HOW WOULD I MANAGE MY LAW OFFICE

INTRODUCTION

A lawyer’s time and advice are his only stock in trade. But another important requisite to be a
successful Advocate is a well-maintained Law office and its proper management. A
systematic management of the law office could add to the efficiency and productivity of an
Advocate. A well-managed office will also create a healthy working atmosphere and can
attract many clients.

The following report is my comprehension and conceptions of law office management.

LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT

Management means a process of maintaining a proper methodology depending on the needs

and demands of the nature of work. Law office management, in particular, is the continuous
process of keeping, holding, checking, controlling, and maintaining various requirements of
the profession. Thus, the requirements of the profession determines the structure, nature,
management largely depends on the financial resources available and the attitude and
devotion of an Advocate towards the profession.

Management of Law-Office involves Management of the following:

 Office’s location and layout

 Meeting and communication with clients
 Management of cases
 Management of Registers and Documents
 Maintenance of diary
 Maintenance of Library
 Management of the staff
 Management of accounts
 Utilization of modern equipment like computer, and communication methods

1
LOCATION & LAYOUT

Location of law office depends on various factors like availability of premises in the vicinity
of the court, cost to be incurred for the office premises, convenience of Advocate and clients.
It is always an added advantage to have a law office in the vicinity of the court premises or in
a place where the people could have convenient and easy access.

The layout of office covers the areas like:

 Chamber of Advocate - A separate chamber to the Advocate is a requirement, which

has to provide comfortable sitting arrangements for an Advocate. This provides for a
seclusion wherein the clients and Advocate could have confidential communications
and unnecessary interference could be avoided.
 Arrangement of furniture - Arrangement of the furniture must be made in such a
way that it makes the office tidy and fits into the space of the office in such a manner
that requirement of all is met with.
 Accommodation for clients - Accommodation for the staff and clients is very
important. Seating arrangements for the clients and staff have to be provided. Junior
Advocates or assistant must be accommodated in such a way that the Advocate could
easily direct them to do any work.

MEETING AND COMMUNICATIONS WITH CLIENTS

The meeting and interaction must be carried in a closed chamber so that confidentiality could
be maintained and such an atmosphere is necessary to make a client feel so comfortable that
he could communicate material facts upon which Advocate’s appraisal and further course of
action begins.

Communication with the client requires ‘telephone facility, which would assist the client in
avoiding unnecessary visits to the office. The use of e-mail could also be made for the
purpose of communication. The timing of office should also depend on the convenience of
the Advocate and clients. The office should be accessible at the hours in which clients could
conveniently contact generally, during evening, from 7pm to 10pm.

Effective communication requires proper maintenance of diary and registers keeping a track
of the proceedings of cases so that client could be informed in advance as to the postings of
the case, and steps to be taken by him etc.

2
MANAGEMENT OF CASES

An Advocate throughout his career has to deal with cases and keeping a proper track of the
proceedings of every case from the part of case management. It is very vital since an
Advocate has to deal with multiple cases and there will be lot of scope for confusion if proper
management is not made. From the date of filing of a case, keeping a record of the
proceedings in a register, which could maintained based upon the nature of the case and in an
alphabetical order, have to be maintained and entries have to be made every day.

A junior counsel could be assigned the work of maintaining the register under the
supervision of the Advocate. It is also necessary to make entries of postings of every case in
the Advocate’s diary. The maintenance of documents is an important aspect of case
management. Thus, proper arrangements for almery with locking facility for storing them are
inevitable. A cabin for placing files of the cases is also a must for the office in order to
prevent unnecessary search for the case files.

MANAGEMENT OF REGISTERS & DOCUMENTS

Another important aspect of law office management is maintenance of registers and ensuring
the safety of documents. Followings are the important which have to be maintained: Case
Register, Attendance Register, Legal Notices Register, Stock Register of Library Books,
Stock Register of furniture, Case Diary, Accounts Book, Receipt Book. The maintenance of
these registers can also be made through the computer programming. The management of the
documents has an important role in office management.

In law office each case shall have separate file and such file should be in a position to
explain whole matters relating to such case, like, title of the case, parties to the suit, status
and information about suit and proceedings (both previous and present), etc. such file shall
also contain all necessary documents relating to the case, like plaint, written statement,
notice, replay to such notice, etc. Safety of the original documents produced by a client is a
responsibility of the Advocate and a Shelf with locking mechanism is a must.

MANAGEMENT OF CASE DIARY

An Advocate’s diary is the schedule manager of an Advocate’s work. A case diary keeps the
entries of postings of cases based upon the calendar. This assists the Advocate in preparing

3
for the next day’s work. A standard form case diaries are generally provided by the Bar
councils to Advocates on its roll.

