Many small firms or solo practices do not have a written Policies and Procedures Manual (“PPM”). When I ask, attorneys usually respond that it’s just a solo practice with just a couple of employees so they don’t think it is necessary. Some attorneys say they want to do it, but don’t know where to start. Others say they have been meaning to do it and haven’t gotten around to it. And still others can’t see the benefit in having one, as they have never needed it before.
There are very good reasons to create a PPM for your law firm, no matter what the size. First, as an owner of a business, if you are trying to practice law and remember everything you are supposed to do to run your business, something’s gotta give. In other words, tasks may fall through the cracks because your focus is on your clients. A conflict check may get skipped, you might forget some aspect of staff training, or you could miss preparing a trust account reconciliation report. The PPM creates a sort of “to do” list for reference, so you don’t have to remember everything.
Second, the Rules of Professional Conduct require that you have measures in place “giving reasonable assurance” that all lawyers and non-lawyer staff conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Rules 5.1 and 5.3. Having a PPM is a reasonable step to help ensure you and your staff are in compliance with the ethics rules.
Third, having a PPM would be good evidence, in a disciplinary proceeding, to show that you do have measures in place to help ensure compliance. While having a written PPM is not specifically required under the ethics rules, it can persuasive evidence of compliance in response to a grievance.
Fourth, it will save you time and money in the long run. As a business owner, you can expect staff changes on a regular basis. You may have had a paralegal or a firm administrator who has been working with you for 20 years, and who has institutional knowledge about how things work at the firm. But what if they suddenly leave? Having a document you can show new hires about how your firm works, and procedures already in place to ensure smooth sailing, will streamline training, saving you time and expense.
Fifth, because a PPM can also serve as your playbook for running your law firm, it can help preserve this institutional knowledge when a longtime employee leaves.
Importantly, any PPM should be a dynamic, not a static, document. As your firm changes, grows, or improves efficiency, you should modify your PPM accordingly. Some topics to address in any PPM include, but are not limited to:
- New Client Intake Procedures
- Conflict Checking
- Communications with Clients
- Client Confidentiality
- Record-Keeping; Maintaining Client Files
- File Retention and Destruction
- Trust Accounting
- Escheatment of Unclaimed and Abandoned Property
- e-Security Measures
- Closure of Client File and Disengagement
- Client Forms and Engagement Agreements
- Time-keeping and Billing
- Accounting
- Managing Calendars and Deadlines
- Nonlawyer Staff Training and UPL
The PPM can be as detailed as you need, and may cover a variety of law practice management issues or best practices as well. If you want to put together a PPM, it may be as simple as opening a Word document. A good place to start is writing down how you manage (or how you want to manage) a client matter from the first phone call from a client, through intake procedures, engagement letters, staff assignment, billing and collections, trust accounting, communications about the status of the case, until final resolution of the case. Think about what you would want your staff to do in every case, without fail, and write it down. Think about what you want your staff to know and how best to impart that knowledge to each and every new hire.
We regularly assist clients in creating or modifying their PPMs. Know that creating a PPM will take some time and thought on the front end, and will require that you revisit it periodically. An effective PPM will never be finished, but having it should give you some peace of mind.