The Changing Role of Legal Secretaries

Tony Reiss of Sherwood considers the potential changes in the role of secretaries, in part caused by changes in technology.

I'm sure nobody reading this will remember the days of quill pens, but some might remember the switch from typewriters to word processors! Exciting stuff and, of course, many firms are going through a similar transition moving from analogue to digital dictation.

A digital dictation system allows fee earners to dictate letters straight on to the firm's network using a handheld dictation unit, headset, remote device or mobile option. A digital sound file, rather than a sound recording, is then transferred instantly to an individual secretary or team of secretaries to be typed, wherever they are based e.g. abroad, at home, in an office where labour/office space costs are cheaper.

Performance and turnaround time for secretaries is optimised because:

Workloads are evened out across a team so that individual peaks and troughs can be substantially reduced and thus increase turnaround time for documents
Secretaries can shadow and share work and manage their own workloads more effectively
There is more visibility of others' workloads and job queues to help see who needs support
The sound and clarity of dictation is much better
People can work more flexibly, perhaps from home during maternity leave or with a broken leg for example.

For the fee earners themselves, changing something already dictated and not yet typed requires no hunting back through tapes or postscript amendments on later tapes. It also gives fee earners the freedom to work more flexibly travelling between meetings, working from home, etc.

For some firms, the budgetary savings on temporary secretaries can be large. While it is best to treat suppliers' more extravagant claims with a pinch of salt, there is no doubt that a firm that implements the necessary changes to make digital dictation work well can look for big savings in “temp costs” and any overtime that is paid. Firms may be able to reduce the number of secretaries, often by not replacing secretaries who leave, and therefore gain salary/benefit savings.

In digital dictation as in any other good computerisation project, the technology can deliver four major benefits:

Automation – getting the work out more quickly, cheaply, reliably and with less fuss
Information as a free by-product that will be invaluable for anyone who has to manage the overall organisation of document production, both at a day-to-day level and if considering longer term issues like staffing levels, document production for remote sites and even, if the firm ever wants to consider it, possible outsourcing. Such information is hard and expensive to collect using analogue dictation systems
Reliability – in the long run, digital equipment is very much more reliable than mechanical
A catalyst for important changes in culture and working practices, which are often desirable regardless of the introduction of new technology, but certainly will be necessary if the firm is to maximise the rewards of the introduction of digital dictation

Sherwood research

Sherwood has interviewed representatives in law firms (and an accounting firm) who have introduced digital dictation and who have, at the same time, taken the opportunity to review the role of their secretarial services. Summary findings are detailed below.

“Secretaries often have a close relationship with those they work for, particularly partners. Partners are therefore often very protective of them, and the combination of partner protection and partners' desire for avoiding anything that causes them hassle can cause major resistance to change.” *
“Secretaries can often get left behind in technology skills, with the professionals they work with considerably more skilled on programmes like PowerPoint and on-line technologies.”
“We introduced structural changes first and then introduced digital dictation. This was not a strategic decision; it was how it happened. Given the choice again we would do both together rather than introduce two major changes on the back of each other. The introduction of digital dictation allows technology to be the catalyst for logical change in working practices to support high performance. Where necessary, it can be useful to mask any major structural changes that might be difficult to implement. The process is 80% change and 20% technology.”
“It is just as important to deliver a consistent message about digital dictation to fee earners as it is to secretaries. It is easy to focus on the secretaries and then face barriers from fee earners once their day to day routine has to change.”
“Resistance was expected and researched but the product sells itself once people see what it can do.”
“Roll-out will happen more quickly than you expect.”
“A pilot scheme is essential – typically it will take about six weeks. Good news travels fast and the benefits of digital dictation are immediately obvious to all who use it. This makes it easy to sell in, and practice groups are often asking to be included sooner rather than later on the roll out of digital dictation.”
“You need to do it slowly. You can't do it all at the same time. You have to win the secretaries over. You want them to say 'This is so much better….we can do this….we can do that.' Then, when they're feeling confident and when they realise they have a bit of spare time, some of them will ask to become more like PAs. We'll help pick out the big fish from the little fish.”
“We have evidence that the partners and fee earners are being more creative about their use of secretaries. Some are getting more involved in booking meetings/flights or attending meetings and taking notes.”
“It's also been essential appointing a Secretarial Coordinator to oversee the changes. They keep an eye on everything and report to the Management Team.”
“Training for fee earners and secretaries is quick and easy to pick up. Loading software and delivering the hardware to individuals' desks whilst they are attending training is a useful way to start changing-over equipment.”
“Different teams mapped out their own most effective system for sharing workloads. It is important to involve the teams in this decision-making to help build buy-in and provide what is right to match the needs of the practice group.”
“Digital dictation systems do have the ability to produce reports and measure outputs. On a daily basis however, many firms tend to use these reports to monitor occasional problems rather than in routine, daily use.”
“We saw key advantages in changing the role of secretaries when introducing digital dictation. We found benefits from reviewing the relative advantages of team working or a shared service type structure.”
“Don't underestimate the importance of skills training.”
“When creating and evaluating options you should review the organisation and management of secretaries.”
“During the implementation phase, responding to the feedback and concerns of users (particularly partners) will be key.”

Conclusions and the future

It clearly isn't easy embarking on a project to change the role of secretaries. Different firms have adopted different approaches - some more radical than others. We see more changes in the pipeline, with or without technology. We envisage substantially less keyboard work, with this passing to a word-processing function, either inside the building or outside and, if outside, either inside the country or outside. Instead we see a need for more support in client relationship management.

For further information please contact Tony Reiss