United States: Management

Most law firms underestimate the case manager role. It sits between client-facing work and attorney oversight, and in many firms, it is either underfilled or filled by someone whose time is split across too many other functions. That gap is costing firms more than they realize. A remote case manager who is properly placed and given a clear scope of work creates measurable returns across multiple areas of firm operations. This post maps out exactly where that ROI shows up, and why managing partners at small and mid-sized firms are paying closer attention to this role than ever before.

Most law firms spend real money generating leads. Marketing, referrals, and directories all feed a pipeline of potential clients. Then those potential clients call, and one of three things happens.

Attorneys doing paralegal work. Paralegals stretched across too many matters. Administrative staff are filling gaps they were not hired to fill. This is the operating reality at many small and mid-sized law firms in 2026. The bottleneck is not effort. It is structured. And for a growing number of managing partners, remote paralegals are the fix.

Many attorneys do not have a work problem. They have a time problem. The legal work is only part of the week. The rest gets filled with client updates, scheduling, document follow-up, case tracking, intake coordination, and routine communication. That is why more law firms are using remote case managers. When one person keeps those moving parts under control, attorneys get more time for legal work, client strategy, and billable tasks. In many firms, that can add up to 10 or more hours saved each week.

Lawyers are delegating case operations at scale because burnout has exposed a deeper problem within many law firms: attorneys have been carrying too much operational work for too long. Tasks such as client updates, scheduling, document coordination, follow-up, and workflow management began to take up time that should have been reserved for legal strategy and billable work.

Recent amendments to Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.15 have significantly changed how Massachusetts law yers must handle unclaimed and unidentified funds held in IOLTA accounts.

We are delighted to share with you our latest "Leadership in the Law" discussion with Cari Gallman, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer at Bristol Myers Squibb.

Remote work for lawyers is now common. Many firms use remote or hybrid schedules to stay flexible and maintain strong client service.

This episode features a conversation with Joseph Dowdy. Joe is a litigator and the managing partner of Foley's Raleigh office. In this discussion, he reflects on growing up on farm in Powells Point, NC...