Frequently Asked Questions

Who are you?

Legal Outsource Services is the administrative department of Attorneys Nel & Stevens of Greytown and Ballito. The firm was established in 1906 and we are confident that we will impress you with the service we provide.

So how come you are doing what you are telling us not to do?

Your core business is the law. Legal Outsource Services' core business is administration. You should spend your time applying your mind to legal issues. Let us worry about employing suitably qualified staff, how much to pay them, when they take leave, what computers they need, what software to get, what it all costs, where they need to sit and all the other hassles that go along with employing people to carry out your instructions. Being in the country, our administrative structure is far cheaper than many city practices because we generally pay less rates, less rentals, lower salaries (as we are constantly reminded!) and generally have a less expensive set up to run. Technology gives city attorneys the opportunity of tapping into this cheaper resource thereby allowing them to minimise staff requirements without compromising on control.

What equipment do I need?

Bottom of the range is a pen, piece of paper and a postal address. Write your instructions out, send them to us and we will post it back to you. Top of the range is a computer with a programme to e-mail dictation to us. We can e-mail the finished product back to you to print and deal with it as fast as the person sitting in the next office.

All practices are different. What kind of firm can benefit the most?

All of them. Every practice from a one man band starting up to a big established practice faces the same basic administrative decisions somewhere along the line - if we employ more we might end up with dead wood, what equipment do we need, is the expense of more staff and equipment justified given our current workload, is our current workload sustainable or is it going to increase or decrease, where do we accommodate more staff, what is our exposure to labour related actions and so on and so on.  If you are a one man band you probably spend hours and hours pondering over these problems and if you are a bigger firm you might employ someone to handle it and then still have regular partners' meetings spending valuable man-hours discussing the matter. Lawyers often advise their clients to outsource because of these issues. They can all follow their own advice. 

What is the absolute tops?

Are there any hidden costs?

You may still need someone to retrieve your mail, print it, draw the file, make copies and such things. That position will not require any particular training or skills and could be shared with one or more others. There is probably someone already in place that could do that for you and others. Or you could do it yourself.

Are there any hidden savings?

Plenty