Tell me why legal firms don’t like Tuesdays

29 May 2006

Voicepath, the legal outsourced transcription specialist, has revealed that workers in the legal sector are far more likely to face a stressful Tuesday than Monday, as the second day of the week emerges as markedly busier than the first.

Research conducted by the company on when it receives most transcriptions from its countrywide customer base of law firms showed that, on average, it received one third of its total weekly workload on Tuesday. By comparison, Monday sees it receive only 17% of the week’s work.

Voicepath has carved out a reputation of providing firms with a fast and accurate transcription service, which uses a remote workforce of experienced legal secretaries to produce documents in the required timescales. A pay as you go service, it is ideal for fee earners who need to turn documents around quickly, and for secretaries who need to concentrate on tasks other than typing.

The company’s general manager, Richard Bate, puts this trend down to a number of factors. He comments: “The popular impression of the working week is that workers are firing on all cylinders from 9am on Monday morning, but we all know that this isn’t the case. Often Monday turns out to be a day for playing catch-up and consolidating on the previous week’s tasks. This frequently pushes new tasks back to Tuesday, which often increases their urgency if they need to be completed by the end of the week.”

Richard also attributes an element of this pressure on lawyers and support staff to client demand. He continues: “We sometimes find that our services are called on when a firm has to produce a document at very short notice. Such requests can put pressure on a firm, especially when they come in the middle of an already busy working week.

“Happily, this is just such an area where our service comes in very handy. It is set up to manage the transcription process from start to finish, smoothing out peaks and troughs in activity, and greatly increasing a firm’s ability to get work flowing quickly through its systems and out to clients.”

Richard points out that this can also play a key part in making law firms a more pleasant place to work for all concerned. He concludes: “Stress in the workplace is a growing cause for concern, especially in the pressure cooker atmosphere that prevails throughout the legal world.

“This, however, is yet another area where Voicepath has a track record in making life easier for fee earners and support staff by shouldering the document production burden. The knowledge that transcriptions will be completed within fixed timescales reduces stress, eliminates backlogs and makes the office environment a more pleasant place to be.”

“We look on it as our responsibility to have the Tuesday rush on behalf of our customers.”