As any Practice Manager or Senior Partner knows the need for temporary legal transcriptionists or secretaries can easily fluctuate over time. Whilst we know that staff are likely to take the majority of their holiday entitlement in the summer months. Unfortunately, it is harder for a law firm to predict unexpected absences or illnesses. We can, of course, predict that in the winter months, someone may come to work with a cold (and in a matter of days, everyone has come down with it!). So is it time to ditch a traditional temping agency?
If so, how can a legal transcription provider help to bridge that gap?
Less Availability
Finding a temp to work from your office for a few days, or on a week or two-week assignment is not quite as easy as it used to be. The issue today is that most temps favour longer-term assignments. Therefore, there are fewer people willing to cover shorter assignments.
According to research by Total Jobs, temp agencies can take up to one month to find the right candidate.
Clearly, if you wish to employ a temp legal secretary or legal typist for maternity leave, with proper planning, a one-month wait is possible. However, if you are looking for cover when an employee has been taken ill, then you might find yourself without cover. So is there a solution?
A New Solution
Instead of asking for a legal temp secretary to attend your office to work, it is now possible to onboard an outsourced legal transcription provider quicker (and cheaper). Some outsourced transcription companies can work directly into case management systems, as any in-house secretary would. Alternatively, if you did not want to do that, you can provide them with copies of your templates and precedents to enable them to complete your files.
By using an outsourced legal transcription company, you will have all the benefits of a temp on tap, without the need for training and supervision – as this will be done for you by the transcription company themselves. You will also not have expensive agency fees either (or pay for lunch breaks or unproductive time). Using an outsourced transcription company is the perfect addition to any law firm as it enables business continuity – which is always something that needs to be planned for! Furthermore, you will also get the additional benefits which come only from outsourcing. These are:
The Benefits of Outsourcing
So, what are the benefits of outsourcing legal dictation for today’s law firms?
1. Gives You Access to Highly Experienced Legal Typists When You Need them
At OutSec we believe in having highly experienced legal typists and transcriptionists. Every member of OutSec’s legal transcriptionist team has had over 10 years’ experience in the legal sector.
Many of OutSec’s transcription team have qualifications such as:
- CILEx; or
- London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Legal Secretary certification.
With their legal experience, they truly understand the importance of client confidentiality and accuracy in their work.
This makes OutSec’s legal transcriptionist team, one of the best in the industry and they are available to you and your law firm, at the touch of a button.
Are you:
- struggling to find a legal typist with the right experience?
- having issues recruiting a legal typist or secretary in your area?
- struggling with a backlog of work?
Then why not use OutSec? You can have an experienced legal typist or transcriptionist available to you and your firm at the touch of a button!
2. Reduces Costs
When you employ staff you must pay: monthly salaries, PAYE costs, National Insurance contributions, offer a pension scheme and pay a certain percentage of tax per employee.
You also have other fixed costs such as desk space and office costs per employee, and the costs of infrastructure like computers, telephones, workspaces etc.
Unproductive Time
What most employers forget is the indirect costs of employment such as “unproductive” time. Recent research suggests that:
“In an eight-hour day, the average worker is only productive for two hours 53 minutes”.
Clearly, by outsourcing your legal transcription needs, you eliminate any unproductive time. By using OutSec, you pay per minute of recorded dictation (rounded up to the nearest minute) which means you are not paying for any unproductive time.
Reduces Expensive Office Space
Obviously, by outsourcing your legal transcription needs, you can reduce the amount of office space you need.
According to Business Matters Magazine: “The average cost to rent an office space per person, per month is between £650 and £1,500” in London.
This means that the cost of desk space in London is therefore somewhere between £7,800 to £18,000 per annum.
Just on this cost alone, you could approximately have somewhere between 6,500 and 15,000 minutes of dictation typed up by OutSec instead!
Reduces HR Costs
Hiring, training and supervising your firm’s secretarial staff can require an investment of solicitors’/practice managers’ time. There are costs involved in advertising for qualified legal transcriptionists. By outsourcing, you never have to worry about any of these HR-related costs.
