"I'll just do it myself" is a documentation problem.
Ten processes to write down before you hand anything off — the exact ten, in the order to write them, with the format already filled in.
On Your Call We'll Cover
Which of your tasks actually belong in an SOP
A four-question test, run against your real week. Most owners find 20 to 30 tasks that pass.
The order to write them in
Intake first, because it's where the money leaks. Money last, because it's the one most owners avoid.
How a trained person runs on them from day one
Written for a trained person, not a stranger. Once they've read two, they can follow all ten.
It's faster to do it yourself because the only copy of the process is in your head.
Explaining it takes longer than doing it, so you do it, and the task never leaves your desk. Multiply that by forty small tasks and you have a firm owner working 60 hours a week on $25-an-hour work.
The fix is not a procedures manual. Nobody reads a procedures manual. The fix is ten one-page SOPs, each short enough to write in 20 minutes and clear enough that a trained person can follow it on their first day.
The firm's way of doing things should live on a page, not in the owner.
Does it happen more than twice a month?
If not, it doesn't need an SOP. Just do it or delegate it live.
Does it follow the same steps most of the time?
If not, document the common path and list the rest as exceptions.
Can a trained person do it without a law license or your judgment?
If not, keep it. That's attorney work.
If it were done wrong, would you find out within a day?
If not, add a check step to the SOP before you hand it off.
Five fields. That is the whole SOP.
The format is the same for all ten. Once your staff has read two of them, they can follow any of them.
Trigger
What starts the process. If you can't name it, the process won't start without you.
Steps
Numbered, in order, each one an action with a verb. Seven or fewer. More means two SOPs.
Done looks like
The observable end state. How the person knows to stop, and how you know to check.
Exceptions
Three to five situations where they stop and come to you. This field is where delegation actually happens.
One name. Not a role, a person. And the backup when that person is out.
Write these first, in this order.
Intake and follow-up first, because that's where the money leaks. Then client communication. Then records and deadlines, because that's where the risk lives. Two SOPs a week for five weeks and the firm is documented.
Intake
New lead intake, lead follow-up, consult scheduling
The three that turn a call into a signed, scheduled client.
Opening The Case
New matter setup, client welcome plan, records request
The first 72 hours of a matter, standardized.
Running The Case
Status updates, document assembly, deadline management
The work that keeps clients from calling, and keeps deadlines off your desk.
Money
Billing and invoice follow-up
The one most owners avoid writing down, and the one that pays for itself fastest.
Answer rate 24/7, up from 82%
Max speed to lead, down from 34
Follow-up touches in 3 days
Cases signed by one staff member in 30 days
Attorney Assistant client figures, real client files, identities protected.
10 recordings.
Do the task once, out loud, and let someone else write the SOP.
Ten recordings from you, ten SOPs from them, and the firm has a documented operation by Friday.
Minutes per screen recording
Minutes to write the one-page SOP from it
Weeks to document all ten, two a week
Step 1
Start a screen recording with your microphone on and narrate every click and every decision.
Step 2
Hand the recording to the person who will own the process. They write the one-page SOP from it.
Step 3
You review the page and fix the exceptions field. Store the page and the recording together.
Our people run on written process. Yours should too.
Every staff member we place runs on written process from day one. These ten SOPs are that training. Firms that arrive with them written onboard in half the time.
Answer rate 24/7, up from 82%
Max speed to lead, down from 34
Follow-up touches in 3 days
Cases signed by one staff member in 30 days
Attorney Assistant client figures, real client files, identities protected.
We recruit and train the person. You run the process.
Attorney Assistant is a staffing solutions and virtual assistant company for law firms. We recruit, vet, and train full-time virtual staff, and your firm embeds them in your own team, systems, and day-to-day process. Co-managed: we handle QA, coaching, and performance. You direct the work.
Staffline
A permanent dedicated staff member for your firm, 40 hours a week. One person, your firm only, never shared. Every one of the ten SOPs in this playbook is work a Staffline person owns.
Frontline
A 24/7 live intake team available on demand. Not an answering service. SOPs 1 through 3 are their job.
Frontline is coverage on demand. Staffline is permanent staff.
You will get a trained person, and you will still need to train them on how your firm does things. These ten SOPs are that training. Firms that write them with their new staff member in the first two weeks, using the recording method, onboard in half the time. Budget 30 to 60 days.
Discovery Call
What type of firm you are, and which of the ten is costing you the most hours.
Recruit and Train
We source, vet, and train for the role.
Onboard With SOPs
We run the 30/60/90 plan with your written process.
We QA, Coach, And Own Performance
You direct the work.