If you spend enough time working with law firms, you start to see the same staffing problem over and over again.
An attorney realizes they need help. They’re buried in paperwork, filings, client communication, and a hundred small tasks that seem manageable on their own but pile up quickly when you’re running an entire practice.
So the natural next step is to hire a paralegal. Sometimes that works out well. But a lot of times, it doesn’t solve the problem the way the attorney hoped it would.
After working with attorneys for more than fifteen years, I’ve seen how complicated that hiring process can become. Training takes time. Turnover can be high. And if the person you hire doesn’t work out, you’ve invested weeks—or months—just trying to get them up to speed.
That’s part of what led us to start thinking about a different model.
One of the biggest frustrations attorneys talk about is the amount of time it takes to train someone new.
When you bring in a new hire, you’re not just adding help. You’re also taking on the responsibility of teaching that person how your practice works.
How to draft documents, file with the courts, use your case management software, and how to organize client files.
All of that training takes time, and it usually falls on the attorney or an already overworked staff member. And then there’s always the risk that the person leaves. Now you’re back at the beginning again.
When we started thinking about how to solve this problem, one idea stood out.
Instead of hiring people with limited legal training and teaching them everything from scratch, what if you started with someone who was already a lawyer?
There are attorneys all over the world who have gone through law school, passed their equivalent of the bar exam, and are actively practicing in their own countries.
That means they already understand how legal systems work. They know how to analyze cases. They know how to draft legal documents. They know how to think like a lawyer.
Even if they haven’t worked in a specific practice area yet, their starting point is completely different from someone with no legal background. That makes a big difference when it comes to training.
Of course, practicing law in another country doesn’t automatically mean someone can step into an American law firm.
There are still things they need to learn.
That’s why we spend so much time preparing International Licensed Attorneys before they begin working with a U.S. firm.
During training, they learn the basics of U.S. legal procedures, state-specific filing systems, and the software platforms many firms rely on—programs like Clio, Best Case, and LawPay.
They also get access to legal research tools like Westlaw and Lexis so they can assist with research and drafting. By the time they begin working with a law firm, most of the foundational training is already complete.
At that point, the only thing left to learn is how your specific office operates.
One of the interesting things we’ve seen is that many firms don’t use International Licensed Attorneys to replace their existing staff. Instead, they use them to support the people they already have.
A talented paralegal in the office might be capable of doing very high-level work, but half their day is often spent on routine administrative tasks. When you bring in additional support, those responsibilities can shift.
The paralegal focuses on higher-level case management and client coordination. The ILA handles drafting, research, document preparation, and many of the operational tasks that keep cases moving forward.
When that structure works well, the entire office becomes more efficient.
The real goal of adding support to a law firm isn’t just to reduce workload. It’s to free up the attorney—and the rest of the team—to focus on the work that actually requires their expertise.
After working with thousands of lawyers, I’ve seen what happens when firms don’t build that kind of structure. The work piles up. Deadlines get harder to manage. Clients become frustrated when communication slows down.
Sometimes attorneys even miss hearings or filings simply because they’re trying to do too much themselves. That’s not a reflection of their ability. It’s usually just a reflection of how much work they’re carrying.
The right support system changes that completely. Once the operational side of the practice is handled by capable people, the attorney can focus on strategy, clients, and growing the firm. And that’s where most lawyers actually want to spend their time.
Richard Jacobs is the president and founder of DocketWorks and Speakeasy Marketing, where he works with law firms across the country to build systems that help attorneys grow their practices without losing focus on the work that matters most. Through years of working closely with legal teams, he has authored numerous books and developed practical strategies for helping firms streamline operations, strengthen their teams, and scale their impact.