How Hiring a Litigation Support Professional Can Pay for Itself

We have all heard the adage, “Time is money.” Nowhere does this adage ring truer than in the fast-paced, high-volume, high-stakes world of litigation. To be a successful litigation attorney in today’s market, you must be a “jack of all trades.”

For most litigators in small- to mid-sized firms and solo practitioners, mastering all the skills required of a successful litigator takes a significant amount of time. And time is money.

The key to be a successful litigator in today’s competitive litigation market is to prioritize your time—specifically, your billable hours—and in doing so, to save money for yourself and your client. The best way to do this is to hire a litigation support professional who provides services in the areas of your practice in which you are spending the most time but receiving the least value in return. A litigation support professional provides value to your litigation practice by allowing you to re-prioritize your time so you can focus your unique skills on your clients and their cases, where your time and attention is most valuable.

What Does Successful Litigation Require?

You became a litigator to litigate. For most successful litigators, this includes:

·       Interacting with clients;

·       Strategizing cases;

·       Conducting depositions and discovery;

·       Consult with experts;

·       Attending hearings;

·       Conducting legal research;

·       Drafting pleadings, motions, and responses;

·       Negotiating with opposing counsel;

·       Attending mediation; and

·       Conducting trials;

These are the make-or-break parts of litigation that require training, skill, and experience. These are the tasks that require your time and attention if you are going to become (and remain) a successful litigator.

But every lawyer knows that there are numerous and time-consuming other tasks that are also required, without which none of these primary tasks could be successful. For example, you have to market your practice; paying for firm overhead expenses; provide customer service support, hire staff; supervise staff; provide human resources; perform firm accounting; and the list goes on and on.

All of these tasks are required of a successful litigation practice. With so many legal and administrative tasks, how do firm owners find the time to properly and timely complete all tasks?

Why Do I Need a Litigation Support Professional?

Let’s face it—there is only so much time in a day. To be a valuable litigator, you have to use that time efficiently and effectively to produce a professional work product for your client. A litigation support specialist provides the expert assistance you need in specific areas of your practice so you can create more time your workday to accomplish those tasks that only you can accomplish. Outsourcing to a litigation support team can benefit your practice by providing the valuable resources you need most to be successful:

Time.

According to data reported by the National Jurist, the average lawyer working an 8-hour workday collects only 1.6 hours of billable time per day. One of the main reasons is that so much of the litigator’s workday (48%) is spent doing non-billable administrative tasks. The reason is that these tasks have to get done; they are a necessary part of successful litigation. With so much time spent on non-billable tasks, most firm owners fall behind on billable tasks such as research, writing, conducting discovery, etc. However, most of the time, those non-billable administrative tasks are task that only the firm owner can perform. This is why delegating those tasks to a litigation support professional who specializes in performing those tasks is crucial to the efficiency of many firms.  

Expertise.

It is not always the purely administrative task that occupies your time. Often, it is the complex, tedious, and difficult task that requires the most resources. For many lawyers, the most demanding of all tasks—yet perhaps the most important—is writing.

Conducting legal research and producing accurate, clear, and concise legal writing is the backbone of every law practice. Poorly written or untimely filed documents can not only lose a case for your client, they can destroy your credibility and reputation for competence within the profession. Any lawyer who has missed a filing deadline or failed to support an argument with accurate research knows how important effective legal research and writing can be. That is why so many litigators spend so much time and money making sure their research and writing is complete and correct.

Hiring a litigation support professional who specializes in legal research and writing can be an invaluable investment in this critical aspect of your litigation practice. Not only does a writing specialist free up your time to apply your own skills in other billable areas of your practice, but a writing professional brings insight and expertise to areas of law in which not every litigator may have experience. In addition, you can be sure your research is current and comprehensive and your written documents are accurate, concise, persuasive and timely filed.

For so many lawyers, freeing time otherwise spent on writing (and rewriting) reliable legal documents is an invaluable investment in their clients and in their practice.

Value and Increased Revenues

Whether the task on which you spend the most time is developing a client base, organizing files, writing and reviewing documents, or just simply running your business, your time is valuable. Literally. When you save time, you save money. And the best way to save billable time is to outsource the most time-consuming tasks to a litigation support professional.

Yes, litigation support professionals cost money, of course. But when you hire the right support professional who creates time in your workday and brings expertise on which you can rely, you bring value to your practice. Moreover, you create more billable hours which increase firm revenues (even after paying for the litigation support specialist).

The value of that time and expertise translates into more time invested in your clients and their cases and more billable hours in your practice. In terms of value, hiring the right litigation support professional pays for itself.

BRING VALUE TO YOUR PRACTICE WITH LITIGATION SUPPORT FROM EXIMIUS WRITING SERVICES

Your time is valuable. If you are spending most of your time performing research, writing, or necessary administrative tasks preparing for litigation and not seeing the value in your time, Eximius Writing Services can help.

Eximius Writing Services offers a full range of litigation support services that will help you redirect your time and attention where you need it most. Eximius Writing Services provides quality support services that are comprehensive and professional. Not only do we provide time in your workday, we provide the expertise you need in each case. We give you the peace of mind of knowing that your work product will be accurate, organized, professionally presented, and valuable to your client and your practice. Call Eximius Writing Services today at 407-926-0167. Tell us about your litigation practice and we will show you how valuable your time can be.