Running a small law firm can be rewarding, but there are also challenges that come with an organization that operates on a more limited scale.

Outsourcing certain tasks can help significantly in this scenario, so here is a look at the duties which it makes most sense to offload to a qualified third party, rather than handling in-house.

Legal research & brief writing

Achieving scalability is one of the biggest challenges for small law firms, and so for certain projects it makes sense to outsource aspects of legal research and brief writing, especially if you are understaffed and you are only expecting to need this type of help on a fixed term basis.

There are a few ways to effectively outsource legal research and brief writing, and this can make all the difference when you have a larger project on your plate but you do not want to hire permanent team members.

Bookkeeping

Wrangling financial matters can be tricky, as things like payroll management, expenses and taxes are all complex issues which need to be taken care of by a professional in this field.

Thankfully with the availability of accountants who will work on contract for small law firms, you do not need to add a full time bookkeeper to your staff, while still receiving the support you need.

This is especially important since you can both save money by outsourcing bookkeeping, while also remaining compliant with the various finance-related regulations that every small business must adhere to.

Digital marketing

Law firms of all sizes need to maximize their presence on digital platforms if they want to win clients and grow their businesses, but again this is not necessarily something that makes sense to take the reins of internally.

Instead it is far simpler for smaller organizations to outsource their digital marketing efforts to an individual or an agency that is equipped to run campaigns, helm social media accounts, come up with content ideas and even orchestrate the design and maintenance of the official website.

The best professionals in this sphere will be able to provide ongoing support and also jump into action if issues arise, which is all the better if you do not have any technically minded staff onboard permanently.

Office administration

For smaller firms, it is often the relatively minor duties around the office which get overlooked or become a burden, not necessarily the more complex procedures specifically related to legal work itself.

Again it is possible to outsource administrative support to a professional in this field who works remotely and may be taking care of tasks for your organization as well as those of several other clients.

Rather than allowing your own workload to get bogged down with straightforward yet time-consuming admin, you can allow an outsourced assistant to do everything from get your schedule in order to fielding calls that come into the office. While you might normally expect that you would need a permanent member of staff to do this, modern tech means that this is no longer a limiting factor.

Document reviewing & filing

Another law firm-specific service that can be taken care of outside of the organization is the proofing, preparation and filing of court documents.

A number of operators are competing in this marketplace at the moment, and the benefits they offer include the ability to use document scanning to quickly convert paper files into digital equivalents which are simpler to submit, and also make the information they contain easier to scrutinize, analyze and ultimately present. This could be a time-saver as well as something which keeps down costs for your company, both of which are the main motivations to outsource anything regardless of the scale of your practice.

IT

Just as digital marketing has risen to prominence as an important tool of modern law firms, so too the reliance on the IT underpinnings which provide access to a whole host of other services and solutions is worth considering in the context of outsourcing.

You should aim to avoid any kind of costly unplanned downtime with your IT hardware and software, and there are plenty of support providers that will be capable of coming to your aid in just such a situation and getting you back up and running, whatever the problem.

Most importantly, before outsourcing anything, calculate the expenses and compare the options available to ensure that you are taking the right route at a price that suits your law firm.