It may not be the norm where you work, but it can`t hurt to ask. When I was a paralegal, I bothered that it wasn`t the company`s protocol, and I hated it. For example, let`s say you`re a paralegal who wants to set a goal to get your ACEDS certification next year. You`ll take eDiscovery courses, participate in your eDiscovery projects on a deeper level, start attending local Women in eDiscovery meetings, and later in the year start a preparation course. This was in addition to reminding counsel that he could not wait until the end of the year to beat his paralegal in a written performance review. If they didn`t want to take care of it, they had to bring it to me. It is simply not fair for the paralegal not to provide feedback throughout the year to give them the opportunity to improve. But I get out of my soap box. Below are some standard metrics that most in-house legal teams can use to track how they`re achieving their goals and making better, more informed decisions, increasing efficiency, and reducing legal expenses. I was told, “This is how we do it with the rest of the staff, so you have to do it this way with your paralegals.” The protocol was simply to schedule the meeting, meet with the paralegal and review the performance evaluation forms with him, the first time they saw and heard what their lawyers had to say.
I wish each of you the happiest of new years – a new year that brings all your dreams to life. I am very grateful to our readers and look forward to sharing even more valuable information for your career as a paralegal in 2022. Reducing the number of goals to just three or five per quarter can help the team focus on what`s important and increase their chances of success. Before implementing productivity measures, a general counsel must ensure that each team member understands how their performance is measured. Setting goals and KPIs can also be extremely helpful in measuring and improving the performance of an in-house legal team. However, setting too many goals can be counterproductive and limit the team`s ability to achieve those goals. They have clear goals that every interviewer should appreciate. At the end of your answer, I recommend that you discuss some of the ways you believe this particular law firm will help you achieve these long- and short-term goals. Some places stopped doing paralegal performance reviews at the end of the year over the holidays, which I think is the best. The main job of a trainee lawyer is to research and study legal documents to find facts related to cases. He finds information to assess causes of action in various court cases, prepares documented affidavits, and maintains case files and correspondence. With that in mind, here are some examples of the most common goals that forward-thinking legal departments aspire to: Thank you for your detailed information in setting goals for the legal department.
Tracking the workload and productivity of lawyers and paralegals is an important aspect of running a legal department. It may make sense to increase the number of employees or hire specialists to meet the needs of a particular industry. Teams may also choose to invest in training, especially if different business units have seen an increase in the same types of legal issues. By identifying which business units are most in need of legal support and why, the General Counsel can make strategic decisions regarding the distribution of incoming work. When I was a paralegal manager, the firm asked paralegals to complete a self-assessment form, which was exactly the same assessment form that lawyers used to assess the paralegals they worked with. It was like 10 pages of questions, but to be honest, it was a total waste of time because it wasn`t really a time for thinking and setting goals. As in-house legal teams move from cost centers to opportunity creators, it`s important to set performance goals that align with their new role within the organization. By taking the time to set measurable goals and track progress, you can ensure that your team is effectively contributing to the overall success of the business. It can also help set benchmarks for the department and show how it compares to other departments in the company. In particular, you need to track internal expenses on legal affairs, external expenses on legal affairs, and total combined expenses as a percentage of the company`s revenue.
“A short-term goal is to become a competent legal assistant to expand my knowledge in the legal field, and a long-term goal is to become a criminal defense lawyer.” A focus on clarity of objectives, proactive communication and reporting can go a long way in aligning departmental objectives with business objectives. The objectives of the legal department as a strategic business partner must be goal-oriented, future-oriented, achievable and measurable. Since one of the most important budget lines for the legal department is expenses for outside companies, there are several reasons why you should formally evaluate external lawyers. Formalizing evaluations will set quality management expectations and allow for discussions on the performance of external consultants. “My short-term career goal is to help people every day and use the knowledge I gained during my studies. This goal will guide me in my long-term goals, which include leading a team of junior paralegals or even additional law courses in addition to my full-time job. My ultimate goal is to work for a company that supports my learning and professional growth. It is difficult to find key indicators that fully cover the nuanced work of in-house legal services.
However, it`s important to find ways to break down the legal team`s goals into individual KPIs in order to track progress and identify potential roadblocks. Good luck with your goal for 2015. If you haven`t done so in the past, make this year the year you and your team make this process an important part of how the legal department operates. These five themes allowed me and everyone else to develop specific goals at each point. This process worked well for the entire department (US and international staff) and was easily customized by different departments in the legal department or by lawyers/staff members. The key is that everyone among the Big Five is rowing in the same direction. With that in mind, you can start as follows: Because each legal department has different priorities, the metrics used to assess their performance vary by industry, budget, and overall goals. You can articulate the functional purpose and value of your service by defining corresponding objectives and key results that align with the company`s objectives.
I can`t believe that 2022 is already here and that we will end the year in a few days. I know a lot of paralegals, paralegals and other lawyers; The end of the year is a time when you reflect on yourself and maybe even evaluate yourself. If you haven`t already, take a moment and ask yourself: How was the year? Did you get a good raise and bonus? “My short-term career goal is to build a strong reputation as an experienced, competent and trustworthy legal assistant. Sharpening my skills and mastery as a legal assistant is my main goal. I believe this experience will help me build and create long-term career goals and objectives. Management will prepare me for other roles in the future, including becoming a lawyer. “My long-term career goal would be to continue my studies as a paralegal and then become a lawyer myself. My short-term goal is to build a very good reputation in the industry as a trustworthy and competent legal assistant. Measuring legal expenses as a percentage of business revenues can show how changes in the department`s management or operations can affect the slowdown or growth in legal expenses from year to year relative to revenue. But many of you have told us that your annual evaluations and performance appraisals always take place at the end of the year, so it`s important for us to report on paralegal performance appraisals and what they really should mean for you. Similarly, you need to consider the effectiveness of contract management, eDiscovery projects processed, the number of documents reviewed, or legal issues considered for legal operations employees. Performance reviews are a necessary evil, but changing the way you perceive them globally, especially as paralegals, can be a complete game-changer.
There is no better time than the present to change your mindset and see these assessments and your overall self-reflection in your paralegal career as an opportunity to grow and shift gears to do even more in the coming year.