5 Legal Tasks You Should Never Waste Billable Hours On

Lawyers are paid for their thinking, not their chasing. Yet far too many firms spend hours every week on tasks that can’t be billed—and don’t grow the practice. If your firm is trying to scale, compete, or just keep your sanity intact, you need to stop burning time on the wrong work.

Here are five legal support tasks your team should never handle in-house—and why outsourcing them to professionals like Legal Relay saves you time, money, and mental bandwidth.

1. Service of Process

🕒 Why it’s a time sink: Between coordinating with a server, ensuring compliance with county-specific rules, and tracking down evasive parties, serving process eats up valuable hours.

✅ Outsource it because: A reliable process server like Legal Relay already knows the local laws, serves quickly, and files airtight affidavits. No missed deadlines, no wasted motion.

2. Court Filings & Document Runs

🕒 Why it’s a time sink: Sending an associate or paralegal to the courthouse to file documents—especially last-minute—can kill an entire afternoon.

✅ Outsource it because: Courthouse runners handle filings, certified copies, and line-waiting so your team doesn’t have to. Legal Relay files across Pennsylvania and delivers same-day proof.

3. Legal Research for Routine Motions

🕒 Why it’s a time sink: Digging through case law for standard motions (like summary judgment or venue transfer) is important—but it’s not always complex work.

✅ Outsource it because: Freelance legal researchers or subcontracted paralegals can draft supporting memos at a fraction of the cost, freeing attorneys to focus on case strategy.

4. Document Retrieval & Records Requests

🕒 Why it’s a time sink: Whether it’s medical records, prior court filings, or agency documents, tracking them down is tedious and often outside your team’s core strengths.

✅ Outsource it because: Legal Relay can retrieve and certify records faster, especially from repeat sources, because we know the systems—and the shortcuts.

5. Scheduling & Administrative Back-and-Forth

🕒 Why it’s a time sink: Endless email threads to coordinate deposition times, serve subpoenas, or confirm service windows is the definition of non-billable chaos.

✅ Outsource it because: A virtual legal assistant or subcontracted admin support can handle all of this for you—professionally, consistently, and without needing hand-holding.

💡 The Rule: Delegate Anything That Isn’t Legal Strategy

If the task doesn’t require a JD or case-specific judgment, delegate it. Your firm’s billable hours are too valuable to waste on logistics.

Legal Relay: Your Outsourced Legal Ops Team

At Legal Relay, we help law firms across Pennsylvania:

• Serve legal documents

• File in court

• Retrieve records

• Support case operations

• Take on overflow admin tasks

We act as a seamless extension of your practice—so your team can focus on law, not logistics.

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