A lot of attorneys are reluctant to hire a legal assistant. They just do not want to carry that much overhead, but hiring a legal assistant will actually make you money. A good legal assistant will cost $40,000 to $50,000 a year. So how can they make you money?
Legal assistants can bill for their paralegal services.
In addition to providing clerical support to the attorney, most modern legal assistants are providing legal services directly to the client. They are: performing follow up interviews; drafting form pleadings; answering interrogatories; inventorying financial records; and completing many additional tasks that lawyers really do not need to do. They perform needed basic legal services for the client at one third to one half of the hourly rate that the attorney would charge. The basic legal tasks are performed by the legal assistant while the attorney is providing the more complicated legal services.
If your legal assistant performs two hours of billable service per day at a rate of $100 per hour, that will generate $1,000 per week, $4,000 per month, or $48,000 per year. By billing just two hours a day, the legal assistant will generate sufficient cash flow to pay her entire salary, and you still get 6 hours a day of clerical support at no cost. Both of my legal assistants bill over $100,000 a year.
The real income is made by the legal assistant performing the non-billable clerical work
The real income is made by the legal assistant performing the non-billable clerical work that has to be performed by the attorney that does not have a legal assistant. Instead of typing pleadings or taking the mail to the post office, the attorneys with a legal assistant are performing billable work. If the legal assistant frees up just 2 hours a day, the attorney can bill an additional $500 to $600 per day. That is a potential of an additional $150,000 of billable time per year. When combined with the legal assistant’s $50,000 of billable time, the law firm is generating an extra $200,000 a year just because you hired a legal assistant.
You will need sufficient clients to keep both of you busy
The only requirement to make this income generating formula work, is sufficient clients to keep you both busy. You can only bill for work if you have the clients. That is where Divorce Lawyers For Men can help. We are in the business of providing new potential clients to law firms across the State. There is no set up or monthly fee. We are not a referral service. We handle all of the marketing, attract the potential clients, and then jointly represent those clients with you. You select which clients you want. You manage the client representation. We handle the marketing and administration. This is a win win situation.
We welcome you to reach out to us and get a conversation started.
Frank Morris
Frank, co-founder and senior partner of Divorce Lawyers for Men, has spent the last 40 years litigating complex legal claims. He is a Founding Member of the WSAJ distinctive Eagle Program; a Presidents’ Club member of the AAJ; and a member of Million Dollar Advocates, Washington State Bar Association, Thurston County Bar Association, and King County Bar Association Family Law Section.