By Legal Futures Associate BigHand
Changing working practices, including the shift to hybrid working, combined with the scarcity of skilled legal support staff is compelling law firms globally to reconsider the structure of support services. As a hybrid organization, cross-office working has become core to the delivery of client services to AM Law 200 firm Clark Hill.
With 29 locations spanning across the United States, Ireland and Mexico, the firm’s 700 lawyers work in agile, collaborative, cross office teams. Until recently, however, the traditional lawyer to Legal Administrative Assistant (LAA) relationship was still in place. Not only did this create difficulties when an LAA was absent but also in recruiting replacements when LAAs left. Clark Hill also recognized the changing industry dynamics, with many of its highly skilled support staff approaching retirement age.
Philip E. Ross, Chief Operating Officer, Clark Hill, explains, “With so many LAAs closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, Clark Hill was set to lose a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge. These skills are scarce in the wider market, meaning we needed to find a better way to share that knowledge across the firm and be more efficient about how those support services are delivered in the future.”
Transforming efficiency to optimize service
Initially implemented in response to the COVID pandemic, in 2023 Clark Hill embarked upon a strategic project with BigHand Workflow Management to optimize support services for lawyers and clients. The software has now been rolled out firmwide, working in partnership with both BigHand and Unbiased Consulting (leading independent consultants in improving law firm client service delivery, enhancing business operations and leveraging technology solutions.)
“Clark Hill is looking to the future,” explains Kathleen Sullivan, Chief Human Resources Officer, Clark Hill. “BigHand Workflow Management is supporting our drive to achieve cross-office ability, the specialisation of practices and work capabilities. That doesn’t require an LAA outside the door of each lawyer. We can develop that expertise wherever it may sit in the firm.”
Clark Hill has taken an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach in the transition from direct lawyer to LAA relationship. Each lawyer still has an assigned LAA, but these individuals operate within a team of four LAAs working together to support 20 lawyers. Anyone in the team can pick up the work within BigHand Workflow Management, an approach that is both more efficient and provides full visibility of the progress of work for lawyers who may be in different offices or working remotely.
In addition to the LAA teams, the firm’s centralized support service, the Clark Hill Administrative Resource Team (CHART), undertakes general administrative work, high level document creating and formatting, new matter opening and time entry, as well as lower-level tasks such as meeting co-ordination or data entry. Again, all work goes into the BigHand Workflow Management queue and is picked up by an individual with the right skills to complete the task.
Kathleen Sullivan says, “This centralized CHART resource frees the local LAA team to focus on higher level, more productive work that really impacts our lawyers’ capabilities to serve clients.” With some LAAs also undertaking billable tasks, this visible, tracked support model is also enabling Clark Hill to explore further billable opportunities.
Building a strong foundation for the future
Clark Hill is also using BigHand Workflow Management as a succession planning and talent management tool. With all support tasks recorded within BigHand, the firm has new insight for developing targeted training to upskill staff and build new specialties, with staff also able to identify opportunities and gain access to a wider range of work through the system.
In addition, the data from BigHand Workflow Management is providing far more clarity about the level of skills required across the firm. Having undertaken a rigorous process of defining the competencies required for each role, Clark Hill is now developing its training and development program to support career progression from entry to mid and senior levels. In depth information is also helping with attrition management, with the data used to demonstrate that tasks can be absorbed by the existing support infrastructure rather than requiring a direct replacement.
Kathleen Sullivan confirms, “It is hard to find skilled people in the marketplace. We have to focus on developing the right skill but also, do we need it? The insight provided by BigHand Workflow Management shows that we often don’t need to hire a highly skilled LAA with a four-year degree at a higher price tag. A junior person or administrative assistant could be recruited at a lower price to undertake more entry level work and be trained to develop the additional skills.”
Clark Hill is not the only law firm thinking about how they will staff their support teams in the future. Recent research from BigHand confirms 25% of firms expect to lose 11-20% of support staff to retirement in the next 5 years. That is a lot of skills and knowledge leaving the industry. As Kathleen notes, firms need to prepare for this loss of expertise but don’t necessarily need to look for like for like replacements at higher costs.
Achieving effective change for the next generation
Over the past 18 months, Clark Hill has undertaken a rigorous change management process to improve engagement throughout the firm, from lawyers to office managers and support staff. Now, a total of 30 LAA teams, plus the reception and office services team now use the technology, with 20,886 tasks completed in the month of July.
Kathleen Sullivan advises, “It is essential to approach this change with a strategic lens. This is not a software implementation project. It is a significant cultural change with a really good software application to support that change. Look at it holistically. Understand what you are trying to achieve. Recognize that the behaviour of everyone involved is just as important as the introduction of new software.”
Clark Hill is also pragmatic about the difficulties in changing the behaviour of long-standing, high revenue generating partners, looking instead to achieve a new mindset in the next generation. The incoming Associate class this fall will be the first to start work with a team structure and supported by BigHand Workflow Management. Rather than giving each an assigned LAA, the firm is considering a shift straight to accessing support from the CHART, to ensure this generation immediately learns the new behaviours.
Throughout the process the relationship with BigHand has been positive. Philip Ross says, “BigHand has been a great partner. We have had very collaborative relationships with a good, two-way interchange of ideas and information, including industry insight and suggestions as to how we could do things better. It has definitely been a partnership.”
Conclusion: Built in flexibility
For Clark Hill, the ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of work allocation and completion is extremely valuable. Kathleen Sullivan confirms, “We have breathed transparency into the delivery of support services. We knew work was getting done but we couldn’t see it, name it, or measure it. With BigHand Workflow Management we can.”
In addition, the ability to operate collaboratively across the firm has significantly improved agility. New offices have been opened in Boulder and Atlanta without the need to immediately recruit local resources, with lawyers reaching out to the central support team. In addition, the firm has begun to develop practice expertise, in immigration and intellectual property, that has no specific geographic location. “The use of BigHand Workflow Management is helping to build bonds between individuals working as a practice area rather than local team. It is an approach we may well develop further in the future,” says Kathleen Sullivan.
With clients increasingly demanding more billing transparency and expecting work to be carried out by individuals with the correct skills and seniority, the software has a key role to play. Philip Ross, confirms, “BigHand Workflow Management is supporting Clark Hill in a number of major new initiatives, from opening offices to developing practice expertise. The next logical step will be to use BigHand to ensure our resources are deployed to clients as effectively as possible.”