Sickness Absence
According to the National Office of Statistics, an “estimated 141.4 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury in the UK in 2018, the equivalent to 4.4 days per worker“. The most common reasons for sicknesses were:
- Minor illnesses;
- Mental health conditions;
- Musculoskeletal problems.
Holiday Pay
Whilst statutory paid holiday entitlement in the UK is 28 paid holiday days, most employers in the UK give considerably more holidays to their employees.
Clearly, by outsourcing your legal transcription needs, you eliminate this cost to your firm.
Changes a Fixed Cost into a Flexible Cost
Many law firms recognise that replacing a static fixed cost with a flexible skilled outsourced provider has many positives. If your typing requirements are low, then the costs are low. This also enables upscaling support as the firm grows or in times when workloads are high.
Consequently, OutSec can offer support by either acting as a complete, secure, outsourced solution or as an overflow, allowing your law firm to keep up with the demands of your business.
3. Business Continuity Planning
In 2020, businesses around the world had their business continuity plans truly put to the test, as Covid-19 swept the globe.
Whilst some businesses were forced to close their doors when lockdowns came into effect, OutSec continued to operate as normal.
OutSec continued to be able to support our clients and those that needed our help, during this difficult time. As one of our clients stated:
“We are so glad that we have you as it certainly makes it less stressful not having to worry about getting typing completed. I know some firms are really struggling if staff cannot get in”.
A Business Continuity Plan sets out how a legal practice will operate in the event of an incident and how it will return to business as usual as quickly as possible after the said incident. Indeed, having a Business Continuity Plan is seen as one of the key requirements of the SRA Code of Conduct in the managing of risk.
Using OutSec affords your legal practice a business continuity solution to enable your law firm to access experienced legal typing support that expands (or contracts) with your firm’s specific needs. You can also use OutSec for upscaling support as the firm grows, without the need for employing additional typing staff (or indeed, any of the employment costs or risks thereof).
Questions to Consider Before Approaching a Legal Transcription Provider
Here is a list of questions for you to know or think about, before approaching a legal transcription provider
- Which digital dictation system does your firm currently use?
- Would you like your temp legal secretaries to access your case management system?
- Would you prefer to let them have copies of your templates and precedents and receive the completed work back securely?
Questions to Ask Any Legal Transcription Provider
Here is a list of questions to consider asking any legal transcription provider to help you to understand whether they would hold your data safely and securely but also to avoid any hidden fees etc:
- Is the company based in the United Kingdom?
- Are there any costs for:
- Set up
- Management fees?
- Is there a minimum spend?
- Does the company have specialist transcriptionists who have worked in your field and know the terminology?
- How work is allocated to typists? Does it go to a bank? Or will your work be conducted by a small number of typists that will get used to your style of work over time?
About OutSec the UK’s Leading Online Transcription Company
OutSec is the UK’s leading online transcription company whose business has grown substantially since 2002. We are one of the most successful transcription companies in the United Kingdom
What Makes OutSec Different to Other Legal Transcription Companies?
At OutSec we believe in having dedicated legal transcriptionists. Consequently, for each fee earner, we would allocate two experienced legal secretaries to carry out their work.
This makes our offering unique from other transcription companies in the market, where work is often farmed out randomly to huge banks of typists (some of which have never worked in the legal profession). This allows your dedicated typists to build a bond, in the same way as an in-house secretary would.
Every member of OutSec’s legal typing team has had over 10 years of experience in the legal sector. As well as having signed strict Confidentiality Agreements.
Many of OutSec’s legal transcription team have qualifications such as:
- CILEx
- London Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Legal Secretary Certificate
This makes OutSec’s legal team, one of the best in the legal transcription industry.
With OutSec you only pay on a per-minute basis (rounded to the nearest minute) on a pay-as-you-go basis. With OutSec there are no contracts or minimum spend. So, what do you have to lose? Why not open an account today!
You can visit our Legal Division’s web page here.
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