Can legal firms maintain fixed overheads during downturn?

12 May 2008

With difficult property and capital market conditions causing a downturn in some activity in the legal market, leading transcription provider Voicepath says it is a prime time to cut overheads and create a more efficient workflow through outsourcing.

Richard Bate, Voicepath General Manager comments: “Clients use our transcription service on a pay as you go basis so fixed costs such as salaries, NI contributions and benefits are completely removed.  Plus, as you only pay when you use the service you’re not paying for inefficiency, downtime, sick days or holidays. This makes it an extremely cost effective way of cutting secretarial overheads. 

“Typically, in our experience, client firms can reduce their typing costs by as much as 60% whilst maintaining, and often enhancing, fee earner support both in terms of guaranteed document returns and quality of transcription.”

Not only does outsourcing allow firms to reduce their overheads but it also provides the opportunity to identify practice areas that are over utilised as well as under utilised.

Nottingham based firm Nelsons is one firm that has made significant savings by outsourcing their transcription to Voicepath.

Tim Hastings, Nelsons’ CEO comments: “In practice we discovered that the cost of Voicepath processing the package of dictation was less than half of the previous internal cost.  In effect, outsourcing routine work and giving more complex and organisational tasks to existing staff has exposed capacity for work which we never knew existed. Moreover, we have found the quality and timeliness of outsourced work has matched internal standards.

Bate concludes: “Many firms will be feeling the effects of the credit crunch at this time and they will benefit by assessing the efficiency of their support structure; challenging the high secretary to fee earner model and reconsidering the recruitment of any additional or replacement secretaries. Those with flexible overheads, efficient workflow and restructuring capabilities will prosper.”