of the center is. We use 85% as a measure of full occupancy and anything under 70% is a red flag that the center could be on the block to close soon. The obvious exception to this is if the center opened less than a year ago and is in the early stages of leasing. To that point, a new center is generally a safe bet that it will remain open for the next 1-2 years, regardless of occupancy. Finally, make sure you understand if the operator is a local, regional, or national operator.

There’s no question that from time to time, offices will close for various reasons, many reasons that are out of the control of the operator. The issue is when operators do not provide adequate notice for tenants to research options and make an educated decision on a new office space. If an operator only has one center, that should be a red flag and you need to scrutinize the deal they are offering very closely. Regional operators usually have several centers, are privately owned, and generally go to extreme lengths to protect their reputation. Even if they do close a center, chances are they will handle it in a professional manner, providing as much notice to clients as possible to protect their reputation in the industry and in their areas they operate.

The last point I will make is regarding taking an office with another law firm. For example, I have worked with several lawyers that have taken an office with a law firm that has a direct lease. The comments I hear most often when a lawyer is electing this option, is the cost is cheaper than a professional co-working operator and they do not need to sign a lease. It is true that the cost is generally cheaper because the lessor law firm is looking to offset a small portion of their fixed expenses for a short period of time. However, the benefit of not signing a lease, often, becomes a liability when the law firm provides a very short notice, generally less than two weeks, that the lawyer must move out because the law firm has hired new staff and will need the office. This almost always leaves the renting attorney in a difficult position at the most inopportune time.

You still want to focus on paralegal support, professional atmosphere and amenities, private office options, the legal network opportunities, and location. But even before you consider these things, make sure you are working with a reputable operator and that the location you are considering checks all the boxes highlighted above. Doing due diligence prior to selecting your next office will save you time and money in the long run.

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