The Challenge: A law firm wanted to get more value from its word processors (‘WPs”) and legal assistants and to create a more challenging and rewarding work experience for them.
The Solution: Our first objective was to enhance and standardize the technical skills of WPs by having each one achieve expert level in all Microsoft Office products. We began the process with skills assessments to determine their individual starting points. In some cases, WPs immediately tested out of certain courses by scoring at the expert level and no additional training was required. Where improvements were needed, we provided hands-on training and practice modules to cement the new learning.
Our second objective was to improve the delegation, time management, project management, and teamwork capabilities of all legal assistants. Doing so would integrate legal assistants more deeply into how the firm delivered legal work to clients, empowering legal assistants to contribute at a higher level with particular attention to client service in the administrative arena (which is often a big pain point for clients). We deployed specific training to reach that objective and measured trainee success by their ability to demonstrate deeper knowledge of the legal practice they supported, closer relationships with clients, and greater capability to coordinate interactions among attorneys, clients, and law firm administrative departments.
The Results: As to the first objective, 100 percent of WPs achieved expert level. As to the second objective, we successfully elevated the value of their work for 75 legal assistants (and the program continues to this day).