Legal Practice Support
Quiet, capable support that keeps legal work moving.
Legal work depends on more than legal expertise. It also depends on organised files, accurate documents, visible deadlines, clear communication and consistent administrative support.
Opal & Ora provides experienced, confidential support for solicitors, barristers and legal teams who need in-house calibre assistance without the rigidity or cost of employment.
With more than two decades of combined experience in national law firms, we understand how legal work actually runs: changing priorities, expanding inboxes, urgent documents, court deadlines, client updates and the constant pressure to keep matters moving.
We manage the detail that sits around your legal work, so your practice remains organised, accurate and under control.
What We Take Care Of
From day-to-day administration to the structure behind active matters, we provide support across:
- Inbox and diary management
- Document formatting, proofreading and pagination
- Bundle, chronology and index preparation
- Client, counsel, expert and witness liaison
- Deadline tracking and administrative reminders
- Invoice preparation, fee note support and payment follow-up
- Digital file organisation and document management
- Scheduling conferences, mediations, meetings and hearings
- Template management and process support
Everything is handled with the confidentiality, accuracy and professionalism expected within a legal environment.
When Professionals Typically Come to Us
Most clients do not come to us because everything has gone wrong.
They come to us when the work is still being done, but the way it is being managed has become heavier than it needs to be.
That may be triggered by a busy period, a new stream of work, staff absence, a growing caseload or support that is no longer available.
For others, it is quieter than that: a steady sense that too much time is being pulled into administration, chasing, filing, formatting, billing and coordination.
That is usually where we step in.
We bring structure, consistency and experienced support to the parts of your practice that have started to drift, so work can move properly again.
For Solicitors, Legal Teams & Boutique Firms
Legal practices rarely need support in exactly the same way. You may have a defined project that needs completing, a workload that rises and falls, or an ongoing need for substantial administrative capacity. Our support is structured around those differences, giving you the right level of help without forcing your practice into a rigid package. Whether we are clearing a backlog, supporting active matters or becoming a consistent extension of your team, the aim is the same: to keep work moving, reduce pressure on fee earners and make the administrative side of practice easier to manage.
Project-Based Support
Project-Based Support is for firms with a defined piece of work that needs focused attention, whether that is a large bundle, an administrative backlog, a file review, a new document system or a practice-wide project that keeps slipping down the list.
It is particularly helpful where the work is important but difficult to absorb alongside a busy caseload, or where using fee earners to complete it would be an expensive use of their time.
We agree the scope, priorities, timeframe and intended outcome at the outset. The project is then managed as a distinct piece of work, with clear communication and progress updates throughout.
Support may include:
- Preparing, reviewing or reorganising bundles
- Clearing historic administrative or filing backlogs
- Reviewing and improving templates, precedents and workflows
- Creating trackers, document systems and standard processes
- File audits, document reviews and data organisation
- Supporting a practice launch, restructure or operational change
- Other defined administrative projects
Projects may be charged at an agreed hourly rate or on a fixed-fee basis where the scope can be reliably assessed.
This gives you experienced support without creating an ongoing commitment. The work gets completed properly, your internal team stays focused on client work, and the project finally leaves the to-do list.
Flexible Case Support
Flexible Case Support is for sole practitioners and small firms whose support requirements are real, but not always predictable.
You may need more help during a particularly busy month, while a team member is absent, when several matters reach a demanding stage at once or when a case generates more administration than your existing team can comfortably manage.
Rather than committing to a substantial fixed retainer, you can agree an allocation of time and use it across the tasks or matters that need attention most.
Support may include:
- Document formatting, proofreading and preparation
- Bundles, indexes and chronologies
- File organisation and matter administration
- Client and professional correspondence
- Liaison with counsel, experts, witnesses and other professionals
- Billing and invoice preparation
- Temporary cover and overflow support
- General administrative support across active matters
Priorities can be adjusted as your workload changes, allowing support to follow the pressure rather than being tied to one narrow task.
This works particularly well for boutique firms and smaller legal teams that need dependable additional capacity but do not yet require a full-time member of staff. You gain experienced support when it is useful, without carrying the permanent cost of recruitment, employment and quieter periods.
Retained Practice Support
Retained Practice Support is designed for sole practitioners and firms requiring substantial and regular administrative capacity, of 25 hours or more each week.
It is suited to growing firms, busy legal teams and practices where administration is no longer a series of isolated tasks, but a continuous part of keeping matters progressing, deadlines visible and fee earners properly supported.
We work within your existing systems, templates and processes, becoming familiar with your team, caseload and preferred ways of working. This allows us to take a more structured and proactive role, rather than waiting for each individual task to be delegated from scratch.
