People & Hiring
Hiring, onboarding, and paying the people who make a firm run.
Running a One on One Your Staff Actually Look Forward To
A recurring one on one that belongs to your staff, not your status report, surfaces the real problems long before they turn into a resignation letter.
The Job Post Is Your First Impression
Most law firm job posts scare off the very people they claim to want. Honesty about the actual work beats a wall of requirements every time.
When It's Time to Hire Your First Legal Assistant
A step-by-step framework for solo lawyers deciding whether the workload really justifies a first hire, and how to make that hire without overspending.
Keeping Good Staff When You Cannot Match Big Salaries
Large firms can outbid you on salary. They cannot outbid you on real ownership, flexibility, and being seen. Here is how those things actually work in practice.
A 90 Day Onboarding Plan for a New Legal Hire
A week-by-week arc that moves a new hire from watching to owning files, with plain checkpoints so nobody has to guess whether it is going well.
Handing Work to a Paralegal Without Hovering
Delegation fails when you hand over keystrokes instead of outcomes. Here is how to scope work, brief it cleanly, and review without quietly redoing everything yourself.
What to Nail in a New Hire's First Week
The awkward first week questions answered plainly: hours, tone, who to ask, and what good actually looks like by the time Friday rolls around.
Should Legal Roles Come With a Paid Working Interview?
A confident interview tells you who performs in a room. A short paid task tells you who can do the job. Here is how to run one without exploiting candidates.
Writing an Offer Letter a Candidate Says Yes To
An offer letter has to cover the firm legally and make the candidate feel good about accepting. Most letters do the first and miss the second entirely.
How I Read Forty Resumes in an Afternoon Without Being Unfair
A first-person account of building a repeatable, bias-aware pass through a big resume pile so that speed and fairness finally stop fighting each other.
Law Firm Onboarding: A 30 Day Checklist
A concrete week by week onboarding checklist for law firms, from day one access and matters through the thirty day check in that catches problems early.
Hiring Your First Associate at a Small Firm
Hiring your first associate changes how your firm works at every level. Here is how to time it right, recruit well, onboard properly, and build something that lasts.
Culture Is What Your Small Firm Does on a Wednesday
Culture at a five-person firm is not a values poster. It is the ordinary daily habits that decide whether your best people stay.
Write a Job Description That Screens People Out Before They Apply
A good posting is a filter, not a billboard. Here is how to write must-have lines that make the wrong applicants self-select out and the right ones lean in.
Ask Every Candidate the Same Questions
A plain-language guide to structured interviewing for firms that hire on gut feel, and why asking everyone the same questions produces better, fairer results.
Delegating Real Work to Your Law Clerk
A law clerk can carry substantive matter work, not just admin. Here is how to hand it over with the right supervision so you gain real leverage.
How We Rebuilt Our Pay Bands After Losing a Paralegal
We lost our best paralegal to a firm across the street. Here is the honest story of what her exit taught us and how we rebuilt pay from scratch.
The Performance Conversation Everyone Dreads, Handled Well
A managing lawyer walks through preparing for, opening, and following through on a difficult performance conversation without it turning into an argument.
How to Run a Compensation Review Without Guesswork
A plain answers guide to timing raises, benchmarking small firm pay, and handling the raise conversation so it feels fair to the firm and the person.
What Firms Get Wrong About Hybrid Work
Where legal hybrid work is really heading in Canada, and how to tell the confidentiality concerns worth taking seriously from tired assumptions about presence.
Feedback That Changes Behaviour Instead of Bruising Egos
The compliment sandwich fails because it hides the message. Here is how specific, timely, forward-looking feedback earns trust and actually sticks in a firm.
The Reference Check Questions That Actually Tell You Something
Most reference calls confirm dates and job titles and nothing else. Here is a tight list of questions and follow-ups that surface real signal about your candidate.
Keeping the Legal Assistant You Cannot Afford to Lose
The person who holds your practice together often leaves quietly. Here are concrete moves to make staying the obvious choice before the counteroffer ever arrives.