MANAGEMENT OF LIBRARY

Every Advocate is in need of a good library of his own. The library of an Advocate should
contain both local and national acts reference books; law reports and books related to social
sciences. These books will be helpful to the Advocate in knowing the law and precedents.
The law reports enable him to know the decisions of both Supreme Court and High Court on
different cases of both civil and criminal matters.

Maintenance of library is a must for any Advocate. An Advocate should maintain a catalogue
register of library books with call numbers. He should allot some pages for each category of
books. At the beginning of the register he should prepare an index of subjects.

MANAGEMENT OF THE STAFF

Staff in a law office of an Advocate consists of clerk, an assistant, typist or computer operator
or stenographer and junior Advocates. The work has to be allotted to fellow Advocates on the
basis of their abilities, experience, and their working style. In practice each junior/fellow
Advocate shall be allotted a court where every day he has to attend cases and other assigned
works like filing of cases, applications etc. The Advocate should constantly supervise and
monitor the junior Advocates and other staff‘s work and give them directions as and when
required.

MANAGEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

An Advocate should keep accounts of the client’s money entrusted to him and the accounts
should show the amounts received from the client or on his behalf, the expenses incurred for
him and the debits made on account of fees with respective dates and all other necessary
particulars.

UTILIZATION OF MODERN EQUIPMENTS LIKE COMPUTER,

COMMUNICATION METHODS, INTERNET ETC.

Computers assist the law practitioners by timing, and costing interviews with clients, besides
storage of the case records. Internet facility brought the whole knowledge of the world into a

4
laptop computer. Information Technology has developed a lot and e-mail facility helps the
Advocates in communication.

An Advocate can get information through websites and he can also refer national and
international statutes, agreements, and details of case laws relating to a particular issue
through different websites. With the help of the printer, Advocates can get the printed copy of
the documents needed within no time. The computer plays the role of typewriter.

Now-a-days use of computer is a must to any legal practitioner. The compact discs (CDs) and
VCDs are available to know the statutory laws and precedents. With the installation of the
computer, an Advocate can work in his office room, which is sufficient to keep a drawer, an
Almery and a chair. The information given by his client can be stored in his computer. He
can find the model pleadings and fill them and get print copies to file in the court.

Telephone is a must in Law Office. The clients often ring up the office to get appointment of
the Advocate and to get information about his case. Advocates can use telephone to give
information to their clients and receive information from them to speed up the professional
work. The telephone saves the time, money and physical strain of the Advocate. For quick
communication telephone proves very useful. It is suggestible that in each office they should
own a Xerox machine; there shall be other modern facilities like, Fax, advanced telecom
system etc.

MY LAW OFFICE

I would like to set up an office, which is an ideal and unique one in all respects. It shall be
laid out and managed as per principles and requirements discussed above. My law office will
also have the following aspects:

 RECEPTION - Reception is the place where the outside persons are received and
appointments are given.
 WAITING ROOM - It shall consist of proper furniture and the clients should
feel comfortable and newspapers, magazines of all kinds should be available along
with the Television.
 LIBRARY - A library is the core part of the law office. It shall be the best
available in the place not only in respect of the number of books on varied subjects
but also in maintenance and up gradation.

5
  DOCUMENTS SECTION - The documents, which are pending in the court,
are present documents; it shall be arranged in date wise in racks as it is pending. The
same information shall be stored in the computer also.
 COUNSELLING ROOM AND CHAMBERS - The counseling hall shall
be the best one and a closed chamber so that the confidentiality of the discussion
could be maintained. The client should really feel at ease and comfortable.
 REST ROOM - It is exclusively for Advocates, in my dream office those who
feel tired should be given rest, for that purpose, there will be rest room.
 CABINS FOR FELLOW ADVOCATES - There will be separate cabins
for fellow and junior Advocates, each will be connected by intercom phones, and
however, each will be liberal to do the assigned work. If the personnel are computer
literate, they will be provided a computer or laptop.
 COMPUTER HALL - There will be a separate room which will be left for
accommodating the computers. It shall consist, internet facility, Tele conference
facility, etc. Each personnel of the office will have access to that computers and
communication with clients could be made on line.

CONCLUSION

The ‘legal profession’ being one of the challenging professions requires unflinching devotion
and dedication along with discipline and systematic working. The management of his office
where he has to carry on his major chunk of the work especially the research, pre-trial
preparations and meetings with clients assumes vitality and needs attention. The office of an
Advocate is part of his professional personality and the clients form their opinion as to an
Advocate not merely on Advocate’s ability but also on the management of his office. Thus,
an Advocate has to apply his mind in the management and this report being an attempt to
understand the vistas of office management helps in creating a mental make-up in a student
of law as to his office of the future.