Support may include:
- Inbox and diary management
- Deadline, court date and task tracking
- Regular caseload reviews and reminders
- Client and professional liaison
- Document preparation and file administration
- Billing, invoicing and payment tracking
- Workflow and systems support
- Ongoing matter administration
- Regular reporting on work completed and time used
Your agreed hours are reserved each week or month, giving you reliable access to consistent support and allowing us to plan capacity around your practice.
Because retained arrangements provide greater continuity and predictability, they attract our most competitive hourly rate.
The result is support that feels less like occasional outsourcing and more like a dependable extension of your team, without the cost, recruitment burden and employment obligations of hiring internally.
Our support is structured to be proportionate to your workload, with options for both flexible and ongoing arrangements.
For Counsel
Counsel rarely need support in exactly the same way. You may have a defined piece of work requiring focused attention, periods where instructions and deadlines converge, or an ongoing need for reliable administrative capacity around a busy practice. Our support is structured to reflect those differences, whether we are preparing papers, managing documents, coordinating professional communications or providing consistent day-to-day support. The aim is simple: to keep your practice organised, protect your time and ensure the administration surrounding your work moves forward as efficiently as the work itself.
Defined Practice Projects
Defined Practice Projects are designed for Counsel who have a clear administrative task or project that needs dedicated attention, without requiring ongoing support.
This may be a large volume of papers to organise, a document system that needs improving, a backlog that has quietly developed teeth, or a one-off piece of work that would otherwise consume valuable preparation time.
We agree the scope, priorities, timeframe and intended outcome at the outset, then manage the work as a distinct project with clear communication throughout.
Support may include:
- Organising and preparing papers or electronic files
- Creating indexes, bundles and chronologies
- Reviewing and improving templates and standard documents
- Setting up trackers, filing systems or practice workflows
- Clearing historic administrative backlogs
- Organising instructions, authorities or supporting material
- Other defined administrative projects
Projects may be charged at an agreed hourly rate or on a fixed-fee basis where the scope can be reliably assessed.
This is ideal where you need something completed properly and efficiently, but do not need continuing support once the project is finished.
Flexible Practice Support
Flexible Practice Support is for Counsel whose administrative needs vary depending on hearings, conferences, reporting deadlines, volume of instructions or the general unpredictability of practice.
You may not need regular support every week, but there are periods when the volume of papers, correspondence and coordination becomes difficult to absorb alongside substantive work.
An agreed allocation of time can be used across the areas requiring attention most, allowing support to move with your workload rather than being tied to one fixed task.
Support may include:
- Formatting and proofreading documents
- Organising instructions and supporting papers
- Preparing indexes, bundles and chronologies
- Liaising with solicitors, chambers, experts and other professionals
- Coordinating conferences, appointments and deadlines
- Preparing fee notes, invoices and administrative records
- Managing filing and document organisation
- Providing temporary cover or overflow support
This works particularly well for Counsel who want reliable assistance during demanding periods, without committing to a substantial ongoing arrangement.
You gain experienced support when the pressure rises, while retaining the flexibility to adjust the level of assistance as your practice changes.
Retained Practice Support
Retained Practice Support is designed for Counsel with a substantial and continuing need for administrative capacity, typically around 25 hours or more each week.
It is suited to busy individual practitioners, growing practices and Counsel managing a high volume of instructions, deadlines, professional correspondence and practice administration.
We work within your existing systems and preferred ways of working, becoming familiar with your practice, professional contacts, document conventions and recurring requirements. This allows us to provide support with greater continuity and less repeated explanation.
Support may include:
- Inbox and diary management
- Monitoring deadlines, conferences and hearings
- Organising instructions and case papers
- Liaising with solicitors, chambers, experts and other professional contacts
- Preparing, formatting and proofreading documents
- Managing fee notes, invoicing and payment follow-up
- Maintaining filing systems, trackers and administrative records
- Providing regular reporting on work completed and time used
Your agreed hours are reserved each week or month, giving you reliable access to consistent support and allowing us to plan capacity around your practice.
Retained arrangements attract our most competitive hourly rate because they provide greater continuity and predictability.
The result is experienced support that becomes a dependable part of the way your practice operates, protecting your time for preparation, advice, advocacy and the work only you can do.
Our support is structured to be proportionate to your workload, with options for both flexible and ongoing arrangements.
How It Works
Initial conversation
We take time to understand your practice, workload, priorities and current systems.
Scope and setup
We agree the support required, confirm the scope, and align with your templates, tools, communication preferences and access requirements.
Ongoing support
Work is handled, tracked and communicated clearly, with time recorded and priorities kept visible.
Review and refinement
We review how the arrangement is working and adjust support where needed, so the service remains proportionate to your workload.
Begin The Conversation
If your workload feels heavier than it should, there is usually a structural reason behind it.
We can help you identify where time is being lost and put the right support in place.