Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks by Grover Cleveland

Author:Grover Cleveland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781683281511
Publisher: West Academic
Published: 2016-03-16T04:00:00+00:00

The Invaluable Assistant

A good working relationship with your primary support staff will make your life at the firm much easier. Keep these tips in mind:

Work with your assistant to figure out the ways your assistant can best support your practice.

Plan ahead. Give your assistant as much notice as possible about tasks for which you may need help. Emergencies will not endear you to your assistant.

Know how tasks break down at your firm. Typical tasks for an assistant include:

○ Managing your calendar

○ Keeping contact information up to date

○ Answering your phone

○ Making contact lists of the key players on major transactions

○ Maintaining organized files

○ Editing documents

○ Distributing documents

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○ Organizing materials

○ Assisting with time-entry

Never ask your assistant to handle personal matters such as your household errands or bills.

Remember that your assistant is not your therapist and vice versa. Don’t engage in firm gossip with your assistant or try to be best friends. Maintain a professional relationship at all times.

Set clear expectations, and hold your assistant accountable.

If you have repeated problems with an assistant, ask another attorney for advice.

Be respectful. Staff members have a number of choices when they come across a potential error in your work. They can fix the error, discuss the error with you, or ignore the error. The way you treat staff members is likely to affect their choices.

Thank your assistant and other support staff regularly.

Remember your assistant’s birthday and Administrative Professionals’ Day.

Refer to your assistant by any reasonable title that your assistant prefers. Some are fine with the term “secretary”; others cringe.

Introduce your assistant to clients.

Include staff in celebrations on large transactions or litigation victories.

Project enthusiasm about your work. You can’t expect your assistant to have a positive attitude if you don’t.

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